How Virtual Assistants for Lawyers Can Reduce Admin Time and Overhead Costs

So much goes into building a thriving law firm. You need your law degree, obviously. You need a place to practice from, even if that’s the sofa in your home office. You’ll need equipment, membership in your state’s bar association, relationships with judges and other legal professionals, and so much more. 

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You also need the time to handle administrative tasks within your office. We’re talking about all those not-so-sexy tasks that keep your business moving like:

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• Booking appointments
• Answering questions from potential clients
• Collecting lead/client information
• Billing/payment collection
• Replying to texts
• Answering phone calls
• Transferring calls to the appropriate person

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If you’re trying to do it all, you’ll find that you’ll burn out quickly. And in the meantime, wearing too many hats is costing you time and money. Your time is better spent on client-related tasks (billable hours). Anything that’s not billable eats away at your profit margins 

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A virtual assistant (VA) can make the difference between being buried alive under an avalanche of administrative tasks and running a successful law firm with growth potential. Let’s take a closer look at how a virtual assistant can reduce your admin time and overhead costs.

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Reclaim your most valuable asset

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The single most valuable asset an attorney possesses is their time. When used properly, you can focus on high-value tasks that keep cash flowing into the business. When used improperly, it’s simply wasted. If you’re handling tasks like billing, invoicing, and bookkeeping, you’re not focusing enough on billable hours. Without the ability to bring cash into the practice, you can’t offset outflows — creating a deficit. Eventually, that will drain your finances and leave you struggling to stay afloat despite feeling “busy.”

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A virtual assistant can handle these sorts of administrative tasks with ease, leaving you free to practice law. And isn’t that the entire point of becoming a lawyer? 

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Additional research

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How much time do you spend on legal research? Could you repurpose that time into something more productive and profitable? A virtual assistant can help with many aspects of legal research, ensuring that you can focus on other matters while also ensuring that an experienced professional is handling the research.

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However, don’t confuse virtual assistants and paralegals. Paralegals are credentialed legal professionals who can assist with a wide range of client-facing or case-related tasks, including in-depth legal research. Virtual receptionists do not have a legal background, but can potentially provide supportive research.

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Client communication

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Communicating with leads and clients is a huge responsibility and chances are good that it takes up an enormous amount of your time each day. Phone calls, emails, text messages, website chats…they all add up and it can be very easy to discover that the bulk of your day has passed without you billing a single hour. 

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A virtual assistant can handle most of your client communication, freeing up a dramatic amount of time for you to focus on what you do best.

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Fielding phone calls

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Many, if not most, of the calls your office receives aren’t from clients or leads. They’re wrong numbers, marketers, or spam calls. If you track the number of calls you receive each week and the length of time spent answering them, plus the time required to get back on task afterward, you’d be shocked.

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A virtual assistant can become an important defense between your time and worthless (or worthwhile) phone calls. Not only does that safeguard your time and help you reduce your overhead, but it also protects you from spammers hoping to take advantage of you.

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Scheduling appointments and sending reminders

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One of the most overlooked sources of lost time and increased overhead is appointment setting. If you’re doing this manually, you know firsthand just how much it can eat into your ability to handle other tasks. However, the option to allow leads and existing clients to schedule appointments on their own via a calendar embedded in your website is just as problematic, particularly if your calendar isn’t updated regularly.

A virtual assistant can handle all your appointment-setting needs, providing a human touch that your leads and clients will value, while also protecting your valuable time. And it’s not just in scheduling them that you’ll find value in a VA. They can also send reminders by phone, text, and email to reduce the number of no-shows and late arrivals you have, saving you even more time (and sanity).

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But what about the cost?

Doesn’t hiring an administrative assistant mean taking on additional costs? How does that help reduce overhead? 

Yes, it’s true that you’ll need to pay your legal virtual assistant. They don’t work for free. However, the time you recoup without having to handle administrative tasks will more than make up for the cost of hiring a VA. There’s also the fact that not all virtual assistants charge the same. With the right service, you get access to critical services for a fraction of the cost you’d pay for hiring a full-time in-office assistant.

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Which virtual assistant should you choose?

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A virtual assistant can be a critical part of your practice, but which one should you choose? At Smith.ai, we can act as your legal answering service and provide you with access to experienced, talented live virtual receptionists. Our people are available 24/7, so no matter what time a client or lead needs to reach you, we’re there. We can offer all the services you need to run a thriving law firm, from appointment booking to spam blocking, payment collection, and more.

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To learn more, schedule a consultation or reach out to hello@smith.ai.

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