David* and Stephanie* live in two different states.  They have never met in person, and they rarely talk on the telephone.  Even so, this attorney-paralegal team has been working together for about two years.  They communicate almost daily via email and secure file sharing.  Telephone and text communications are reserved for deadline-related questions or clarification.  Affordable virtual tools are helping David manage his growing solo law practice.

David’s Practice

David is a 20-year attorney specializing in government and administrative law.  David serves as general counsel for a number of local administrative agencies created to manage certain natural resources.   He attends board meetings at the offices of his clients, provides legal advice in day-to-day management decisions, reviews contracts, and supervises compliance with state and local regulations.  To stay abreast of changing law in his practice specialty, David attends legislative planning sessions.  His home office is almost perfect for his mobile practice.

While most of the legal work is in the area of administrative law, David provides litigation services as needed.  The Christmas holidays were approaching, and David was in the midst of preparing an appellate brief with an early January deadline.  He could really use some paralegal help with the table of authorities, checking citations, printing and filing the brief in accordance with the appropriate rules.

As David considered his options for help on the brief, he received confirmation for a new client with multiple active litigation cases.  David quickly realized that he needed support from an experienced litigation paralegal who could track litigation cases, manage deadlines, review documents, prepare administrative records, and other litigation-related tasks.

The Search for Help

David began his search for paralegal assistance on the internet, and his research led him to Digital Paralegal Services.   David consulted with a Stephanie by telephone.  Stephanie was a virtual paralegal in a different state, but she had some roots and legal experience in David’s state.  She had extensive litigation experience and professional certification through the National Association of Legal Assistants.  After learning more about her voluntary certification process, David was assured of her competence level.  Stephanie provided a service agreement with provisions for confidentiality.  David signed the agreement and made a small deposit over the internet. It was just that easy to make arrangements for the paralegal support he would need in the coming year, and he could get back to enjoying Christmas.

Getting Started

After the holidays, David’s first assignment to Stephanie was the appellate brief.  She checked citations through Westlaw KeyCite reports, proofread brief content, and prepared the Table of Authorities.  She checked court rules and contacted the court to confirm filing requirements.  She also made arrangements for printing, binding and shipment.  After receiving final approval of the brief from David, Stephanie made electronic copies to meet the Court’s specifications and served copies on opposing counsel.

David and Stephanie tackled the new litigation files deadline by deadline, coordinating one project at a time.  The first administrative record was completed after extensive document review of both digital files and paper documents shipped directly to Stephanie’s office by David, his client, and other attorneys in the case.  Digital copies of the final record were provided to the judge, opposing counsel and all interested parties.  All 40 volumes of the record totaling over 6,000 pages were printed and bound in Stephanie’s home office.  The volumes were packed for shipping and delivered to FedEx for priority delivery.

Evaluating Year One

During the first year of the attorney-virtual paralegal relationship, Stephanie billed David for several hundred hours of support services.  He had received the paralegal support he needed for his law practice without incurring any of these expenses:  payroll taxes, overtime, holiday pay, vacation, sick leave, coffee breaks, insurance, computer equipment or office space.  David discovered that many of Stephanie’s hours were paralegal work that was billable to his clients.  The industry standard for paralegal billing rates in his location was higher than the contract rate he was paying Stephanie.  David received the paralegal and administrative support he needed, while creating an additional source of revenue at the same time.

Year Two Expansion

After investing a year in the virtual relationship with Stephanie, David negotiated an expanded contract with one of his clients utilizing Stephanie’s paralegal skills. By shifting the client’s less-efficient in-house service to his contract, and utilizing the services of a skilled paralegal, he was able to accomplish the same tasks in less time at a lower cost and still increase his profit.

Stephanie routinely submits pleadings for electronic filing with the courts.  She also provides time and billing support for David, adds litigation deadlines to his Outlook calendar, completes Outlook contact information, and organizes all his electronic files.  By outsourcing these tasks, David has more time for client work billed at his normal rate.

They continue to tweak the virtual workflow to improve efficiency and the bottom line.  David’s files are readily available to him whether he is in his home office, at a client board meeting, or attending a legislative session.   The virtual tools they have chosen are accessible on both David’s and Stephanie’s laptops, desktop computers, tablet computers, and cell phones.

*Names and minor details changed to protect privacy and confidentiality of David and his clients.