What is a Virtual Paralegal?
A virtual paralegal is a highly skilled legal professional that performs the same tasks as an in-house paralegal on a remote and as-needed basis. Despite not being physically located inside your office, we are equipped to seamlessly assist with all aspects of your practice via telephone, fax, email, Skype, etc. using our own equipment and software. All of the firms we work with are pleasantly surprised with the ease and efficiency of working with a legal support professional based at an offsite location. Peachtree paralegals and legal administrative support staff are held to the same ethical and professional standards as in-house staff and produce high quality work product at a fraction of the cost.
Why Use a Virtual Paralegal?
Oftentimes, especially in today’s economy, solo practitioners and law firms of all sizes find themselves facing unpredictable workloads. There may be an excessive quantity of work with countless deadlines to reach or a sluggish, sporadic workload. Whether you need to outsource work occasionally or require ongoing assistance, a virtual paralegal support team is an invaluable asset that will come to the rescue and help overburdened attorneys or understaffed firms manage their caseloads and maximize their billable hours.
In addition to being a simple, efficient and convenient way to get the job done, utilizing the services of a virtual paralegal can increase firm profitability while also cutting costs. Because a contract paralegal is not a traditional employee, the firm has no responsibility to provide insurance, benefits, training, office space or office equipment. Your firm does not pay for idle time during slow periods or overtime during periods of heavy volumes of work. We come with the knowledge and expertise to get the job done right, the first time, and you only pay for precisely that. As with a traditional employee, all work performed by us is billable to your client at your agreed upon rate, thereby generating a significant profit for your firm.
If you would like to read more about virtual legal assistance and how it can benefit your practice, please check out this informative article:
http://www.americanbar.org/publications/gp_solo/2014/may_june/to_boldly_go_outsourcing_virtual_paralegals.html
What can you do for my firm?
In short, pretty much everything and anything traditional in-house staff can do. Although we are not physically located in your office, we have the equipment and ability to seamlessly assist as if we are in the next room. We can answer your incoming calls, screen your potential new clients, electronically process (label and distribute) your incoming mail or backlogged documents, manage your calendar, contact clients or other parties on your behalf and take care of your outgoing mailings. We can prepare correspondence, pleadings, discovery, exhibits and trial binders. We can assist you with social media management and maintenance, marketing your firm and sending out holiday cards and client/vendor gifts. Please visit our website to learn more about our services: http://www.peachtreelegal.com/
What type and size of firm is best suited to receive your services?
We currently provide support for attorneys practicing family law, civil litigation, personal injury, workers' compensation, business and corporate law, construction law, elder law, estate planning, consumer law, landlord/tenant law, labor/employment law and bankruptcy law.
Typically, solo practitioners utilize us for a broader range of tasks that larger firms have the ability to delegate amongst various departments. Thus, our law office management and administrative services are more geared towards solo practitioners and smaller firms. We generally contract with larger firms for overflow paralegal work and assistance with larger projects, such as trial preparation.
How can I submit an assignment?
Attorneys have the option to create a profile under our secure login, where they can submit assignment requests to our virtual inbox, track progress on assignments in progress, view billing history and make payments. Alternatively, assignments can be requested and transmitted by email, fax, mail or by using a cloud-based document sharing program. We will complete the assignment per the attorney's request and return the documents via the preferred method of transmittal by the date specified in the request. Most attorneys opt to send us a form caption page and a form general correspondence page so that we may produce documents consistent to their preferences.
What about confidential information?
Your satisfaction, privacy and peace of mind are of the utmost importance to us. As representatives of your firm, we understand the importance of professionalism and strive to deliver exceptional results while being respectful of highly-sensitive matters under oftentimes emotionally-trying circumstances for your clients. We utilize secure, encrypted services to transmit documents back and forth and do not store any sensitive information on our servers once a job has been completed unless specifically instructed to do so. We are happy to sign confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements at your request.
What are your hours of operation and what can I expect as far as turnaround time?
We are in the office Monday – Friday from 8-5 PST but are happy to accommodate evening, weekend and rush assignments as needed. We take great pride in producing accurate, timely and professional work and are easily reachable to answer questions and provide regular status updates throughout the duration of a project. Although we are responsive to emails after hours, attorneys we work with are given a cell phone number to reach us after hours or on weekends in the event of a rush request or emergency.
Generally, assignments are completed within 24 hours of submission, but more complex tasks, such as discovery responses and drafting of more detailed documents may take a bit longer. We ask that when submitting an assignment, attorneys specify the desired date of completion, even if the assignment is not a rush request or facing a deadline.
For more information please visit our website (www.peachtreelegal.com) or call us at 866-218-8010 today!