What Does a Legal Virtual Assistant Do?

A legal virtual assistant takes the repeat administrative work off your attorneys' desks. Here is the full task list, what to keep with a lawyer, and how to hand work off.

Tasks by area

Intake and new clients

  • Answer new-matter calls and web inquiries
  • Ask your intake questions and record the answers
  • Run the conflict check steps you set and send the result to an attorney
  • Book consultations and send reminders
  • Send engagement letters prepared by the attorney and track signatures

Calendar and deadlines

  • Enter hearings, deadlines and appointments
  • Send reminders to attorneys and clients
  • Coordinate schedules with opposing counsel and court reporters

Billing and collections

  • Turn time entries into draft invoices for attorney approval
  • Send statements and payment links
  • Follow up on overdue balances with the scripts you approve
  • Post payments and reconcile the aging report

Documents

  • Format and proofread drafts
  • Assemble documents from your templates
  • Scan, name and file documents in the matter
  • Prepare packets for attorney signature

Client communication

  • Send case status updates
  • Collect documents and information from clients
  • Answer routine questions with approved answers
  • Route anything that needs legal judgment to an attorney

Software and records

  • Keep matters, contacts and tasks current in your practice management software
  • Clean up old records and duplicate contacts
  • Run the reports you use for the weekly firm meeting

What stays with an attorney

A legal virtual assistant does not give legal advice, accept or decline a client, set a fee, sign for the firm or appear for a client. The assistant prepares and routes that work. The attorney decides it.

How to hand off work

  1. List a week of admin work. Write down every task that is not legal judgment and how long it took.
  2. Write the steps once. A one-page procedure for each task: intake script, invoice follow-up schedule, filing names.
  3. Set up access. A firm login for the assistant, access to only the matters they work on, and multi-factor sign-in.
  4. Name a supervisor. One attorney reviews the work in the first weeks and answers questions.
  5. Measure. Track the attorney hours you get back and the calls and invoices that no longer slip.

ABA Model Rule 5.3, Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistance, makes lawyers responsible for reasonable supervision of the nonlawyers who help them, including people outside the firm. The steps above are how most firms meet that duty. Check your state bar's guidance too.

Legal virtual assistant or virtual paralegal

For drafting, discovery and records summaries you need a virtual paralegal. For prices, read how much a legal virtual assistant costs. Or go back to legal virtual assistant services.

Common questions

What does a remote legal assistant do?

A remote legal assistant handles the administrative work of a law firm from outside the office: intake, calendaring, billing follow-up, document formatting, client updates and data entry in the practice management software. An attorney supervises the work.

What tasks should a law firm not give a virtual assistant?

Anything that needs a lawyer: legal advice, accepting or declining a client, setting a fee, signing for the firm, or appearing for a client. A virtual assistant can prepare and route that work, but an attorney decides it.

What should I hand off first?

Start with work that repeats every week and has clear steps: intake calls, calendaring, invoice follow-up and client status updates. Write the steps down once, then measure the attorney hours you get back.

Tell us what work you need covered

Describe the tasks and the hours. We reply with a match and a price.

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