When attorneys receive consistent telephone calls, they often consider it a good problem because it means business is thriving. However, high call volume can present a challenge without the proper staff in place. With only a small percentage of calls progressing to qualified leads, attorneys and their support staff don’t have time to answer calls for much of the day. If your law office staff feel overwhelmed with phone calls that take you away from other duties, consider the many benefits of Florida virtual legal assistant services for lawyers.

When attorneys receive consistent telephone calls, they often consider it a good problem because it means business is thriving. However, high call volume can present a challenge without the proper staff in place. With only a small percentage of calls progressing to qualified leads, attorneys and their support staff don’t have time to answer calls for much of the day. If your law office staff feel overwhelmed with phone calls that take you away from other duties, consider the many benefits of  Florida virtual legal assistant services for lawyers.

What to Expect as a Client of Our Florida Virtual Legal Assistant Services

The medical industry was the first to use answering services beginning in 1923. However, the legal profession has appreciated its benefits as much as the medical profession. 

When you register with our Florida Virtual Legal Assistant services, we locate as many independent contractors working in a virtual receptionist’s capacity as you need. With a virtual legal assistant in Florida answering your law firm’s calls, you never have to worry about missing a potential lead, important client calls, or inquiries from others in the legal profession. 

Other Duties Performed by a Florida Virtual Legal Assistant

Working with our Florida Virtual Legal Assistant Services means much more than always having someone available to answer the phone. Here are just some of the duties you can receive help with from a virtual receptionist in Florida:

• Data entry
• Schedule appointments for attorneys and manage their calendars by notifying them of their daily schedule.
• Answer email inquiries from potential clients and simple requests from current clients.
• Listen to transcriptions of court cases and interviews and type the information into a legal document.

Since working as a Florida virtual legal receptionist requires more advanced skills than a general answering service position, we hire agents with both education and experience. Due to this working arrangement’s self-employed nature, most legal virtual assistants in Florida obtain at least an associate degree or program certificate to remain competitive.

Benefits of Working with Virtual Legal Assistant Services in Florida

As an attorney, most hours you work must be billable to profit and reach your financial goals. Although answering the phone, data entry, and other administrative tasks are necessary, some administrative tasks are not billable. Therefore, it makes sense to outsource the duties of a virtual legal assistant in Florida whenever possible. 

A virtual relationship with a legal assistant offers several benefits to both parties. The independent contractor with our Florida virtual legal assistant services has the flexibility to set his or her schedule with you while working for other clients at the same time. Although self-employed virtual receptionists do not receive benefits, most feel that they can control when they work and for whom outweighs employee benefits. They also consider that most attorneys can pay them higher wages due to the lack of overhead expenses.

For law offices, utilizing an answering service for lawyers means significant savings on the cost of hiring one or more in-house employees. Depending on your organization’s size, hiring a full-time receptionist obligates you to offer health insurance and other costly benefits. You must also abide by several complex tax regulations from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including payroll reports. Fortunately for businesses in Florida, the state does not collect income tax. 

When a regular employee needs time off, you not only pay vacation hours but must find someone to replace him or her at additional cost. Even if you do not bring in a temporary worker, pulling an employee from another department to take over receptionist duties means that they cannot complete their usual duties. Some other benefits of working with a Florida virtual assistant to consider include:

• You do not have to make the required employer contribution to social security, Medicare, workers’ compensation, and unemployment insurance.
• Recruitment, interviewing, training, and onboarding of new employees is a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. Our Florida virtual legal assistant services do all the background work for you to ensure that we recommend only those with high character along with the required skills and experience. Virtual assistants typically need less training because they have invested in outside education and specialize in serving legal clients.
• Your clients never need to know that they are speaking to someone working from a home office because the receptionist acts as a representative of your law firm. However, be sure to ask your potential virtual assistant in Florida about any possible distractions they might have when answering the phone, such as children or pets. We recommend establishing your expectations for a home office environment before you begin working with a Florida virtual legal assistant. 

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