Introduction
Legal firms usually face a very high workload due to the nature of their work. Lawyers need to handle multiple cases at once, each with different backgrounds, facts, and laws. They require extensive research. All of this keep increasing the burden with no breaks. On top of that comes the big pile of administrative work. Scheduling meetings with clients, maintaining communications, paperwork and creating documents and so much more. You can take a guess on how all of this can and will take up a significant amount of time.
To make things easier, law firms and lawyers are constantly on the lookout for people who can be of huge help. Human assistants have been working under many lawyers for years, helping them with the basic tasks. But Legal Virtual Assistants have been on the rise-bringing in a new standard of efficiency. They are constantly helping transform the legal landscape for the better. Using technology and the blessing of remote work is pushing lawyers to work smarter not harder.
"Empower your legal practice with a Virtual Assistant, the guiding light through complex cases and never-ending paperwork."
But hiring a virtual legal assistant isn’t easy. You need someone who sits just perfect with your work ethic, matches your skill requirement and is almost error free. That is why, we have prepared for you a comprehensive guide before hiring a Legal Virtual Assistant. The best virtual legal assistant for your firm can be found when you are prepared and aware of what you need. Let’s begin!
Table of Contents
Who is a Virtual Legal Assistant?
A Virtual Legal Assistant is someone who works remotely & helps with different administrative tasks in a legal firm or under an attorney. Virtual legal assistants use technology for scheduling, client communications, legal research, and document preparation. They handle tasks like appointment setting, meeting coordination, and paperwork assistance.
Assistance can be provided to you at any time and from any location, as their work is not limited by geographical boundaries or rigid office hours. So no matter the weather conditions or time difference, you will always have a legal virtual assistant at your service. There is also no need for you to provide any additional office space or travel/accommodation fee, keeping you always under budget.
But just because the phrase involves legal, does not mean that they are lawyers or can provide legal advice themselves. They are there to support you and help out with the other mundane or menial tasks while you work on actual legal business.
So basically, a Virtual Legal Assistant is a highly efficient, tech savvy and at-your-service employee.
What Does a Virtual Legal Assistant Do?
Creating Presentations
Presentations are more of what a particular lawyer would want to invest or waste their time on. A day in their life is usually pretty much packed with going courtroom to courtroom, researching endlessly and spending time talking to clients.
So when a lawyer needs a presentation, a Virtual Legal Assistant can be of great help. This will not only save time but also reduces the burden of switching on to a more creative mode. More attention can be then given to core legal duties.
With virtual legal assistant services, your presentations get the attention they deserve, with legal jargons translated and presented in a simpler way. The assistant will usually get to know the purpose of the presentation first, learning the main message you need it to send. In this way they create your presentations on your behalf and just how you would want it.
Legal Research
Flipping through hundreds and thousands of pages and reading through legal pieces of information for hours on end is not easy at all. In the legal profession, you need to keep looking with the sharpest and keenest eye for answers and facts to present in your case. VLA’s are trained to do highly effective research through law databases and resources.
On top of that, they make sure your preparation for the case you are fighting has no errors. There are no outdated theories, only the best and most valuable information. Due to this skill, lawyers can offer their debates more confidently, give much more accurate legal advice and increase their own set of knowledge. You can feel rest assured that your remote legal assistant is gathering helpful information for you. While you work hard on your case.
Calendar Management
Meetings and court dates can be easily lost track of or missed when they are back-to-back. Submissions and deadlines can result in fines or penalties for lawyers if they are missed. A VLA serves as a personal alarm and reminder app for lawyers. It helps schedule and organize important events and meetings efficiently.
Your deadlines can be noted down so that you have no worries. Your scheduling, rescheduling, and even cancellations can be outsourced to ensure that they are on point. Now that your day has been planned and organized, you can focus on what is more important.
Billing and Invoicing
When you have very little free time, you would want to have your administrative tasks offloaded to another person. This can lead to delays, errors and even unpaid invoices and bills. Demanding clients and arranging billing data can be tedious and so your Virtual Legal Assistants come into help.
With experience in managing finances as well, they can handle and write down your billable hours, create invoices, record the services you’ve provided and more. This not only makes sure you don’t ever miss out on getting your hard-earned money, but also maintain a healthy professional relationship.
Court Scheduling
Managing court dates can be quite difficult just because of the number of and different types of cases they handle. Each case has its set of dates, time, hearing and submission deadlines. Missing out on opportunities to win, being under prepared, and even facing legal penalties can result from not managing these dates well.
A virtual legal assistant can carefully manage court schedules by logging down dates in an organized manner. You will have enough time to be always prepared, updated on your next court date, avoid mix ups, double bookings, or late appointments. Your stress is automatically lowered when this is kept in check by an assistant.
Client Communication
Meetings, research, court appearances take up enough of your time. Hence, communicating with clients can be tough. Giving out prompt responses, updating clients, collecting facts and information from the client can all be done by your legal assistant. But they don’t just keep in check of regular communication.
They guarantee clients feel heard, informed and are comfortable in this client lawyer relationship. Your clients will really appreciate this and so will you. Your email inboxes, minutes of the meeting, virtual meetings and more will all be handled without any worries.
Website Management
Law firms and lawyers need to look good online too. Your website is like the face of your business, a 24/7 business card if you will. The more well organized and updated your website is the more your business flourishes. But if your website is shabby and old, with no proper communication channel, your clients will leave before contacting you.
A virtual legal assistant can handle your website by keeping it updated on the services you offer and all your other contact details. Any blog posts you require or website content that needs some care your assistant will take care of that. This will increase your visibility, bring in more clients and overall functionality of the website.
