Member Login
Get Started

Attorney Support Services

Fractional Legal Staff: A Real-World Checklist of Things They Can Do For You

by

Running a small law firm is demanding. You wear many hats, juggling cases, managing clients, and overseeing every detail. Hiring additional staff can be tempting, but the prospect of onboarding a full-time employee—the cost, the commitment—can be daunting.

At Amata, we understand your hesitation. That’s why our fractional staffing solutions are designed specifically for small firms like yours, offering the benefits of dedicated support without the burden of full-time overhead.

 

Are You Worried About Your Fractional Staff’s Onboarding?

Perhaps you’re worried about:

  • Integration and Training

    Will a fractional paralegal or admin seamlessly integrate into your existing workflow? Yes. At Amata, we take the time to understand your firm’s unique needs and ensure your fractional staff is fully trained on your preferred tools and procedures. Think of it as a seamless extension of your team, not a disruptive addition. 
  • Accountability and Quality

    Can you trust someone working part-time to deliver high-quality work and meet deadlines? Absolutely. Our staff is comprised of pre-vetted, experienced legal professionals. We prioritize clear communication through daily logs and regular reviews, keeping you informed and ensuring your standards are met. 
  • Cost-Effectiveness

    Will fractional staffing actually save you money? Most definitely! You only pay for the support you need, eliminating the expense of salaries, benefits, and office space for a full-time employee. This allows you to scale your team up or down as your caseload dictates, maximizing your return on investment.

From the moment you engage Amata, our team prioritizes a smooth transition. Our proven onboarding process ensures your fractional staff is quickly brought up to speed on your firm’s processes.

 

Here’s an example of a real-world onboarding schedule we use when working with clients:

 

  • Day 1: Initial Meeting and Setup: We schedule the initial meeting to understand your specific needs and establish clear communication channels. We outline daily and weekly tasks and request access to necessary tools and platforms.

    This initial day is dedicated to getting you familiarized with your fractional team, and understanding your preferred software and procedures. 
  • Day 2: Detailed Instructions and Supervised Execution: We schedule a follow-up meeting to ensure a clear understanding of expectations. This session is recorded for future reference, allowing your fractional staff to revisit the information as needed. Under your supervision, they begin executing the assigned tasks. 
  • Day 3: Independent Task Execution: Gradually your fractional staff starts tackling tasks independently. They can refer back to the recorded instructions for any clarification, freeing you from constant supervision while maintaining accuracy. 
  • Day 4: Tasks Repetition and Output Delivery: The team repeats the tasks to ensure proficiency and consistent quality output. Completed tasks are delivered to you for review, keeping you in complete control of the process.

 

Ongoing Daily and Weekly Review

Amata fosters a culture of transparency and accountability. This commitment is reflected in our ongoing communication practices:

 

  • Daily Logs: Your fractional staff meticulously maintains a daily log detailing completed tasks and progress made. This log provides you with real-time insight into their work and allows for immediate course correction if needed. 
  • Weekly Reviews: Collaboration is key. We schedule regular weekly reviews where you and your fractional staff can discuss all tasks, ensure alignment with your goals, and address any concerns promptly. 
  • Proactive Adaptation: The legal landscape is dynamic, and your needs may evolve. Amata recognizes this. We hold regular meetings to discuss new tasks or changing requirements, ensuring your fractional staff is equipped to handle them efficiently.

Amata: Your Partner in Success

Amata’s fractional staffing solutions are designed to empower small law firms like yours. We offer:

 

  • Flexibility: Tailor your support to your specific needs. Need help with legal research for a few hours a week? Done. Want a paralegal to assist with all pre-trial tasks for a specific case? We’ve got you covered.
  • Focus on Your Core Business: Free yourself from administrative burdens and focus on what you do best – practicing great law.
  • Peace of Mind: Know that your critical tasks are being handled by qualified professionals, allowing you to serve your clients with confidence.

