This article was originally published by Debra Bruce at Raising the Bar Law Practice Management Thoughts and Tips on May 1, 2012.  Debra is President of Lawyer-Coach LLC.   She draws on her extensive legal experience, as well as a degree in Psychology and well over 500 hours in training as a professional coach, to help lawyers improve their management skills, increase productivity and bring in more business

A virtual paralegal relationship is not the solution for every solo or small firm attorney. After consulting with many prospective attorney-clients over the last 3 years, I’ve begun to recognize some repeating patterns. You may not be ready for a virtual paralegal relationship if several of these warning signs resonate:

1.) You don’t like email as a primary form of communication. Virtual paralegals are not physically present in your office. They typically work from a home office or other remote location. Because schedules vary, email often becomes the primary form of communication for making assignments, following up on deadlines, and discussing case strategies. Phone calls and text messages are usually reserved for the most pressing matters.

2.) It upsets you to reach a virtual paralegal’s voicemail. Successful virtual paralegals are business owners just like you. They have a number of clients, phone consultations, and business appointments. Most virtual paralegals do not have in-office employees to help answer the phone. I suggest an email to schedule a phone consultation if you find yourself playing the phone tag game. After a service contract has been signed, many virtual paralegals will provide a cell phone number allowing attorney-clients to bypass business answering services.

3.) You object to signing a typical professional service contract. Attorneys are masters at writing and critiquing contracts. Because we are contracting with “the masters,” most virtual paralegal business owners have hired attorneys to prepare service contracts. While some contract terms might be negotiable, the basic terms of the contract form are probably not going to be negotiable. Don’t expect us to ignore the advice of the attorneys we have paid to represent us.

4.) You state that you want to protect yourself against a bogus lawsuit. Everyone wants to protect themselves against bogus lawsuits, but if you actually make this statement to a virtual paralegal, you are communicating that you do not trust him or her…period. There absolutely must be a foundational level of professional trust and respect for the relationship to have a chance at success. If some level of trust and respect is not present, then you are not ready for the relationship or you are talking to the wrong virtual paralegal for you.

5.) You are not willing to disclose the oursourced relationship to your clients. ABA Form Opinion 08-451, Lawyer’s Obligations When Outsourcing Legal and Nonlegal Support Services, August 5, 2008, provides: “appropriate disclosures should be made to the client regarding the use of lawyers or nonlawyers outside of the lawyer’s firm, and client consent should be obtained if those lawyers or nonlawyers will be receiving information protected by Rule 1.6.” Lawyers may want to add specific language to engagement letters or fee contracts concerning the client’s payments for outsourced services. (For further reading, check the resources listed below.

6.) You expect to pay a highly specialized professional paralegal the same hourly rate you pay an in-office inexperienced hourly employee. The old adage “you get what you pay for” goes without saying. Professional paralegals have invested time and money to achieve their professional status. Paralegals save attorneys time. Clients benefit from more thorough legal representation at reduced fees. Paralegals often do whatever it takes to get the job done, but you should expect to pay paralegal rates if a paralegal is performing the task.

This article was originally published by Debra Bruce at Raising the Bar Law Practice Management Thoughts and Tips on December 13, 2011.  Debra is President of Lawyer-Coach LLC.   She draws on her extensive legal experience, as well as a degree in Psychology and well over 500 hours in training as a professional coach, to help lawyers improve their management skills, increase productivity and bring in more business

The season is upon us! You know — the season of fa-la-la-la-la, holiday decorations, greeting cards, family parties, gift buying, travel plans, winter snow storms, and year-end business.  The list goes on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on….too much to do and not enough time.  If you make it to January 1, then your knee deep in a different set of tasks headed into tax season.

So what is a smart attorney or paralegal to do?  Organization is key, but who has time – or money — right now to implement complicated practice management software?

SOLUTION:  Pick one of these quick, easy and inexpensive online task management solutions.  Register for a free user name and pick a password.  Then start listing everything congesting your over-crowded mind.  Start with just the basics by listing the task and assigning a deadline.   That’s it!!  You can expand your vision and develop a more-rounded solution when the time crunch has eased.

• RememberTheMilk.com: This solution has been specifically recommended for attorneys in several American Bar Association articles, and it is often referred to as RTM (if that milk thing bothers you).  It fits the above-mentioned criteria, but can be further expanded by building as many different lists as you can dream, assigning deadlines, priority levels, repeat intervals, tags and reminders.  The free version will get you started, but you might need to upgrade to a paid version to get the full mobility you want.
• Todoist.com:  Easy integration with Gmail and Outlook, browser plugins and mobile access are all features which might lure you to consider this solution, but I suspect that the ability to create sub-tasks might be the one that snags you.  “Big things are composed by smaller things and smaller things are done by action.”  A call to action for incremental steps is critical to seeing completion of that large project.  You also might get a few more options on your reminders.
• Toodledo.com:  Sub-tasks are also available here along with many options for customizing the alarms and reminders you want.  Folders, tags, contexts and sub-tasks help you zero in at the desired overview level.   Create your hotlist and analyze details to most efficiently complete similar tasks.  Set your alarms and reminders for email, iPhone, Twitter or sms.  This tool will also let you import tasks from other lists you have already created.
• Todalist.com:    Making your list and checking it twice to see who is naughty and nice?  This one might be for you!  This handy tool’s claim to fame is being the easiest web-based to-do-list-maker. Make as many lists as you want, keep them or hand them out to your helpers.
• Egretlist:  This i-Phone app is ideal for those of you having a love affair with Evernote.  Your to-do list syncs with Evernote to keep all your notes, memos and lists in the same place under the umbrella of one system. 

Before you commit 100% by investing lots of time and energy, it is always wise to test the tool on a couple of projects.  If you see that it is making a difference in your perspective and the management of your workload, then go a little deeper.  If not, then try a different tool until you find the one that fits you like a glove.

This week I had the privilege of participating in the virtual professionals round table discussion sponsored by The Paralegal Mentor.  After hearing each other’s stories as to how we ended up as virtual professionals in the legal services industry, the discussion quickly turned to technology.

The very next day Law Technology News published the article Virtual Paralegals Move Legal Work Online.  LTN’s news editor Brendan McKenna covered the bases by gathering information from at least 9 different paralegals, myself included, concerning the definition of virtual paralegal, inspiration for starting a virtual paralegal business, and the technology used.  McKenna even registers the preference of several paralegals to be described as freelance rather than virtual.

Participation in both of these discussions with at least 12 other virtual paralegal professionals led me to the following conclusions:

• A top-notch virtual paralegal should have technology options in her toolbox.
• There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to customizing a technology support package for a virtual paralegal partnership.  Different attorneys, different practice areas, different clients, and different cases require different tools.
• The possible combinations of technology tools are endless, and those possibilities change daily.
• The virtual paralegal should be a knowledgeable consultant who presents options and insists that the attorney be part of that decision-making process. These are not always easy decisions.  An attorney depends on the virtual paralegal for experience and expertise in this area.
• The attorney may not review every available feature, but he should have a firm grasp of what tools are being used.
• The virtual paralegal should stay abreast of software updates and alert the attorney when security weaknesses are discovered by the software manufacturer.  Together a decision can be made as to whether any changes are required.

Technology Toolbox: a few of our favorite things

File Sharing

Sugar Sync

Dropbox

Box

YouSendIt

Document and Word Processing

Microsoft Office

Google Docs

OpenOffice

PDF Files

Adobe Acrobat Professional

Legal Practice Management (Online)

Clio

Firm Manager

HoudiniESQ

Livia Legal

Rocket Matter

Legal Brief Tools

Best Authority

Calendars and Deadlines

Deadlines.com

Westlaw Legal Calendaring

Deadline Direct

Deadline and Filing Calculator

This article was originally published by Debra Bruce at Raising the Bar Law Practice Management Thoughts and Tips on February 16, 2012.  Debra is President of Lawyer-Coach LLC.   She draws on her extensive legal experience, as well as a degree in Psychology and well over 500 hours in training as a professional coach, to help lawyers improve their management skills, increase productivity and bring in more business

This month I want to discuss the most frequent questions I receive as a virtual paralegal.  Questions come from many different directions:  attorneys considering a virtual paralegal relationship, paralegals interested in working virtually, and curious lay people.  Ironically, for the most part, the same questions come from each group.

1.) How did you get started?

