Most lawyers, particularly those just establishing out or working as a single or small firm, have the notion that they must manage everything themselves. This is not ideal since a lawyer’s time should be spent researching case documents/information or defending their case in court. Breaking that wall early on by learning to prioritize delegate tasks is the first step toward understanding how a virtual legal assistant may help you make a difference in your business.
A law firm needs a wide range of talents to do various specialized duties for the firm to operate smoothly. Ideally, you need staff for phones and emails, digital marketing, and administrative tasks.
Virtual Legal Assistant: A Vital Part of the Legal Team
Before, virtual assistants were mainly employed for administrative personal assistant services. However, as businesses become more competitive, global and technology run economies, the need for virtual assistants with a broader range of skill sets and capabilities grows.
Now, business owners hire virtual assistants for different functions like social media management, telemarketing, customer service, web design, accounting, and webinars.
Hiring virtual assistants or VAs increased. Virtual assistants initially became in demand in the real estate sector. Realtors who didn’t have time to perform administrative tasks like arranging appointments, following up leads, and organizing contacts discovered virtual assistants as the practical solution. With a virtual assistant, realtors can focus on income-generating activities.
At present, virtual assistants have become popular with businesses from different industries, including law firms.
Why Law Firms Need Virtual Assistants
The idea of hiring a virtual assistant may be something new to you. The question lingers whether or not you should be working with one. If you find yourself overwhelmed with running the business and working your practice.
Here are some compelling reasons to hire a virtual legal assistant to grow your business without losing focus on refining your practice.
- You can hire a VA based on the workload your firm has. There are no long-term commitments required when working with a virtual assistant. On the other hand, many businesses develop a long-term connection with their virtual assistants as a result of boosting their scalability. It all depends on your business’ capabilities.
- Virtual assistants work remotely so your firm will save expenses on office space, equipment, electricity, and basic benefits.
- Improve the services of your business. Your virtual legal assistant constantly updates on the technologies, which can be advantageous for boosting the productivity of your business. Imagine this: accuracy, effectiveness, and fast services, for a more affordable cost.
- Virtual assistants provide excellent customer service. One task off your plate as virtual assistants are known to handle customer service well. They are committed to ensuring your clients are well taken care of. They stay in touch with your clients through emails when you are on holiday, on birthdays, and other occasions. Virtual legal assistants are always a step ahead of the competition in every area of their work.
- For more high-level tasks, a virtual assistant with a specialized field can prepare accurate transcription work. Lawyers are often burdened with work like recording court hearings and depositions, interviews with clients, witnesses, and other people relevant to the case. Legal firms hire courtside reports to record hearings and have them forwarded to them for transcription. Transcribing audio to text format is a time-consuming process. Transcription of a one-hour clear audio recording with just one speaker will take four hours. Transcription time may take six to eight hours if the audio quality is poor and there are many speakers. A one-hour recording of low-quality audio with numerous speakers and background noise may take 24 to 48 hours. A virtual assistant with a background in transcribing work can do this task accurately and on time.
- Improved overall business efficiency. A virtual assistant can perform all of the duties at once. It is one of the reasons VAs are popular among business owners, they oversee all tasks such as the administration of legal papers or contracts, client management, legal research, and so on, thus increasing the overall efficiency of your law firm.
- Virtual assistants can help you boost your marketing efforts. Virtual assistants are usually experts in handling social media, whereas many busy lawyers don’t have the time or inclination to use this resource to their full advantage.
- Solo practitioners and small legal firms often struggle during their first few years in business and become more of a business person rather than a lawyer as a result. The stress and anxiety of switching roles as a lawyer and business owner may take a toll on family life in the long run.
Looking for a virtual assistant agency to help you out? VALUE Virtual Assistants will be happy to assist you.
