I ran across this article from Law Practice Today that was published in July 2007 about why every lawyer needs a Virtual Assistant. And now one year later, its even more true! They also explain how to find and choose a VA, how to utilize a VA, and what a VA can do for you.

Before you read the article in its entirety, here are a few key points:

“The VA can be a life-saver, and can relieve the stress of ballooning workflow. An established VA relationship will ensure more consistent full-time, part-time, temporary or supplementary help, and will reduce the high cost of hiring and instructing short-term and temporary staffing solutions. You will be working in the crisis with someone who has an existing working relationship with you. Appropriately assigned work sent to a VA can help both you, and any in-office legal assistant, to handle successfully the work load variables with ultimate flexibility. You have spontaneous additional help without the overhead costs, and without the hassle of orientation of temps.”

“Lawyers told us that a good VA saves time and money, and can be a tremendous asset. For the larger firms, VA’s can provide additional support at peak times without need to pay for temp services, and can avoid the time and cost to orient personnel to the firm layout, equipment, systems and procedures. The overhead cost of a VA is based on use, and that means overhead then more closely follows the billable work product.”

Specifically, the article explains:

• How do I find VA services?
• How do I choose the right VA for me?
• What technology do I need to work with a VA?
• How do I explain the task to my VA?
• What can the VA do for me?
• What tasks can I assign to my VA?

The original article is located at http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/tch07071.shtml

Once you’ve read the article and are considering hiring your own VA, contact Advantage Virtual Assistant, a VA specializing in the legal field, to have your questions answered and to get a service rate quote based upon your individual needs.