A few months ago, one of my attorney clients called on his way home from a hearing to discuss the briefing schedule the judge had outlined for our case.  The judge had also clearly indicated his preference for electronic briefs with hyperlinks to the cited legal authorities.  I docketed the briefing deadline and began to research the additional steps required to provide the judge exactly what he wanted.

The first step for any litigation project is checking the applicable rules of civil procedure, county and local court rules.  I then downloaded several electronic brief samples and carefully examined the document organization.  It was easy to see why any judge would prefer this format.

Litigation support firms offer electronic briefs, but those services can be expensive.  You will definitely need to examine the size of your project and the available budget before deciding how you want to tackle your project.  A third party contractor would mean closing out the brief early to meet the vendor’s time requirements for the project.  This was just a small brief in the grand scheme of things.

After considering my options, I found some guides to help me prepare for my first electronic brief project.  The tips outlined below were very helpful.  I was happy to discover that my Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro software was the only software I needed to complete the project.

Guide To Creating Electronic Appellate Briefs  (Texas Supreme Court)

Video Guide To Creating Electronic Briefs (Adobe)

How Do I Hyperlink Court Briefs? (A2L Consulting)

E-Briefs, eBriefs and Electronic Briefs (A2L Consulting)

Electronic Brief Tip #1:  Be sure to set your PDF document properties so that the bookmark panel will be visible when the document is opened by the reader.  Modify the Bookmark text to clearly outline the organization of your document.  Check accuracy of links between bookmarks and document text.

Electronic Brief Tip #2:  Assemble PDF copies of all legal authorities several days before your deadline.  Give some thought to the download format.  Westlaw and Lexis offer several formats.

Electronic Brief Tip #3:   Be strategic in creating link destination points.  Your link from the List of Authorities will probably point to the beginning of the case.  (Example 1)  A link created in the body of the brief could point directly to the quoted text.  (Example 2)

EXAMPLE 1:

          List of Authorities Hyperlink – Set Link Destination at Case Intro

EXAMPLE 2:

Quoted Reference in Brief Body –

Set Link Destination at Quoted Text Within the Case

Multiple Applications

Creating bookmarks and hyperlinks requires extra preparation time, but the process adds organization and a professional appearance to your finished project.  The process can easily be applied to any lengthy document file including medical records, administrative records, document productions, briefs, pleadings with numerous exhibits and settlement brochures.  Links to the appropriate place in supporting documents will increase the likelihood that the reader truly understands the legal claims asserted on behalf of your client.

Memories are important, and at this busy time of year, we often miss so many easy opportunities to create lasting, meaningful memories with people who matter.   Business relationships are important.  At the heart of those relationships are real people just like you and me – people with families.  People who have only so many hours and days with too many demands to fill that time.   Come to think of it, that sounds like every day in a legal professional’s life!

Why not grant your business associates a little mercy this year?  Give them the benefit of the doubt.  By letting them know this season is important to you, you might just unknowingly grant them permission to actually take time to enjoy the season and make lasting memories with the people most important to them.  These gifts can be budget-friendly, and the value is priceless to the recipient.

Other memories are not quite so easy during the midst of the added responsibilities of the season.  I just returned home after a few days away from the office to help my parents.  You see, my mom has developed dementia issues this year.  Some days are nearly normal, but increasingly the days present new challenges in communication, locating missing items, endless Medicare paperwork, managing medications and doctor visits.  My sister and I chose to create memories one day by setting aside the everyday tasks which will continue to demand our attention for years to come.  We took Mom out for a special lunch and some Christmas shopping.  We laughed and we laughed, but yet, my sister and I cried and cried in silence as we see Mom slipping away – not knowing if there will be another year to create Christmas memories with Mom.

There are 12 more days until Christmas…I hope you will join me in taking time to do what matters most with or for the people who matter most.  I don’t want to live in regret for missed opportunities to create lasting memories.

Debra Bruce is President of Lawyer-Coach LLC. She practiced law for 18 years in several firms ranging in size from international mega-firm Baker Botts, to medium-size and even her own entrepreneurial firm. Debra focused on securities law and mergers and acquisitions, but also consulted to and assisted trial attorneys in a number of cases.  Debra draws on her extensive legal experience, as well as a degree in Psychology and well over 500 hours in training as a professional coach, to help lawyers improve their management skills, increase productivity and bring in more business. She also helps burned-out lawyers redesign their practices for greater fulfillment or transition to a new career.  Debra can also be found on Twitter: @LawyerCoach.

