For the legal sector
Until you’ve worked in the legal sector, particularly in private practice, you can’t fully understand the quirks and oddities of law firm life!
But here’s the bottom line. Which task is most likely to help you achieve this month’s target?
- Drafting – whether that’s the complex new Wills for Mr and Mrs S or the lease required by Mr J by the end of tomorrow; or
- Administration and follow-up tasks – maintaining filing systems and policies and procedures, taking care of regular admin tasks and following up with the various prospective clients that you’ve recently quoted.
Although the second task is essential for maintaining order and ensuring future work for your pipeline, by allowing yourself to focus your time on the complex legal drafting, a job that only you can do, you’re deploying your own professional resources in the right direction (see our blog about Captain Kirk and the Tribbles). By outsourcing the back office tasks and chasing up of prospective clients to somebody familiar with the workings of a law firm and client care processes, it’s a win-win – you’ve finished the drafting in good time (a tick on the list for this month’s billing), your business is ticking along as it should be and you’ve got some shiny new clients waiting in the wings, thanks to the good work of your Virtual Assistant.
Maximise your chargeable time
It’s easy to feel that you need to chase every late payment, respond to every client query and undertake all legal research yourself (we know, we’ve been there), but by working with a VA with legal experience who has survived the quirks of law firm life, you can have peace of mind that these tasks are being carried out the way you want them to be, leaving you to maximise your chargeable work (and possibly leave the office a little earlier once in a while).
Remote working
The function of legal secretary no longer needs to be carried out by somebody sitting outside the Partner’s office. Modern technology makes it possible to work completely virtually, in fact we work with many clients who we have never met in person. We use Skype, telephone, e-mail, online sharing platforms such as Trello and Microsoft To Do and even good old dictation, to make the working relationship a great success. We also support clients by working within their bespoke case management systems. Work can be delegated to a freelance Virtual Assistant on an ‘as and when’ flexible basis, without adding to the firm’s long-term salary commitment. You pay for the support you need, when you need it, and nothing more.
To discuss how we can free you from the backlog of work and help you to keep on top of your workload in the future, please contact us for a no-obligation chat on 07970 955535 or e-mail us at jen@businessowl.co.uk.
Our Blog has some useful articles relating to the legal sector, including:
