We hired our first teammate in the Philippines about seven years ago to help with our sales process. She was great, so we hired more.
Today, we have roughly 40 team members spread across the country supporting almost every department in our firm.
Getting to 40 was the easy part. Learning how to manage them well took years of getting it wrong first.
The Structure That Seemed Logical
Early on, we had one leader in the Philippines who managed the entire team over there. She handled hiring and training and coaching for every function.
It made sense at the time because she understood the culture and could oversee onboarding without pulling our US managers into a second time zone.
The problem was that it created a dividing line nobody intended. We ended up with a US team and a Philippines team running side by side without ever really becoming one group.
Those teammates were doing good work, but they were disconnected from the departments they were supporting.
Their manager knew them well, but she could not be an expert in ten different functions at once.
The whole setup had a ceiling built into it.
What Changed Everything
About three or four years ago, we stopped managing the Philippines team as its own unit and moved every person into the department they actually support.
A teammate doing quality assurance on intake calls now reports to the intake manager. They attend the same weekly meetings, go through the same training, and get the same one-on-one coaching as everyone else on that team.
That one structural change rewired how the whole firm operates. Those teammates went from feeling like outside support to being fully embedded in the daily rhythm of their departments.
They know the people they work alongside. They understand the processes deeply enough to have real input on how things should run.
And because they work the same hours we do, the experience of collaborating with them feels no different than working with someone in another US state.
We reinforce that with small things that add up.
Cameras on in every meeting is a firm-wide expectation.
We run a virtual version of our holiday party so the Philippines team can be part of it.
I send handwritten Christmas cards every year.
And once a year, we fly a US leader over to spend a few days with the team in person.
None of that is expensive. All of it sends a message that these are not contractors on the other side of the world. They are part of the firm.
More Than Answering Phones
Most firm owners I talk to assume overseas teammates answer phones and not much else. That is one thing our Philippines team does, and the results have been strong.
But the real value has come from expanding into roles most people would never think to fill this way.
IT support. Web development. Quality assurance on both intake calls and attorney consultations. Virtual legal assistants who draft documents and handle court communications and e-filing. Personal assistants who keep firm leaders organized and moving.
The principle behind all of it is straightforward. Your attorneys carry the most weight in your firm.
Every support function you build around them frees up capacity that goes straight to the bottom line.
We started with one person. You can too.
