There are currently more than 76,000 couriers and messengers working throughout the U.S. Legal couriers are an elite group that make up a mere 0.5 percent of this group.
Are you considering hiring a legal courier? They can be very beneficial, especially if you need help delivering sensitive documents.
Read on to learn more about what a legal courier does and why you might need to hire one. You’ll also get some tips on how to choose the best courier to assist you with your legal deliveries.
What is a Legal Courier?
A legal courier is an individual who picks up documents from legal professionals and delivers them to their recipients. The documents they deliver are typically time-sensitive and contain important information that the recipients need as quickly as possible.
Because timing matters so much when it comes to delivering legal documents, legal professionals often rely on couriers rather than shipping the documents overnight using the post office or FedEx.
In most cases, to become a courier, one only needs a high school diploma, as well as a driver’s license and an unblemished driving record. This might not be a highly skilled position, but it’s definitely a valuable one if you work in the legal field.
Why Hire One?
Legal couriers have a lot to offer legal professionals. The following are some of the key benefits they provide:
Save Time
One of the main benefits of outsourcing delivers to a courier is the same as outsourcing any kind of task: You get to save time.
When you have someone else worry about delivering documents to their rightful owner, whether that’s the courthouse or an individual, you are able to focus more on the work that only you can do.
This, in turn, also helps to take a portion of the burden off your shoulders and minimize your stress.
Save Money
When you work with a legal courier service to deliver your documents, you’ll save money.
With a courier service, you pay a flat fee for your deliveries. You don’t have to worry about paying to hire a new employee and covering their salary and benefits.
Since couriers save you time, they also save you money by giving you more opportunities to focus on billable work.
Reduce Vehicle Expenses
A courier also reduces your vehicle expenses. You don’t have to worry about paying for gas to drive to the courthouse or to a person’s home to deliver documents. The courier service takes care of all that for you without putting a ton of extra miles on your vehicle.
Reduce Liability
Finally, working with a courier is much safer than working with the post office or FedEx.
When you have sensitive materials that you need to deliver as fast as possible, it’s nearly always better to entrust them to a private business. They’ll get delivered faster, they won’t get slowed down because of holidays, and you won’t have to worry about them getting lost along the way.
How to Choose a Courier Service
Now that you know more about what legal couriers do and the benefits they have to offer, you might be ready to learn more about choosing a legal courier service. Remember these tips to ensure you’re working with the right courier:
Consider Their Experience
Because your legal documents are of a very sensitive nature, it’s best to work with a courier service that specializes in legal deliveries.
Find out how long they’ve been in business and how long they’ve specialized in delivering legal documents. Make sure they understand the sensitivity of legal documents and how important it is that they get delivered as soon as possible.
Ask for Referrals
It helps to ask for referrals, too.
Talk to your colleagues and find out which courier service they use. Then, ask them if they would recommend you use that service as well.
Getting a referral from someone you trust is often the easiest way to make sure you’re working with a reliable service that will get the job done the right way.
Look at Online Reviews
If you don’t have anyone whom you can ask for a referral, or if nobody you know has a courier service they recommend, check out online reviews for local courier services.
Pay attention to reviews on third-party sites and see what the general consensus is about each service in your area.
Find one that has a high average rating and positive reviews. There will always be a few outliers when it comes to negative reviews, but they should be outweighed by positive ones.
Get the Details
Before you agree to hire a specific courier service, make sure you get as many details about their business as possible.
Make sure that they do, in fact, guarantee same-day delivery. That way, you’ll know your documents will be delivered on time. Find out what they charge and whether they have any extra fees of which you should be aware.
It helps if they offer a status check service as well. That way, you can find out where your documents are and verify their delivery.
Hire a Legal Courier Today
As you can see, there are plenty of benefits that come with hiring a legal courier.
Are you convinced that you need to hire one? Do you want to make sure you’ve chosen the right courier or courier service for the job?
If so, keep the tips listed above in mind and you’ll have no trouble finding a great person to manage your deliveries.
Do you want to learn more about making sure you’ve hired the right person for a particular job? Check out the hiring section of our site for more advice and some useful resources.