Don’t let concerns about traditional staffing hold you back. Contact Amata today and discover how our fractional legal staffing solutions can streamline your workflow and save you time while providing an accountable team all along the way.

The One-Paralegal Trap

by

You know the feeling. You’re a solo practitioner or run a small law firm, juggling a packed caseload and keeping your clients happy. Then, the email arrives – your trusty paralegal, Sarah, is out sick.

Suddenly, your carefully calibrated workflow explodes. Deadlines stack, discovery requests pile up, and preparing for that upcoming court appearance feels like climbing Mount Everest in flip-flops.

This is what we call “employee failover.” It happens when you rely on one person for everything – drafting legal documents, managing deadlines, conducting research – and they are the glue that holds your practice together.

But as you one day realize, that person is a human being who gets sick, takes vacations, and sometimes even, heaven forbid, moves on to other opportunities.

This scenario is more than just a headache; it’s a recurring nightmare for countless small firm owners in Chicago.

The One-Paralegal Trap

What happens when a key team member, like your paralegal, is unexpectedly out of the office? Missed deadlines, frustrated clients, and scrambling to catch up can quickly disrupt your firm’s momentum. And unfortunately, it’s up to the founder to take on the burden.

If you’re a law firm with one FTE paralegal and they’re out for any reason, you can be in a world of trouble. Forget weekends with the family or catching up on that ever-growing stack of legal journals. Your evenings and Saturdays become dedicated to scrambling to cover for workload. You answer frantic calls from clients asking about the status of their case, desperately trying to maintain the illusion of everything being under control.

This constant firefighting creates a vicious cycle: sacrificing personal time to meet client demands, which leads to exhaustion and can potentially bring your entire workflow to a halt.

The solution is to have a fractional paralegal or admin staff step in on an ad-hoc basis to ensure continuity. This is especially important if you regularly go to court.

Should you just hire another full-time paralegal? If you can afford it and have enough workload to keep them busy, go for it. But let’s face it: Hiring a full-time paralegal comes with a hefty price tag – salary, benefits, office space – which are hard on small firms, especially during periods of fluctuating case volume.

 

Amata’s Fractional Services Save You From the ‘One-Paralegal Trap’

Amata provides access to a network of pre-vetted, experienced paralegals and legal administrative professionals in Chicago. Here’s how Amata can save the day:

 

  • Fractional Talent, Full-Time Support: Imagine having a pool of qualified legal professionals at your fingertips. With Amata, you can hire a fractional paralegal for just the hours you need – a few days a week during peak periods, or even just to cover for Sarah’s vacation. This flexibility allows you to scale your team up or down as your caseload dictates.
  • Instant Employee Fail-Over: So, Sarah gets the flu? No problem. Use Amata’s network to find a qualified replacement immediately. This ensures critical tasks remain on track, deadlines are met, and your clients don’t suffer from the fallout.
  • Cost-Effective Expertise: Amata eliminates the burden of recruiting, onboarding, and managing full-time staff. You only pay for the support you use, freeing up valuable resources to invest in growing your firm.

Don’t let employee downtime be the reason you can’t enjoy a weekend barbeque with your family or attend your child’s soccer game. Amata offers the perfect solution – access to experienced legal talent, on your terms, at an affordable price.

Contact Amata today and discover how fractional paralegals and admin support can empower you to focus on what matters most – practicing great law, with strong profit margins, and enjoying a healthy work-life balance.

Building A Lean, High-Quality Legal Team

by

In 2023 Aaron Hall did a study of some of the highest hourly rates in the legal world:

  • $2,465 per hour was charged by Neal Katyal of Hogan Lovells according to Reuters.
  • $1,965 per hour per hour was charged by attorney Bryce Friedman of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett according to Bloomberg.
  • $1,950 per hour was charged by David Boies of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP according to Reuters.
  • $1,230 per hour per hour was charged by attorney Dirk Vandermeersch of Cleary Gottlieb in Brussels according to Lawyers Mutual.
  • $1,220 per hour was charged by tax attorney Ian Taplin of Kirkland & Ellis according to Lawyers Mutual.