Document Drafting
A lot of time is taken up by drafting legal letters, notices, agreements, contracts, and so much more in bulk on a daily basis. Such documents need to be drafted with attention to detail and a deep understanding of legal language. The drafter should be trained to ensure they are error-free. They make sure that these documents are correct, abiding to the related law, and especially satisfies the needs of the attorney and the case.
You will have a properly managed workload and be stress free about having no assignment missed. The effectiveness and time-saving perks provided by a VLA will really be a plus point for your cost savings and greater productivity. You won’t have to worry about drafting a stack of documents and focus more on getting billed by the hour for more important work
Proofreading
Even the smallest mistake in legal documents can have huge consequences, changing the entire intention or meaning of any clauses you mention. Your case can take a huge hit because of this misunderstanding too. VLAs can take over by proofreading documents and ensuring clarity, accuracy, and professionalism.
They ensure documents are error-free and have a polished appearance. They will keep an eye out for and correct any typographical errors, grammatical mistakes, inconsistencies, punctuations and formatting errors. Your reputation and credibility is well maintained when you have no room for mistakes in your documentation.
Social Media Management
For lawyers, social media is a very powerful tool. Sharing informative videos on different rights and laws makes it an amazing place to show your talents. It is like a direct hotline to let your customers know about what services you offer. In addition, it works well as a reputation management strategy, because providing positive customer feedback increases trustworthiness of a lawyer.
Without investing any time, lawyers are able to be sure that their online presence is properly handled . They can post about your most recent wins, sharing blogs that are related to your field, answering questions and comments. While you are in the court making an argument, you are 100% convinced that your social identity keeps growing effectively and successfully.
Email Management
For a lawyer, email is a common method of communication for updates on ongoing cases, new client enquiries, legal research, and internal discussions. There’s more to it than just sending and receiving emails. On top of that, it includes deleting unnecessary junk mail and spam, keeping check of crucial messages so they are not overlooked.
An overflowing email inbox can lead to missed messages, delayed responses, customer frustration, and even delays in case developments. You can save time and effort by having your legal virtual assistant answer common questions on your behalf. They are also able to schedule emails to be sent at particular times, ensuring that you never fall behind.
Qualities To Look For In A Virtual Legal Personal Assistant
Legal knowledge
The first skill to look for in a virtual legal assistant is in-depth legal knowledge. They should understand legal vocabulary and have a fundamental comprehension of legal systems.
Communication skills
These are essential for managing client relations and drafting legal papers. Such skills should be shown via both written and vocal communication.
Reliability
The legal industry places an importance on confidentiality, therefore a VLA must be reliable and handle sensitive material with the utmost care.
Time management
Due to the frequent time-sensitivity of the legal field, it is crucial to be able to meet deadlines, organize projects, and manage time effectively.
Tech savvy
Virtual Legal Assistants should be comfortable utilizing a range of software tools for document handling and research. They also need to be comfortable with other technologies for other purposes.
Attentive to detail
You need someone who pays close attention to details. Catching errors, typos, and tiny information can make or break a case.
Proactivity
A good VLA anticipates requirements, recognises potential problems, and acts rather than just waiting for instructions.
Problem-solving skills
A VLA should have excellent problem-solving talents, including the ability to resolve schedule difficulties and locate pertinent case laws.
Flexibility
As laws change, the VLA should adapt to new tech, evolving legal requirements, and shifting workloads.
Best Practices for Working with Virtual Legal Assistant Services
Make Good Use of Technology
Digital tools are a game-changer in how you communicate with your Virtual Legal Assistant. Apps like Trello, Microsoft Planner, or Asana help manage tasks. Secure options like Dropbox or Google Drive ensure document privacy.
Continuous Training Is Key
Laws keep changing- so do the way lawyers function. Hence, frequent training in updated legal trends and tools can be really helpful for your VLA, ultimately improving your service delivery. Think of this training as an investment in their professional growth and strategy for you to be consistent.
Offer Performance Feedback & Review
Everyone functions well under appreciation and constructive criticism. A regular review system with your assistant will promote ongoing improvement. Discussing performance and refining strategies can strengthen your professional relationship. In short it will allow your VLA to understand where they are doing their best and where things can get better.
Always Maintain Clear Communication
Clarity in communication is always beneficial. Both the parties need to be aware of how a task should be performed, what is the end goal of it and any other specifications. Crystal clear messages and worded expectations are also very important to avoid misunderstandings.
Establish Trust With Them
Given the delicate nature of legal information, trust cannot be negotiated. To protect data privacy and comply with legal requirements, you should seriously consider involving non-disclosure agreements into your working arrangement.
How Ossisto Helps You In Hiring The Best Virtual Legal Personal Assistant
At Ossisto, we are aware that as a lawyer or an attorney, your plate is overflowing with the burden of work. You need someone who’s got your back, someone who can help streamline your workload without you having to worry a lot. The best talent as virtual legal assistants who are well trained and professionally experienced are provided to you by our strong and dedicated team.
But we don’t just assign any assistant to you. We understand that every legal professional has unique needs. So we match you with the perfect assistant who can offer tailored solutions just for you. With Ossisto, you’re not just hiring help, you’re gaining a partner. Our priority is to help you hit your targets, to help your practice succeed. We find the best talent for you because we know how much your work matters.
Trust us, with Ossisto, you’re always in good hands
Gain additional knowledge about the tools we utilize >>> https://ossisto.com/blog/virtual-assistant-tools/