Solo attorneys throughout the United States are hearing the terms virtual paralegal and virtual legal assistant for the first time.  Today’s economy and the desire to keep a home-office practice are leading many solo attorneys to seek more information about virtual support.

What is a virtual paralegal?

The American Bar Association defines a legal assistant or paralegal as a person, qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.  The virtual paralegal meets the ABA’s definition, but this paralegal is also good at working independently and is tech-savvy when it comes to sharing files and information via the internet.  Most virtual paralegals work as independent contractors from a fully equipped home office.

 Why should a solo attorney consider partnering with a virtual paralegal?

Many solo attorneys do absolutely everything for themselves.  While that may be an initial budget requirement for hanging out your shingle, you should consider a virtual paralegal partnership as soon as possible for these simple reasons:

• Many tasks can be completed by a virtual paralegal who charges much less than the  attorney’s normal billing rate.
• Virtual paralegal time may be billable to a client at rate higher than the contract rate charged.
• Attorney time and mental energy is free for other client work at normal billing rates.
• Specialized paralegal support might be available on a virtual basis at a less expensive rate than in your geographical area.

 What costs can I save by hiring a virtual paralegal working as an independent contractor as opposed to hiring a paralegal employee?

      Payroll taxes, employee benefits (holiday pay, sick leave, vacation pay, health and life insurance, 401k or other retirement benefits, professional dues, training expenses, coffee breaks), personal phone calls, overtime, office and parking spaces, computer hardware and software as well as other office equipment; and routine office supplies.

 What expenses are involved?

• An hourly contract rate ranging from $40 per hour to as much as 30% of the attorney’s normal hourly billing rate for the time the paralegal works on your assignment;
• Reimburseable expenses similar to those you would charge your client (including postage, mileage, copies, binding, court costs, research fees, etc.).

 How can I locate the right virtual paralegal for my practice area and jurisdiction? 

• Internet or social media searches (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook) using a combination of the following search terms.  If no suitable results, drop the practice area and state from your search terms, then ask for referrals from the virtual paralegal firms which do appear.

[virtual paralegal] or [virtual legal assistant] + [your practice area] + [name of your state]

• Check with local and state bar associations, as well as other attorneys

 What credentials should I look for when deciding on a virtual paralegal?

You should evaluate the paralegal’s education, training, work experience and  certifications.  Look at the requirements of the certifying organization, exam descriptions and CLE requirements.   Key National Paralegal Association Links will lead you to more information concerning NALA, NFPA, NALS and AAPI.

Most virtual paralegals who have made serious commitments to virtual work have invested in a website.  They often maintain a blog which will help you understand the paralegal’s writing skills.   Social media activity on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook will reveal a clear picture of a paralegal’s professional demeanor.   Ask about client base, current caseload and availability.

A virtual paralegal partnership means you can be solo and successful without going it alone.  Try it, you’ll like it!

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Misty Sheffield, Virtual Paralegal specializing in litigation and real estate in Georgia

Recently, at a local paralegal association meeting, I was surprised to find that I was dubbed by some as their enemy and by others as their hero.  Despite my natural inclination to associate only with my “fans”, I decided to find out why some fellow paralegals seemed offended when they found out I was a virtual paralegal (VP) and not a law firm employee or an in-house paralegal.  After a few short conversations a pattern began to emerge; it was the fear of the unknown.  The paralegals who saw me as their enemy had never worked with a virtual or freelance paralegal before and had several misconceptions about how we work.  I would like to dispel the misconceptions and maybe we can all be friends, or at least most of us.

Misconception #1 – Virtual Paralegals Work Directly for the Public and Take Business Away from Law Firms – Yes, there are independent paralegals in the market place who work directly for the public.  However, virtual and freelance paralegals work for attorneys only, and are very careful not to engage in any type of unauthorized practice of law. All of the work I do is supervised by an attorney.  VP’s take ethics very seriously because their business depends on their reputation in the legal community.

Misconception #2 – Virtual Paralegals Are Really Seeking Full-Time Positions in Law Firms – VP’s are business owners, not temps looking for permanent positions. When a paralegal invests time, money and sweat into starting a freelance business, the goal is to grow that business.  It becomes like a child that a mother will not abandon.  I have been offered a permanent position in almost every firm I have ever done work for.  I have refused the offers because that would be contrary to my goal.

