My paralegal’s name is Candy. Not Candace. Candy. And she is not to be trifled with.

Candy runs my firm. To be more precise, she runs me. Case in point: I am not allowed to manage my own schedule. Ever. I added an appointment to my schedule recently and got this text from her:

Also, do not try to reach me by phone during business hours if you are not an existing client. You can pretty much forget talking to me directly. She screens every single call. Not on my schedule? Not calling about the status of an existing matter? Not getting through. She will take a message if you need a call back, schedule your appointment, or, if you are selling something, tell you as nicely as possible to take a hike.

If you ask Candy why she insists on this level of control, it has nothing to do with her. She will tell you that: (a) my time is what makes the firm money and pays our salaries and therefore is not to be wasted; and (b) me answering the phones is not the best use of my time.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Candy is sweet and smart and silly and funny and I adore her. Working with her is a lot of fun. But she is dead serious about business and the law.

She is, of course and always, right. The administrative work of running a firm can be a huge distraction from actually practicing law. I know that I have a tendency to go down the rabbit hole and spend half my day working on my business (which, don’t get me wrong, is important) while neglecting the substantial work that needs to be done. I hired her to handle that stuff, and I need to let her do it.

Candy has also become my conscience, making sure that I am getting the work done for my clients (“He’s been waiting on that contract for two weeks!”) and staying on top of upcoming work (she even calendars 30-day follow-ups). By keeping me on task, Candy has done the hard work of getting me out of my own way. As a result, despite having added staff and increasing payroll and expenses this year, my firm is more profitable than ever.

She is well-aware of her ethical obligations as a paralegal, and she does not ever let me forget mine as a lawyer. She knows exactly where the line is between being a good paralegal and unlicensed practice of law, and she refuses to cross it. If I ever get my toes up to the line, she will put me back into my place. “Can you just send that to the client?” I say. “Not till you’ve reviewed it!” she replies. There is no “I’m the lawyer and what I say goes!” around here. I may be the supervisor, but I’m not the boss.

In addition to keeping me in line, she also does an excellent job of, you know, being a paralegal. Her prose is impeccable, she is capable of independent thought, exercises great judgment, and is technologically savvy. She even fixes my typos.

Candy is also a professional actress. Actually she is a triple threat: she can act, sing and dance. She is always in a show, always has a ton of stuff going on outside of the firm. She played Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd” so well she was unrecognizable (and won Broadway World Orlando’s Best Actress in a Musical for her efforts). She also was Cindy Lou in “The Winter Wonderettes” this Christmas, touring local nursing homes as part of TheatreCares. She just finished a show-stealing performance as Berthe in Boeing Boeing, and she is already in rehearsal for a show in the Orlando Fringe Festival. What I’m saying here is that she puts as much effort, professionalism and care into her acting career as she does her career as a paralegal.

Despite all of her extracurricular activities, her work here never suffers. I admire not only her talent, but her ability to manage it all so well. It makes me feel guilty for complaining about having to squeeze in marketing activities and into an already busy schedule.

Having good administrative help is key to running a successful law firm. You can’t do it all yourself very well for very long. Eventually, your practice will get busy enough that you just need help. Even if it’s a virtual assistant, an answering service, or a bookkeeper – you’re going to need help. When that time comes, set your standards high. Expect more from your staff and be willing to pay them what they are worth.

I really do wonder sometimes how I got so lucky. I did not train Candy to be this fabulous. She just came with an extra responsibility gene or something. I mean, I try really hard to be responsible and ethical and a good lawyer. But Candy makes me a far, far better lawyer.

And no, you can’t have her. Go find your own.