Your Guide To Working With A Legal Virtual Assistant

Are you a Consultant Solicitor, freelance solicitor or small law firm needing assistance with admin, research and business operations? The answer may be a legal virtual assistant, also known as a legal VA.

Although VA services have surged in the past few years, giving many business owners access to flexible support, some legal professionals are unaware that they can hire a legal virtual service, like Jam, who specialise in supporting their unique needs. Moreover, how this support works in action can be somewhat unclear, and concerns that outsourcing might take up more time than it saves can prevent time-poor legal professionals from reaching out to access these services. So, in response, we’ve created this brief guide to working with a legal virtual assistant, where we’ll clarify the legal support a legal VA can offer, how this works practically and the responsibilities of both parties to one another. Allow us to address some common questions when considering working with a legal VA - 

What is A Legal VA?

A virtual assistant is an assistant who works remotely, usually on a freelance basis or as a contracted service provider, supporting a business or business owner with key administrative tasks, as well as those typically handled by an executive assistant, such as diary management. A legal VA does all this but should also have knowledge of and/or experience working in the legal sector, and can therefore assist with legal research and drafting. Some legal VAs, including us, are also qualified paralegals and so are able to provide legal document and legal contract reviews for legal professionals and law firms.

What Can A Legal VA Do?

Virtual assistants, even those who specialise in law, may differ a little in their service offering, but more will be able to assist you with - 

• Client onboarding

• AML and ID checks

• File opening and management

• Legal drafting

• Document formatting

• Court bundles

• Disclosure exercises

• Legal research

• Website legal documents

• Contract reviews

• Diary and inbox management

• Billing and invoicing

• Minute taking and audio transcription

• Proofreading

Jam Virtual Support offer all of the above and can tailor our services to your needs.

Who Do Legal VAs Work With?

Legal VAs may be independent, work through an agency or operate as a small business. Jam was started by me, Ellie, but as we’ve taken on more clients, we’ve become a three-person organisation. Most Legal VAs, including us, work with law firms, consultant solicitors, freelancer solicitors, barristers and in-house legal teams. Our services are suitable for any legal specialisation, especially those of us who are qualified paralegals. We’re mostly working with litigation, corporate, employment, family, personal injury, medical negligence, conveyancing and probate legal professionals, but are able to work across any field of law.

How Does Working With a Legal VA Work?

The key benefit of working with a virtual assistant, as opposed to employing someone, is flexibility - You only commit to the number of hours needed to get the work done. For example, typically we work on a monthly retainer with our most popular package being around 10 hours per month, and extra ad-hoc support as needed. You are free to scale up or down as required, although some VAs do need more or less notice to accommodate this. In our experience, most clients find they have more work to delegate than they initially expected and, as the benefits of virtual assistance become apparent, many clients increase the scope of work and opt for more hours over time. Frequently, virtual assistance is used to cover maternity leave, staff sabaticals, long-term sickness and other dips in employee availability, as well as periods of increased workload. So, when you outsource to a VA, it might not always be with a long-term mindset. When outsourcing for short to medium-term support, make sure you opt for a more experienced virtual assistant or service provider - One genuinely able to step in and provide an immediate and smooth transition. Check credentials and make sure they’re at the level needed to provide interim services without training or much time to get to grips with your systems, processes, etc. 

Whilst we can’t speak for every VA, generally legal VAs are happy to work within your existing systems, including LEAP, Clio, InfoTrack, Microsoft 365, Dropbox, Google Workspace or other practice management systems. Jam Virtual Services have expertise in all of these and a few others besides, so we’re able to hit the ground running. We also use our own secure equipment, so there is no need to provide anything, unless your firm or practice prefers us to use your systems or hardware. Confidentiality is fundamental to all reputable legal virtual assistants. Sensitive information is handled securely, and those of us with a legal background fully understand GDPR, professional standards, and the need for discretion. VAs can communicate directly with clients, and this will free up your time significantly to focus on case work. For example, we can take over the onboarding process, dealing directly with clients to ensure all the paperwork is in place, signed and securely stored. However, if you would prefer us to work behind the scenes, we’ll happily do so, keeping your operations flowing and you solely client-facing. Whatever works for you!

How Flexible Are VA Services For Law Firms and Solicitors? 

Virtual Assistants who’ve had sufficient experience working in law firms before setting up on their own can generally turn work around quickly. Turnaround times are agreed with retainer clients before commencing, and the hours needed to complete regular work for regular clients are safeguarded for you every month. Ad-hoc or urgent extra work can usually be accommodated, depending on availability, which is one of the reasons Jam virtual services expanded from a one-woman operation to a three-person team, so we have the resources available to assist with those unexpected additional needs. 

How To Get Started Working With A Legal VA

Again, every virtual assistant and legal VA service may work a little differently, but generally, you’ll have a discovery call. This will help the VA or company assess your needs and enable them to recommend a suitable package or bespoke arrangement. After this they’ll be an onboarding process, but you’ll likely be working with a person or company highly skilled in making this process simple. Although professional indemnity insurance is not a legal requirement, it is strongly advised, and most reputable virtual assistants will hold this (we do). After a legal VA is brought on board, they should be able to take over tasks with minimal supervision, leading to no supervision, but this does, of course, depend on experience and the level of qualification. Don’t be tempted to task virtual assistants with work you would usually task to paralegals, unless they are paralegals - it is a specialist area that only some, such as Jam, are qualified to take on. Agree on monthly tasks and operational responsibilities, and be led by the service provider - they know how long these tasks take and how many hours are required to fulfil your needs. It’s common for clients to underestimate how much time is involved in these tasks, so if you’re unsure of whether your quotation is fair, reach out to several services or freelancers for clarity.

Why Hire A VA Instead of Employing An Assistant?

If you’re considering working with a VA, you probably don’t feel you have enough consistent work to need a full-time employed assistant, or perhaps you don’t have the time to invest in settling someone new into your firm or practice. Taking on an employee also means national insurance, pensions, holiday pay, sick pay and other long-term employment commitments, such as career progression pathways. Weigh up what’s the best decision for you by reading our guide - Virtual Assistant Vs Employee: What’s the right support for your legal practice?

Want to find out more about working with a legal VA? With a legal VA, you benefit from both expertise and flexibility. Fill in our very simple contact form, and we’ll be in touch to book a discovery call.