A virtual legal assistant can easily manage a lawyer`s calendar and keep things on track. They set up reminders and set up and forget systems to ensure meetings, deadlines and deadlines are met. An effective virtual legal assistant streamlines the hours spent organizing a calendar and moving appointments. They can also be assigned to scheduling hearings, responding to appointment requests, and ensuring that all appointments are booked on time. Virtual paralegals are also a good option for your law practice if you`re not ready to add another full-time in-house employee. Ultimately, virtual assistants save your law firm money because hiring a virtual legal assistant costs less than hiring another lawyer or in-house employee for your firm. If you`re used to managing administrative tasks in your law firm, it can be difficult to delegate work to someone else. Finally, you need to spend time hiring your virtual legal assistant and getting them used to your law firm`s processes. That`s why it`s important to find a virtual assistant that fits your work style. This will help ensure a smoother transition for your business while increasing the chances of success. To avoid misunderstandings and disappointments on both sides, you need to set expectations for your virtual assistant from the beginning.

This could mean having a written contract or agreement so that both parties are clear about what is expected of the professional relationship. Some points you should include in your agreement are: Cooperation between a virtual legal assistant and the law firm, regardless of geographical proximity. Until recently, businesses had to rely on on-site assistants to handle incoming and outgoing calls. But new VoIP protocols — or VoIP systems — eliminate the need for an assistant to be physically present to answer the phone. VoIP systems are a proven technology that makes it possible to make and receive phone calls over an Internet connection. With the rise of broadband, call routing is now seamless, creating an undetectable connection between a tenant and a virtual legal counsel working remotely, allowing a virtual legal advisor to meet the traditional needs of the office. You can even initiate calls on behalf of the company, facilitating the logistics needed for customer service. Preparation and interpretation of legal documents. Organize and prepare legal files. Conduct legal and factual research.

Oversee legal projects and transactions. Be sure to communicate clearly and regularly with your virtual assistant. Also discuss how you will communicate and on which platforms. Tell them what reports you expect and how often. Make it clear what your virtual assistant`s priorities are. For example, do you need a weekly report on your remote legal assistant`s tasks? Are you using a project management platform to better understand your to-do list? A virtual legal assistant provides excellent professional writing and research services such as drafting, editing, and analyzing legal documents. They can also conduct legal and factual reviews of the site and even process submissions in accordance with applicable judicial standards and rules. In this way, virtual legal assistants help lawyers tremendously to prepare for trials.

A virtual legal assistant can be assigned to organize all law firm files. Misplaced documents or things left in the wrong place can wreak havoc in a law firm and lead to loss of income. In the worst case, important lost or abused evidence can mean the end of a lawyer`s career. In order to facilitate a more fruitful cooperation, it is important to get to know your legal assistant. This way, you will understand them better on a personal and professional level. It will also help you build trust both ways and invest it in the success of your law firm. Virtual team building games such as online escape rooms or even simple icebreaker games conducted via video conference can be a lot of fun. Instead of hiring a full-time employee, your firm can hire a virtual legal assistant! Reduce your overhead and delegate your legal administration tasks to one of our virtual assistants. Our virtual legal services include: Remote technologies are changing the way legal transactions are conducted for the better. New software platforms have made the work of virtual legal assistants more convenient and possible than ever before. Fast and stable internet connections, video conferencing and instant messaging tools, cloud storage and file sharing applications enable a high level of legal administrative support and, depending on the type of law practiced, virtual legal assistants can be mandated to work with legal documents in a variety of ways. They may write motions, judgments, orders and cover letters.

For example, many virtual legal assistants are asked to take care of the review and management of contracts. Because contracts are legally binding promises, they are a central part of almost every law firm. Internally, law firms draft and execute contracts with clients for retained services or certain contractual rights (this is when companies hire lawyers to review their contracts). For this reason, many companies hire a virtual legal assistant to handle the review and management of contracts. A virtual legal assistant can draft contracts based on the details provided and ensure that the contract is understandable to all parties involved. You can enter changes and track drafts of the document from start to finish. Everyone knows that the legal profession is stressful. If you run a law firm, you probably rarely feel like there`s enough time to complete all the tasks on your to-do list. Whether it`s responding quickly to potential and existing clients or onboarding clients, managing documents, invoicing and doing accounting, virtual legal assistants can help you run your practice more effectively and efficiently.

When hiring a virtual legal assistant for your law firm, be sure to thoroughly examine potential candidates and businesses. Also think about how they fit into your law firm. Be sure to communicate clearly to set expectations upfront. With clear instructions, consistency, and the right software, virtual legal assistants can help you focus on more billable work. Ultimately, this will help you become a more profitable law firm. Consider using virtual legal assistant services such as Hire an Esquire and Back Office Betties, where you can count on hiring qualified, approved, and experienced candidates for your firm. Whether you`re using virtual legal assistance companies or hiring people, you need to set up a thorough hiring process to select the right virtual assistant for your law firm. Below are the main ways to choose the right remote legal assistant for your law firm`s needs.

The same goes for travel arrangements. Court-ordered appearances, witness meetings, arbitrations, and business transactions often require travel by litigators. Lawyers can outsource the search for flights, locations, rental cars, and hotels to a virtual legal assistant that efficiently schedules and saves you hours of your time. If your law firm hasn`t hired a virtual legal assistant yet, you may be wondering why you should work with one. But if you`ve ever been overwhelmed by the amount of work it takes to run a law firm, delegating work to virtual paralegals can significantly free up your time. Given that the 2020 Legal Trends Report found that law firms spend an average of only 2.5 hours per day on billable work, it`s more important than ever to find ways to do more billable work and improve your firm`s profitability. Virtual legal assistants are professionals who provide administrative and other services in the legal field. A virtual legal assistant works from home, is usually self-employed, and files a Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, to report payments. A virtual legal assistant is responsible for paying their income and self-employment taxes because the lawyer or company they work for does not withhold tax from their salary.