5 Reasons You Need A Virtual Legal Assistant

Lawyers may expand their practices with the help of competent teams, and they can better assess potential team members by learning about the many positions available to them and the duties that come with each.

This article will discuss virtual legal assistants’ many responsibilities and contributions to attorneys. At the end of this blog, you may make more educated judgments about hiring and working with a legal assistant. You can have a clearer picture of the benefits they can bring to your company.

Is a Virtual Legal Assistant the Same As Paralegal?

If you’ve ever wondered, “What is a legal assistant?” you may be startled to hear that it is also referred to as “paralegal.”

The term “legal assistant” is often used by attorneys and other legal community members to describe those who help in drafting legal documents.

A paralegal also helps draft legal documents and research laws. They also help prepare arguments for court and file appeals with the opposing counsel. Usually, these individuals specialize in one of the following areas: criminal law, family law, or personal injury.

Meanwhile, a legal assistant is the head of an organization’s administrative tasks, differentiating a paralegal from a legal assistant. These individuals handle various tasks, such as answering phones, tracking appointments, and preparing legal documents.

Besides being able to draft legal documents, a good legal assistant should also have the necessary skills to maintain digital databases and look into case facts.

Nevertheless, this differentiation highlights that paralegals and legal assistants perform diverse tasks. A company may fail to meet its customers’ expectations if it fails to appreciate these personnel’ contributions properly.

Why Is Legal Assistant Important?

Legal assistants are in high demand since the number of attorneys in the field continues to rise. Many doors of possibility open up to them, and they may learn new things and improve themselves in many ways.

The objective of a legal assistant is to provide an attorney with the highest level of service possible by doing mundane duties on their behalf. This may boost a legal firm’s efficiency. Most lawyers devote much time to administrative chores, which may be time-consuming.

It’s clear that you have a lot of responsibilities and tasks as a lawyer, and it can be challenging to do everything that you need to do. Having a virtual assistant can help you get more time back on your hands.

A cloud-based solution lets lawyers focus on their law business instead of worrying about administrative tasks and team member benefits. It can eliminate the need for them to spend a lot of money on software and infrastructure.

Functions and Duties of a Legal Assistant

Legal assistants help lawyers by collaborating with other legal team members (including paralegals and lawyers). You may wonder, “what does a legal assistant do?” The duties of a legal assistant include the following but are not limited to:

• Organization and administration of documents.?This may include responsibilities such as acquiring the necessary paperwork for a lawsuit or filing and arranging records.
• Manage customer interactions and service.?Legal assistants may make a law firm’s communications more responsive by answering phone calls and emails, replying to live chats, and welcoming clients. Legal assistants enable organizations to provide a more client-centric service.
• Legal writing and research.?A legal assistant may perform legal analysis and assist with preparing or proofreading legal papers and communications on behalf of an attorney.
• Calendar management.?Legal assistants can plan meetings, interviews, and appointments for clients and attorneys.
• Revenue collection and client billing.?Legal assistants may aid attorneys in sending and processing bills and addressing billing disputes with customers.

How To Look for A Qualified Virtual Legal Assistant

Here are the top skills you can look for in applicants applying for a virtual legal assistant:

1. Technical Skills

One of the main tasks that a virtual legal assistant will be asked to perform is to draft contracts. This can be a tiresome job, especially since many important documents are involved. Having the proper technical writing skills is also important to ensure that the papers are written clearly and error-free.

Also, an experienced virtual assistant should have the necessary skills to operate a computer and be able to navigate the Internet. Aside from being able to use various programs, such as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, this individual should also be knowledgeable about other productivity tools.

2. Communication and Customer Service Skills

Your customers’ inboxes will be flooded with emails celebrating various holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions. From taking client calls to handling administrative tasks, virtual legal assistants maintain the highest levels of professionalism.

A legal assistant may improve a law firm’s communication responsiveness by welcoming clients, answering phones, and replying to emails and live chats. Legal assistants help businesses provide better service to their clients.

3. Organizational Skills

Every business has its own legal contracts, and lawyers are always looking for ways to improve them. They are knowledgeable about the terms and conditions of these contracts.

Due to the increasing number of law firms, they are now more likely to have to hire a virtual legal assistant to review and manage their contracts.

This process eliminates the need to deal with contract management and ensures that their legal documents are always handled accurately.

Thus, being organized is one of a virtual employee’s most important skills. It can be done by making a file system easier for old-fashioned lawyers who can’t keep up with new technology.

Also, your virtual legal assistant (VLA) should be knowledgeable about organizing the work calendar, so they ensure not to miss out on important events and deadlines.

4. Legal Accounting Skills

In the legal field, keeping up with the newest publications and practitioners is essential, and technologies like virtual legal assistants make it possible. In addition, individuals have access to their statements at any time.

It may be tough for attorneys to learn how to manage accounting records properly. That’s because they’re not equipped to do it properly. Because they provide flexibility and expertise that conventional attorneys can’t match, virtual legal assistants may help solve this problem.

5. Transcription Skills

The virtual legal assistant (VLA) will most likely be asked to type up audio recordings. The VLA needs more than just the right typing skills; it also requires the right editing skills. This can be done if they are more accurate and know how to speak in lawyer-speak and jargon in the law field.

Takeaway

If you’re a lawyer who often finds himself squandering work time on non-essential personal responsibilities, hiring a legal assistant may be the solution you’ve been looking for to regain control of your schedule.

When looking for a legal assistant to employ, selecting someone with extensive experience in areas where your business can use their expertise is important.

Our pool of virtual legal assistants may help your law firm grow in strength, productivity, and profitability.?Register NOW for FREE?and start hiring a competent virtual legal assistant that can work on your behalf.