How can law firms utilize virtual assistants

Work-life at a law firm can be pretty hectic. Apart from the cases and clients, there are many processes involved in running a law firm. It can be challenging for a small law firm or solo practice lawyer to keep everything in order within the limited budget. This is where small law firms can utilize virtual assistants. A virtual assistant is an assistant who works for you remotely on all the tasks you assign them. It doesn’t necessarily have to be administrative tasks either. You can hire a specialized virtual legal assistant to ease your lawyers’ workload and focus on their work.
A virtual assistant offers increased efficiency and productivity to a law firm. Since they charge on an hourly basis, they are also a cost-effective alternative to hiring full-time employees or office assistants. Let’s take a look at some of the roles that can be outsourced by law firms to virtual assistants.

Administrative tasks

There are many big and small tasks involved in the day to day work life of lawyers or a law firm. Such tasks can be distracting and time-consuming, yet need to be handled if you want to do your job. Email management, answering phone calls, scheduling meetings, organizing calendars, etc., are just some of the tasks that are essential but don’t necessarily require your attention. These tasks can be done by a virtual assistant who has the right tools and processes in place to manage them effectively. The risk of you missing a meeting or not calling back an important client is minimized with their assistance. They take on administrative responsibilities while you concentrate on your clients.

Legal research

Legal research is a critical job in all law firms. Information is needed at every step of a legal process to support cases when representing clients, whether it is through primary or secondary sources. Lawyers generally refer to the research before deciding how to proceed with a case. But research can take up a lot of time, time that attorneys usually don’t have. It leads to them working for long hours, which can be overwhelming and can decrease productivity. So delegating this task to a virtual legal assistant is beneficial. They have the required skills to carry out the research correctly while keeping the deadlines in mind.

Data entry

Data is essential to all businesses; the companies are dependent on it. A law firm has data in all formats coming in and going out all day. An efficient process of digitizing this data for easy access to lawyers is needed. Lawyers can need forms, agreements, documents, case details, and much such information at any time and delays in accessing it can be detrimental. A virtual assistant can manage the data entry for your legal firm. It can help your lawyers access the right information easily and quickly.

Paralegal

Paralegal plays a vital role in a law firm. They aid and assist lawyers in many ways, whether it be conducting interviews, drafting documents, summarizing depositions, researching, etc. As the documents can now be easily shared and accessed online with tools and software, it makes it possible to have a virtual paralegal. They perform many of the same duties as an in-house paralegal but only do so remotely. Your lawyers no longer need to do the paralegal work along with their own job. Virtual paralegals possess the right qualifications and skills as expected from their job, but they cost less and, therefore, a perfect solution for a small firm.

Reviewing contracts and management

It’s not uncommon that lawyers have to review comprehensive contracts for their accuracy and legitimacy frequently. Once filed, they also need to be managed for any further obligations, renewals, or deadlines. It is a labor-intensive task that can take up a lot of your attorney’s time because there is no room for errors. You can instead hire virtual legal assistants to help you with contract review and management. They can examine the contracts, check for compliance, and keep track of important dates. It allows your lawyers to focus on meeting with clients, building their cases, and presenting in court.
Virtual assistants are a smart solution for small firms to increase their productivity and consequently grow their firms. So, don’t let your lawyers do all the work. Hire virtual legal assistants to help them with their work and hone their focus.