1. Draft Affidavits and motion materials
2. Draft initial retainer letter to a new client
3. Proofread and format a court document
4. Research caselaw and provide summarizing memorandum
5. Update and manage your calendar
6. Review transcripts and highlight critical text
7. Type handwritten notes from a meeting or seminar
8. Convert files into PDF format
9. Balance a monthly bank statement
10. Delete spam accumulated in your email account overnight
11. Sort/answer and/or redirect email messages
12. Transcribe voice messages
13. Make calls to confirm your appointments, engagements, or reservations
14. Create a database
15. Build an email distribution list
16. Create a basic sales flyer or postcard
17. Create a PowerPoint presentation
18. Setup the process for a monthly newsletter
19. Build a custom spreadsheet
20. Follow up research on a client, prospect, applicant, or competitor
21. Book hotel, rental car, and/or travel reservations
22. Mail merge marketing letters

So I was heartened to read this post over at Home Office Lawyer. Grant uses a virtual assistant, so it was no surprise that he is comfortable with the concept. Still it was good to see it so clearly set out and I LOVED the post he referred to by Stephanie Kimbro of Virtual Law Office Technology, LLC. I’d highly recommend you check out Stephanie’s post if you are at all interested in retaining a virtual legal assistant/virtual paralegal for your law practice.

I personally think the most interesting skill noted is the need for emotional intelligence. Winning clients in the modern time is DEFINITELY going to require an ability to truly empathize with and respect clients’ positions. As a businesswoman I always prefer my service providers to understand where I’m coming from.

As for time management I’ll just repeat my favorite advice to delegate, delegate, delegate!!! (Hint, hint - consider a virtual legal assistant - we love to help!!!)

The article, which is about the changing face of solo law practices in Canada, also features some wonderful comments from Susan Cartier Liebel of Build a Solo Practice, LLC fame about how niche marketing could be the savior of solo law practices.

I highly recommend checking out this article, and the blogs of Donna and Susan!

Work and life balance is a common topic in the work world, certainly with many people I know anyway. I know it’s on my mind. I love working - I love the challenge of difficult assignments, I love helping clients, I love the planning process! But without balance between my work life and my personal life I feel VERY stressed. I love my kids and husband and I need time to enjoy being with them. Don’t most of us need time away from work? Maybe we want to go to our kids’ soccer games or go for a long walk after dinner, or maybe we just want to sleep in on the weekends!

So how do we make it all work? For me the answer is starting my own virtual assistant business, but there are many other options!! Part-time work and flexible work arrangements are another great solution. Delegation is key for small business owners. Don’t get bogged down thinking you need to do it all or be everything for your company, balance can be achieved!!

I think balance is an elusive but achievable goal - it just takes having an open mind to doing things a different way. This is the part lawfirms struggle with I think - there is often a tendency to do things as they have always been done, since it has worked for so long. But there is a long list of ways to give your employees some flexibility while still achieving the firm’s goals and providing results for the client:

1. Telecommuting -easily a top choice for workers - it allows work from home or really anywhere. For example a parent home with a sick child can try and get some work done if allowed the opportunity to access work files from home.
2. Part-time work - another great option for some people. Some staff want more time for hobbies, travel, family etc., but they don’t want to give up their career either. I think that as the population ages we’ll really see a demand for this, as people who’ve worked so hard on their careers are ready to loosen up a bit without letting go altogether.
3. Alternative hours - people have different “peak” hours in the day. My husband is a total morning person, I am best midday and I have a friend who works best late at night. If we all work 9-5 the reality is that we won’t all be performing optimally. Workers who can adjust their hours even somewhat to work around their natural inclinations will work harder and will appreciate the trust placed in them to show up and do the job regardless of if the boss is in and working the same exact hours.
4. Flex time - put in extra hours and get time off later, it’s a simple and easy solution and I’m surprised more lawfirms haven’t taken advantage of it. It saves money on overtime costs and allows staff an occasional extra day or even half-day off.

I think the most important thing to note about all the above options is not only that they will be a wonderful benefit to workers but that they all offer rewards for the employer. Win-win in my books!

It’s interesting to me to note that the concerns facing women lawyers are indeed the concerns facing many women in business. We all have to find ways to advance our careers, we all need to find ways to maintain balance and a personal life and we all have to overcome some obstacles along the way.

I think it was particularly interesting to me as just yesterday I was really thinking about what it means, even in this wonderful modern age, to have children and a career. My husband is a wonderful man who does A LOT around the house and with our kids. Still many things have always fallen to me as the mom - making the childcare decisions and the medical appointments, attending school functions (he comes when he can get away from work, but that is not always), etc. When both parents have careers it gets so hard to juggle all the things that need to be taken care of. And like the women lawyers in the article, you realize some things are going to have to give. Usually it’s your personal time - the time you might have spent with friends or on hobbies.

I don’t know if seeing the problems can help change them - but it is a start isn’t it?

I love how real blogging is - that it puts you right in touch with the writer in a format that often allows for discussion and expansion of the original topic. I love that many blawgs give lawyers a chance to demystify what they do and therefore make a case for how useful and beneficial their work can be. Lawyers often have a bad rap in society, but in my experiences working with lawyers I have seen that they care about their clients and they want to help them. They spent years in school and then usually many more years acquiring the experience to handle the cases and work the courtroom and they generally charge a rate that is in accordance with those years of experience and skill. Yet the average person thinks that they overcharge or underperform and why? Because the communication isn’t real when they face off lawyer vs client in a stuffy boardroom in a downtown office. Blawgging lets clients see the person in the law office - the one who works hard and worries about the outcome and who has a responsibility to the client, their staff and themselves to do the job right, even at a higher financial cost.

So keep the blawgging going - it is a wonderful tool and experience for us all.

There are several other great posts featured this week - my top two are:

1. Time Thieves from Physician Entrepreneur
2. Webmaster-1’s post titled 5 Reasons Why Blogging is Beneficial

Enjoy!