Hiring a Virtual Legal Assistant in Your Law Firm

What is a Virtual Legal Assistant?

A virtual legal assistant is a remote employee who helps lighten the workload of law firms. 

A VLA can handle a lot of the day-to-day grind, like sorting out legal documents, digging up research to back up cases, chatting with clients, scheduling meetings, and keeping track of billing.

Virtual legal assistants don’t have the geographical and time limitations that in-office assistants have, which means they can do work for you anytime and from anywhere.

What makes them fit for the job is that they’re built or trained specifically for legal work. This means they’re familiar with legal jargon, processes, and, importantly, keeping things confidential.

What Do Legal Virtual Assistants Do?

Legal virtual assistants take on a variety of tasks that help law firms run more smoothly and efficiently. These may include:

Document Preparation and Management

Many virtual legal assistants draft and prepare essential legal documents, including contracts, wills, and pleadings. They often start from templates or under the direction of an attorney to make sure each document is tailored to specific legal requirements.

Another important thing they do is review these documents for accuracy, consistency, and compliance with local laws and regulations. However, your VLA may initially need supervision from an attorney or paralegal.

Additionally, virtual legal assistants organize and manage electronic filing systems, ensuring all documents are securely stored and easily retrievable. 

Legal document management includes handling the e-filing processes with the court and seeing to it that all submissions meet the necessary deadlines and requirements.

Legal Research

In some law firms, a remote legal assistant is part of the research process. These assistants delve into case law, statutes, and legal articles to gather precedents and other relevant materials that support an attorney’s argument.

Their research isn’t limited to just legal theories, they also stay up to date on regulatory changes that could impact ongoing and future cases, particularly in dynamic fields like corporate, employment, and environmental law.

Plus, VLAs fact-check all documents to ensure that every citation, reference, and factual claim is accurate and properly sourced, which helps maintain the integrity of legal practice.

Client Communication

Many lawyers simply don’t have time to communicate with clients directly, and they often leave that task to virtual legal assistants.

They often serve as the first point of contact for clients, setting up initial meetings and handling routine inquiries. This role extends to managing ongoing communications, keeping clients informed about the status of their cases, and making sure they feel supported throughout the legal process.

In this way, virtual assistants help maintain strong, trust-based relationships between clients and the law firm, which can contribute to higher client satisfaction and retention rates.

Case Management

Virtual legal assistant services are excellent when it comes to keeping cases organized and on track. VLAs keep all the case-related documents and emails tidy and up to date in a digital file system.

They’re also on top of all the important dates and deadlines, making sure that everyone involved knows what’s due and when so nothing slips through the cracks. 

This kind of support is a must for keeping cases moving smoothly and helping lawyers stay focused on the legal work rather than administrative tasks.

Meeting Coordination

Like a standard virtual assistant, a legal virtual assistant can coordinate meetings for lawyers. They schedule everything from client consultations to team strategy sessions. Also, they make sure everyone has the info they need, such as the time, place, and agenda ahead of time.

If there’s a hiccup, like a need for a video call setup or a last-minute room change, a VLA is on it to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

Time Management

Many lawyers are so busy that they don’t even have time to manage their own time. This is where a virtual legal assistant can come in handy.

VLAs can monitor the clock, track billable hours, and ensure that all time spent on a client’s work is recorded accurately. Such time management helps the firm stay transparent with clients about billing and ensures that the firm captures all the revenue it’s entitled to.

Social Media Management

A VLA can take charge of creating and organizing content that aligns with your firm’s branding and communication goals. This involves drafting posts, curating images, and even creating basic graphics.

Plus, they can schedule these posts for optimal times so that your content reaches your audience when they are most active.

A VLA can also monitor these platforms, track responses to posts, and engage with comments and messages. Responding to inquiries and comments helps maintain a positive and professional image for your firm, which can help build trust and engagement with potential and existing clients.

Does Your Law Firm Need a Virtual Legal Assistant?

There are many clear signs that your firm needs administrative support, but they may not always be obvious. Here are some signs that it might be time to find a virtual legal assistant:

• You’re Overwhelmed with Administrative Tasks

If you or your staff find yourselves swamped with paperwork, scheduling, and other routine administrative duties, a VLA can help lighten the load.

• Missed Deadlines Are Becoming an Issue

Missing deadlines can lead to lost revenue and dissatisfied clients. If your firm struggles with keeping track of all the critical dates and deadlines across multiple cases, a virtual assistant could help manage your calendars more effectively.

• Client Communications Aren’t as Timely as They Should Be

Timely and effective communication is key to maintaining client satisfaction and trust. If responding to client queries, scheduling follow-ups, or keeping clients informed about their case status is overwhelming your current staff, you need a VLA to take over.

