6 Tasks to Delegate to a Virtual Assistant
How much of your time is spent on administrative tasks instead of actual legal work?
More than you’d like to admit, right?
You know that you could use some help. But let’s be honest — it’s expensive and time-consuming to hire a new staff member. And, while the idea of a virtual assistant is appealing, you’re worried they won’t understand the specific needs of law firms.
You need a trained assistant who understands the legal field. Someone you can delegate tasks to with the knowledge that they’ll be handled correctly. And it wouldn’t hurt if you only had to pay for the time that you need.
Enter your new virtual legal assistant. These professionals specialize in working in the legal field. They understand the specific needs of law practices. Here are some areas where a VA can help your practice.
Client Acquisition
Client acquisition is essential (and hugely time-consuming) for the vast majority of law firms. Unfortunately, it’s an area that doesn’t directly generate income. You can spend hours of time looking for new clients without making a dime for your practice.
However, when it’s done well, client acquisition can set your firm up for success — after all, you can’t bill a client you don’t have. Virtual legal assistants are skilled at marketing and outreach. And once you have those new clients, your VA can handle your intake process for you. No more time wasted by you or your staff collecting basic information from clients.
Calendar and Email Management
How much time do you spend wrangling your calendar and replying to emails? If you’re like most lawyers, the answer is ‘too much.’ Your VA can maintain your calendar and screen your email for you, freeing you up for other work.
They can also help maintain your firm’s calendar by scheduling appointments, sending reminders, and following up with clients.
Document Management
Few fields are more document-dependent than law. You need your documents created, organized, and stored in a secure and easily accessible way. You may even have specific software for the task. This is one of those areas where general VAs might run into trouble — they won’t necessarily know best practices around legal document management or be familiar with management software.
With a virtual legal assistant, though, you’ll have someone who understands the importance of document management and can assist you in a cost-effective way.
Billing and Payroll
Is billing a hassle for your firm? Trust me when I tell you you’re not alone. It’s necessary for everyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s fun. Why not hire a skilled legal assistant to help with billing and/or payroll? You won’t regret handing these time-consuming tasks off to a qualified VA.
Process Documentation
Process documentation is a vital first step in moving away from doing everything yourself. In order to be able to hand tasks off, you need to know what those tasks are and have instructions on how they should be performed. A virtual legal assistant can help document the processes at your firm and create workflows and knowledge bases that allow you to hand the tasks off to others.
Social Media, Content Writing, and Website Management
Most lawyers are familiar with advertising — for years, law firms have relied on billboards, radio and television, and the Yellow Pages to market their services. And these outbound methods of advertising work (at least to an extent). But more and more potential clients are turning to the internet to research and find attorneys. If you aren’t accessible on social media or via a website, you’re missing out on a big source of potential clients.
But who has the time to maintain a social media presence or update a website?
A virtual legal assistant can help with that, too. They can handle your social media platforms and create content for your website that will educate, engage, and appeal to people who are actively looking for legal help. Plus, a legal VA is knowledgeable about legal advertising restrictions, so you’ll receive content that’s written with professional standards in mind.
A Virtual Legal Assistant Can Do So Much More!
This list isn’t exhaustive — a law firm virtual assistant can help you with all sorts of things. Want to learn more? Contact Back Office Betties today for more information on how virtual legal assistants can help your law firm!
