Lawyer’s functions are best as members of a team and no lawyer can do everything. A paralegal or administrative assistant whose qualifications and skills meet your needs will effectively extend the reach and quality of lawyer’s practice. Attorney can hire someone to work full time on his payroll. However, technology increasingly offers an effective alternative as a virtual assistant.

Virtual assistants (VA) are paralegals or other administrative specialists who work offsite and online, creating work product with the specifications of the lawyer and adapted to the practice of law firm. They represent an extension of outsourcing lawyers and law firms have for years. Once the outsourcing was limited to email services and file storage. More recently it has come to include transcription of voice files for depositions, representing support for billing, data entry, graphics litigation support and legal research. These outsourced services are transparent to the client – to the extent that can now be done in India.
The relationship with a virtual assistant is complex and rewarding. As an independent business owner, the Virtual Assistant is neither an employee nor subordinate. Virtual assistants are more like an accountant or business consultant with whom the lawyer has a continuous working relationship. Become familiar with its practice and in line with their business needs as well as any service provider hired by a substantial period of time.