And while some of these rates might seem outrageous (or aspirational, depending on how you look at them), the reality is that running a law firm has become more expensive. From office costs to social benefits and costly talent, it has become more difficult to run a highly profitable law firm without increasing rates for the end user.

 

However, there’s a limit to raising prices. Most law firms need to approach this problem in three ways:

a) Attracting well-capitalized clients who can afford higher rates

b) Focusing on solving bigger, more expensive problems

c) Lowering their expenses without compromising quality

 

That is why today’s article talks about the true cost of in-house support and how Amata’s on-demand services save lawyers money.

 

The True Cost of In-House Support

Office and team are the two biggest expenses law firms incur (besides taxes, of course). Previous articles covered how our flexible office plans save law firms money on office space, providing them wiggle room to scale. Now we have a new service that can save you money on your team-building efforts: Our new Fractional Services Packages.

Because let’s be real: Hiring people today is expenses. How expensive? Here’s a breakdown of 2024 rates in an established market like Chicago:

Associate Attorneys

The National Association for Law Placement (NALP) found that the overall median first-year associate base salary as of January 1, 2023, was $200,000, up to $35,000 from 2021, when the survey was last administered. This means a 21.2% increase in salaries in just two years, raising the bar for solo attorneys and small firms to be able to afford hiring.

Law Clerk’s blog also found that, in general, freelance lawyers are paid about 30-40% of the market hourly rate. This means that if the median salary for lawyers is $135,740 (According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), the average hourly rate is $65,26 per hour and for contract lawyers it would be $85-$120+ per hour.

 

 

Paralegals

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2022 median pay for paralegals and legal assistants was $59,200 per year and $28.46 per hour. A closer look shows that in states like Illinois, an experienced paralegal can charge an average of $96,030 per year.

 

Executive Assistants

According to Indeed, the average salary for an executive assistant in the US can range from $64,986 on average to $103,983 on the high end.

 

 

Besides the high rates, there is an unspoken cost of building a team yourself: Time.

Posting on job sites, vetting applicants, interviewing them, training, onboarding, and then managing talent takes a lot of time. That is another benefit of our “curated-for-you” Fractional Support Services.

If you would like to build a lean, high-quality legal team, contact us to see how we can supply talent at rates you can afford, at just the hours that you need.

Is “Fractional Hiring” Here to Stay for Law Firms?

by

In 1872, there were only 15 law firms with 4 or more lawyers in the US. By 1903, that number had grown to 210, and in 1924 it had grown to over 1,000 (Source). There used to be a time when most lawyers would work in-house in big corporations with rigid schedules. Then, in the 50s and 60s, law firms experienced what’s known as the “Golden Era”. Corporations grew rapidly and demanded lawyers to work inside firms, so they could serve several clients while managing their schedule.

 

Thus, the “Fractional Lawyer” was born. Working part-time, on-demand hours became the norm, and the fixed salaries were replaced with the billable hours and “per project” billing system.

 

This trend of fractionalizing workers has expanded to many other professions since. Today there are Fractional CFOs, CMOs, CTOs, and even CEOs. Businesses benefit because they can hire highly qualified talent without a full-time salary, and workers have more freedom over their hours, workload, rates, and professional future.

 

Here are Amata we are pioneering a new frontier in the history of Fractionalizing: Fractional Support Services for Law Firms, served as a “complete but on-demand” package. Here’s what that means.

 

 

Most solo practitioners and small law firms do not need a full-time receptionist, full-time assistant, or paralegal. Tight budgets and a fluctuation workload mean they need extra support in their business on-demand. What if there was a simple way to tap into this support?

Our new Fractional Support Service Programs allow you to do that. They include five packages plus pay-as-you-need-it pricing options. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how they work:

 

Fractional Support Service Programs

  1. 30 hours/month of Executive Virtual Assistant service and in-person administrative assistance. This is an 80%/20% program, where up to 20% or 6 hours of time each month may be allotted to an in-person administrator for court runs, courtesy copies to judges, trips to the clerk’s office and the vital records office. It may also be used for copy work or any other task an administrator can perform.
  2. 15 hours/month of Executive Virtual Assistant service. This program is 100% Virtual Executive Assistant service, including email management, appointment setting, social media management, and event scheduling, and any other task a Virtual Executive Assistant may perform
  3. 15 hours/month of On-site Admin Support. This program includes court runs, trips to the clerk’s office or Vital Records, copying, scanning, mail preparation, and all other admin support services available at Amata. 
  4. 10 hours/month of paralegal support. This service may include document drafting, document review projects, case management, and any other task a paralegal may perform.
  5. 18 hours/month of paralegal support. This service may include document drafting, document review projects, case management, and any other task a paralegal may perform.

These programs will auto-renew each month until canceled and must be purchased and paid for prior to work being performed. Any unused hours expire at the end of the month and do not roll over into the next month. All monthly overages will be invoiced at the pay-as-you-need-it rates.

 

“Amata makes the transition from large law firm to solo practitioner virtually effortless. Secretarial and paralegal services are available at competitive rates on an ‘as needed, pay-as-you-go’ basis which is ideal for the solo practitioner or small law firm.”

Paula Kaplan Berger BERGER LAW, LLC

 

We believe fractional hiring is here to stay for law firms. Most workers want flexibility in their calendars and most businesses want to pay for only the hours that they need. This setup meets the needs of both, allowing you to grow your law firm while delegating day-to-day admin tasks (at rates you can afford).

If you would like to know the cost of our Fractional Services Packages, click here to contact our team.

Your Employees Are Not Working 8 Hours A Day

by

Recently International Workers’ Day was celebrated across the world, but not in the US. While in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, workers’ day is celebrated (on May 1st), labor day is celebrated in the US (on the first Monday of September).

 

The differences are immense. One celebrates the person, and the other the activity. Without getting into any political or moral discussions, this highlights the culture of glorified work that exists today in the US.

 

The eight-hour workday was created during the Industrial Revolution, after factory workers started to riot against 10-16-hour workdays in Chicago. The day was divided into “eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, eight hours rest.”

But this eight-hour moment didn’t become mainstream until in 1914, Ford Motor Company decided to cut the daily hours down to eight while doubling wages for workers. To everyone’s surprise, this increased productivity.

 

Today, a new movement arises: Should we cut the eight-hour, five-day-per-week work schedules even further? With the advances in technology, is working all these hours even necessary?

 

Your Employees Aren’t Probably Working As Much As You Think

The truth is that most humans cannot concentrate for 8 hours per day. According to field studies, the average worker is only productive for two hours and 53 minutes per day.

 

That means only about 3 hours per day are devoted to meaningful work. The rest are spent checking emails, browsing social media, discussing non-work-related things with co-workers, taking breaks, researching, and making calls.

 

This means that your employees aren’t probably working as much as you think, which is great because it means they can still get a lot done with just a few hours each day. What is hard is realizing that you are likely overpaying for full-time employees, which impacts your clients because you need to raise prices just to stay profitable.

 

 

It is not that your employees are ‘bad’ or have dishonest intentions. Just like them, we probably only have 3 hours every day to do truly productive work. So what should we do, given this reality?

 

The New Way To Work

What people are realizing is that there are smarter ways to work. If we trim everything in our workdays that isn’t our core functions (such as emails, managing social media, answering calls, etc), we are left with just a handful of tasks that are within our zone of genius. These are the tasks where we can have the most impact, that we enjoy the most, and what ultimately we get paid for.

 

This is why at Amata we created Fractional Support Services. Most small law firms will not need a full-time paralegal, virtual assistant, and on-site administrative staff. What they need are flexible packages that allow them to hire support on demand (hourly), so that their in-house team can focus on their core responsibilities and become more productive.

