Should You Build a Leadership Team — Or Just Hire Another Assistant?

Written By Chelsea Green

When law firm owners hit capacity, their instinct is often the same:

“I need to hire another assistant.”

But at a certain point, the problem isn’t a lack of help — it’s a lack of leadership.

Admin Help Solves Tasks. Leaders Solve Problems.

An assistant is great for taking things off your plate. But they’re not going to:

  • Develop strategy

  • Build systems

  • Hold teams accountable

  • Drive execution

At some point, you stop needing more help and start needing real leadership capacity.

How to Know When It’s Time

If you’re the sole decision-maker for:

  • Finance

  • HR

  • Billing

  • Marketing

  • Admin oversight

…and it’s taking more than 20–25 hours of your week? You don’t need another assistant. You need a leadership team.

How a Fractional COO Helps You Scale Intelligently

  • Aligns your hiring to real capacity needs

  • Helps define key leadership roles

  • Builds systems so you don’t become the bottleneck

  • Coaches existing team members into stronger leadership

  • Keeps strategic projects moving — not just daily tasks

You don’t have to go straight to a $200K full-time hire. You can bring in strategic leadership at the level your firm needs, right now.


If you’ve outgrown assistants but aren’t ready for a full exec team, a fractional COO bridges the gap. Let’s build your first layer of true leadership.

Chelsea Green
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Why Your Law Firm Needs a Quarterly Review — Even If You’re “Too Busy”