• You’re Looking to Cut Operational Costs

Hiring full-time staff is expensive, especially when considering salaries, benefits, and other overheads. A VLA can perform many of the same functions at a fraction of the cost, which can provide a cost-effective solution to your staffing needs.

• Your Firm Is Scaling Quickly

If your firm is growing faster than you can hire qualified staff, or if you are dealing with fluctuating workloads, VLAs offer a scalable solution. They can adjust more easily to increased demands without the need for significant changes to physical office space or long-term employee contracts.

• Inefficiency Is Stifling Your Firm’s Growth

If inefficiency is holding back your firm’s potential—whether it’s due to outdated processes, slow document handling, or poor time management—a VLA might be just what you need to streamline operations and boost productivity.

The Benefits of Virtual Legal Assistant Services

While virtual legal assistants typically take over background tasks, their work offers significant benefits for your legal services. Hiring a virtual legal assistant can give your firm the following:

Increased Productivity

VLAs free up lawyers and paralegals to focus on more complex, billable work by taking over routine and time-consuming tasks. This shift can significantly increase a firm’s overall productivity and allow legal professionals to concentrate on case strategy and client advocacy.

Cost Efficiency

Employing a VLA is generally more cost-effective than hiring additional full-time staff. They can be engaged on a flexible basis, and you can scale their services up or down based on the firm’s current needs. This is particularly beneficial for smaller firms or those experiencing fluctuating workloads.

Better Client Service

VLAs can manage client communications and respond to all client inquiries quickly. This level of responsiveness improves client satisfaction and can improve the reputation of the firm, which can ultimately lead to more referrals.

They also help maintain organized client records and follow-ups so that no details are missed and that clients feel valued and well-served.

Improved Accuracy and Compliance

A good virtual legal assistant can improve the precision of critical legal tasks like billing, case reporting, and legal filings. VLAs see to it that everything adheres to legal standards and meets deadlines.

Such attention to detail minimizes the risk of mistakes and reduces the likelihood of penalties due to non-compliance.

Positive Work-Life Balance

Burnout can affect even the best lawyers, and the legal profession is notorious for coming with heavy workloads. If your lawyers are suffering from poor work-life balance, it may be time to find legal support.

VLAs allow legal professionals to manage their workloads more effectively, which can promote better work-life balance. In turn, this can lead to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates among staff.

What to Look For in a Legal Virtual Assistant

Once you know what your legal practice needs, it’s time to find a VLA who will complement your firm. Finding the perfect virtual legal assistant can be easy if you know what to look for.

Here are some important skills and characteristics a virtual legal assistant should have:

• Legal Expertise and Experience: The ideal VLA should have a background in legal work or a good understanding of the legal industry. This includes familiarity with legal terminology, procedures, and the specific needs of a law firm.
• Strong Technological Skills: Since much of a VLA’s work will be digital, proficiency in technology is non-negotiable. They should be adept with legal software tools, case management systems, and office software. The ability to quickly adapt to new technologies and platforms is a huge plus.
• Communication Skills: Whether it’s writing emails, handling phone calls, or drafting documents, excellent communication skills are a must. A VLA must be able to convey information clearly and professionally to clients, court personnel, and within the firm.
• Attention to Detail: Legal work often requires a high level of accuracy. A VLA must have a keen eye for detail to manage documentation, scheduling, and compliance without errors. This is important in avoiding costly mistakes that could impact legal outcomes or client relationships.
• Organizational Skills: Effective organizational skills are vital as VLAs often handle multiple tasks and manage various streams of information at once. Being organized helps make sure that no task is overlooked and that it is systematically managed.
• Problem-Solving Abilities: The ability to troubleshoot issues independently and come up with effective solutions is a valuable skill for a VLA. This includes everything from resolving scheduling conflicts to navigating complex document requirements or compliance issues.

Equip Your Legal Assistant With Briefpoint

A virtual legal assistant can take over the most tedious administrative tasks, and the most time-consuming among them is discovery document preparation. However, this doesn’t mean that your assistant should do it manually.

Briefpoint.ai is a generative artificial intelligence tool that drafts discovery response and request documents for you. Instead of spending hours or even days drafting these legal documents, your virtual legal assistant can use Briefpoint to generate them in minutes.

Automate the Discovery Process With Briefpoint

Discovery responses cost firms $23,240, per year, per attorney. $23,240 estimate assumes an associate attorney salary of $150,000 (including benefits – or $83 an hour), 20 cases per year/per associate, 4 discovery sets per case, 30 questions per set, 3.5 hours spent responding to each set, and 1800 hours of billable hours per year.

Under these assumptions, you save $20,477 using Briefpoint, per year, per attorney.

Test Briefpoint yourself by scheduling a demo here.