Best Virtual Paralegal, LLC’s Checklist for Attorneys wanting to hire a self-employed paralegal 2019

By: Holly A. Sheriff, MSLS , Editor:  Lawrence A. Constance, BME, AS

In the last decade, the legal community and technology have finally caught up with my vision for Best Virtual Paralegal. On February 2, 1991 over a year after I started freelancing, I set the original mission in motion when I drafted a small business plan on a napkin with the following phrase at the heart of my crazy idea:

Since 1998, technology has played a huge role in our small Mom and Pop enterprise. In fact, in the last 21 years, because there have been so many advances in technology, our company spares no expense when it comes to intergrading tools into our day-to-day operations. When you are searching for a virtual paralegal company to assist your firm you want to look for a company that has embraced technology without sacrificing safety, communications, mobilization features, and cost efficiency.

Stop throwing money away by supplying tools and legal research portals for paralegals

In the last few years, I have heard horror stories from colleagues and clients about what other freelance paralegals expect attorneys and law firms to provide to the “so-called virtual/freelance paralegal”; at the expense of the law firm. We don’t want to see any law firm fall victim to the “so-called freelance paralegals who do not cover his or her own business expenses”.

When it comes to shopping for a virtual paralegal, you need to ask the prospective company if they use paid versions of the following internet safety tools:

A top-notch virtual paralegal company should be well-trained in using and deploying all of the above internet safety tools.  The company should not charge your law firm for its subscriptions and the cost of the deployment of these features.

Secure Mobile Features are important. Did you know there are affordable secure communication tools virtual paralegals should use?

When working with a virtual paralegal, communication is super important! You should anticipate that there are new challenges on the horizon that you never thought of before. When your firm is speaking with a virtual paralegal, you’ll want to ask if the paralegal:

Buyers beware; in recent years we have come to find there are many freelance paralegals out in social media land that think it is okay to use his or her employer’s software and phone lines to render services to other law firms. Virtual or freelance paralegals should not use any tools or equipment owned by another law firm or person.

Other questions you may want to ask 

Nationwide paralegal companies should have all the same communication tools as your law firm. You should not have to pay or provide access to your phone systems. Virtual paralegals should pay for all the customary office communication tools they need to render services to you and your clients.

At Best Virtual Paralegal, LLC we believe cost efficiency should be at the core of our services. Therefore, we believe that when you are looking to retain or hire a self-employed paralegal, one of the rewards your law firm should enjoy is NOT paying for tools on behalf of a paralegal.

It should be noted that there are a few exceptions to every rule. Depending on your type of law practice and the software you use to prepare documents, the Family Law Software, and BestCase Software does not typically sell their products to paralegal companies.

Therefore, these software companies typically provide a free virtual seat for you to share with your virtual paralegal, subject to the terms and conditions of your licensing agreements with each respective company. Free virtual seats may not be available in all markets. For more information, you should visit each company’s respective websites.

In addition, during your search for a virtual or freelance paralegal, you should seek a company that supplies and pays for its own:

The only things you should expect to pay when working with a reputable virtual paralegal are:

All other business-related costs such as finance charges, interest fees, and credit card machine charges should be paid by the paralegal company as a cost of doing business. You and your clients should not have to pay or reimburse a paralegal his or her company’s customary business-related expenses.

Before you start looking for a paralegal service provider, sit down and calculate what you would expect to pay to have an office for an employee, then take a look at our list. By the time you finish your comparison, you should see substantial savings in operating costs.

Find out what Best Virtual Paralegal, LLC can do for your firm contact us today !

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