Misconception #3 – Virtual Paralegals Are Expensive and Will Cut Into Firm Profits – VP’s can save firms a considerable amount of money.  My clients pay only for the time I spend on their projects.  Firms save money by not being responsible for my office space, office equipment, vacation time, health insurance and the many other costs of a full-time employee.

Misconception #4 – Virtual Paralegals Make Law Firm Paralegals Look Bad To Their Employers – Many times, attorneys hire VP’s because their paralegals have more work than they can handle, but not enough to justify hiring another full-time employee.  By having a VP relieve some of the workload, the permanent paralegals meet their deadlines, complete their projects, and focus on high priority tasks.  They look great to their employers!

I hope this clears up some confusion about how VP’s work.  Law firm and in-house paralegals should truly view the virtual paralegal as a friend and not a foe. 

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If you are interested in contacting Misty for virtual paralegal support, please contact Digital Paralegal Services at 800.531.7527 or send an email to cribble@digitalparalegalservices.com for more information.

• Get out of town!  This was a business trip, and our first flight was canceled due to the blizzard and 14 inches of snow which visited Oklahoma City.  Unfortunately, it was not canceled until we had made our way from the country into the city on the snow and ice.  We spent the night locally at our daughter Stacey’s home because she lives closer to the airport.  It was a wonderful evening with both of our daughters.  We spend lots of time with them, but staying in their home gave us a different kind of opportunity to truly appreciate the women they have become.  The next morning we caught a 6:00 a.m. flight for Denver.

• Make specific plans and just do it! I think we have great expectations for dream vacations.  Sometimes we are guilty of just waiting for those trips — dream vacations or any vacation — to magically happen.  Making memories and experiencing times of renewal rarely happen without planning and stepping out to take action.

• Make your personal Bucket List! Life can be much shorter than we plan.  Don’t rob yourself of life’s joys by simply saying, “Someday, I’ll…!”  Have you made that personal Bucket List?  No one knows exactly how many days are left in this life.  Imagine the quality of life you might enjoy if you begin doing some of those things on the List now.  The new perspective, energy and zeal you gain could totally change the direction of your personal and professional life.
• Capitalize on the ebb and flow changes in normal daily activities!  The first day our Denver temperature was in the teens.  The clerk at the hotel registration counter excitedly told us we would have a view of the mountains from our room.  For nearly 24 hours, the clouds and snow blanketed the city so my field of vision was limited to immediate surroundings only.  Today is a totally different story.  It’s a beautiful, clear day and the view is breath-taking.
• Frequently change your altitude!  We all experience frequent altitude changes in our emotions as we daily embrace the challenges of the legal profession.  I’ve learned a valuable lesson this weekend.  Physically changing my altitude gives me an opportunity to get a new perspective, new focus and new motivation.  I’ve traveled in a car going up, down and around slick snow-packed local roads allowing me to see that other people were experiencing greater challenges than my own.  I do not frequently travel by air, but every time I do, I feel the weight of everyday challenges lift from my shoulders as that aircraft climbs upward.  Somehow, my true priorities and life balance come back into focus through this experience.  When the aircraft descends back to earth, and the wheels touch that runway, I’m ready to embrace life again with new excitement.  By the time I experience this process again on the return flight home, all those internal thought patterns and emotions which sometimes prevent me from moving forward have been replaced with new energy and zeal.
• Look for patterns! I experienced this same dynamic on a secondary level during this trip.  Our hotel room was on the 22^nd floor.  Each time I rode the elevator down to street level and then up again to the beautiful view of the mountains, I recognized new things in my surroundings.  The first time I looked out that 22^nd floor window, I was totally oblivious to the beautiful church and steeple in the distance snuggled at the foot of the mountains.   I think I was more shaken though that I did not even see the tall slender clock tower which was located in the forefront of my view.  It was even eye-level, but I had totally missed it!

It’s been a wonderful trip, but I am looking forward to returning home to apply these same principles to my daily work as a virtual paralegal and business owner.  I’m going to look at the tasks at hand from different perspectives.

Just maybe I have missed something right in front of me at eye-level which is within my easy reach!

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