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Virtual Assistants and Law Firms

We are in the midst of a technological revolution and suddenly everyone has access to the newest and latest technology. School children have smart phones with more computing power than the computers that put the first rocket on the moon. Despite this abundance of new technology there is still a lack of acceptance by some professions to adopt these new technologies and instead they are slow on the uptake despite all the benefits it offers them.

One profession this reluctance to embrace new technology is very evident in is law firms. They are notorious for being very “old school”, and in a recent survey by Solicitors Journal, 15% of law firms still choose the postal system as their main form of communication. The questions remains: how can law firms use new technology, and importantly use virtual assistants, to help them with their work and bring them into the 21st century.

The main issue with law firms adopting technology (as is with many other professions) is usually their inability to make an informed judgement about how best to utilise the technology that is available to them. This can make them concerned about what could potentially go wrong and can blind them to the benefits of adopting new technology.

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One of the great benefits of hiring a virtual assistant is that you can use them as and when required, so when you are busy they can utilise their services but in quieter periods you can dispense with their services, unlike a normal employee. This could be highly beneficial to law firms, as they will have seasonal periods where they are busy and others where they are quiet, and they could utilise the flexibility of virtual assistants to aid their business.

Virtual assistants are also very versatile, which could be very valuable to law firms. Traditionally in a law firm you would have one employee for one role and another for a different role. Virtual assistants can help with virtually anything, such as copywriting, proof reading, office administration, call handling, event planning, updating websites and more.

We have already discussed how useful virtual assistants can be for law firms, so how does a virtual worker go about convincing such businesses that they would benefit from the flexibility and convenience a virtual assistant can provide? The key is to educate the client rather than sell them your services. Law firms – and many other business – are unwilling to take risks or change how they manage their business or staff, so the key to getting them on board is to highlight all of the benefits that you as a virtual worker can offer.

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One major obstacle to businesses outsourcing work is that quality control is often perceived to be harder to manage when the work is produced externally, so one of your main objectives would be to reassure them that this would not be the case. As a virtual assistant you are able to offer the businesses a range of financially driven advantages that normal employees could never do. If you can reassure the client that you are professional, reliable and produce work to a

consistently high standard, you will stand a much better chance of securing work.

So when approaching law firms and lawyers about the services make sure you help educate them on your service rather than sell them. This will help them to discover themselves the benefits you can offer them rather you telling them. A lesson learnt is much better than a lesson taught. When speaking with firms make sure your knowledge is up to scratch with new technology and legal trend/ news, this will help reassure them you know what your talking about. A great way of doing this is reading up on legal magazines likes Managing Partner, which is full the latest legal news and could be helping when meeting and speaking with lawyers and law firms.

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(by Aedan Kiernan)

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