Some of the benefits of hiring fractional (part-time) support are:

 

  • Save 60% compared to a full-time employee
  • Take mundane tasks off your daily to-do list
  • Spend more time working with your clients
  • Work with a team to support your practice, not just one or two employees
  • No more time or money spent recruiting
  • Zero employee benefits costs
  • Scale team up for busy periods, scale down when done
  • No more payroll to cover during slow periods
  • Get expertise to help organize your days and reduce the anxiety created when you feel under pressure
  • Make more client deadlines without sacrificing work/life balance
  • Make time to take on more clients

This removes the bottleneck on your operational needs while maintaining flexibility on costs. You can scale up and down without needing to pay for full-time employees, so your full-time associates and key employees can do the most profitable work that they love doing.

 

 

You don’t need a large hiring budget to get operational support for your law firm. With Amata’s new Fractional Support Services, you can hire the specific help you need at affordable rates, and only pay hours actually worked.

Click here to learn more about the different packages we offer!

Improving Client Retention With Done-For-You Relationship Nurturing

by

There’s a story of a realtor who became Michigan’s top realtor by doing one thing really well: Building relationships. Instead of going door to door bugging people, he would keep a list of all his clients’ birthdays and favorite restaurants. When the client’s birthday arrived, he would send them a handwritten note with a coupon code to claim a dessert at their favorite restaurant.

That was it. No advertisement, no expensive marketing, or secret selling secrets. People would be shocked that this person (whom they have seen once or twice) would remember their birthday, and immediately refer him to the next person looking to sell their home.

By simply sending a special gift on people’s birthdays, he became Michigan’s top realtor for several consecutive years.

 

 

You probably know this, but relationships are the key to attracting and retaining clients. Long-lasting business relationships are built on trust, affinity, and going the extra mile. The question is, how can you nurture your relationships while also leveraging your time?

 

Enter Outsourced Relationship Nurturing

There are certain things that only you, as a founder and lawyer, can do. You are the only one who can go to networking events, create strategic relationships, and lead the strategy on cases. But one of the things you CAN delegate are micro-experiences that delight clients.

 

Small gestures like sending birthday greetings, remembering significant events like your client’s mother’s surgery, sharing insightful articles, and sending occasional thank-you cards might seem insignificant, but they can have a profound impact. These actions, which require minimal investment, can set you apart from the competition, forge deeper connections with your clients, and solidify their loyalty.

 

Not only will they be more likely to stay with you, but they’ll also be inclined to recommend your services to their network, expanding your reach and influence.

 

Most founders genuinely care about their clients, but the challenge often lies in finding the time to nurture these relationships effectively. This is where leveraging the support of a part-time virtual assistant can be transformative. By strategically delegating the task of relationship nurturing within your law firm, you free up valuable time to focus on core business activities. This not only enhances client satisfaction and loyalty but also has a direct positive impact on your bottom line.

 

 

Designing An 11-Star Experience

One of the things that has made Airbnb so successful is, in the words of their founder Brian Chesky, “scaling a magical experience.” When they were thinking about how to create a thriving company that would revolutionize the entire hospitality industry, they came up with the 11-star customer experience.

“What would it take for me to design something that you would literally tell every single person you’ve ever encountered?” Asks Chesky.

 

What would a 5-star experience for a law firm be? Maybe it is entering the office and being told to wait in the lobby. A 6-star experience might include a drink while the client waits.

 

Now, if you thought about a 10 or 11-star experience, it could include things like picking up clients at the airport on a Rolls Royce, listening to them with extreme care, solving their issues promptly, and going the extra mile on every single one of their requests. The point is to find the sweet spot between overdelivering for clients and creating a wow experience, while also being able to replicate this experience and sustain it over time.

 

So ask yourself: If there were no limits or constraints, what would you do for clients so that they couldn’t help but speak about you to every single person they encounter?

 

 

Building Relationships At Scale

Most lawyers are busy already. How can they find time to remember their clients’ birthdays and send them thank-you notes?

 

With Amata’s new Fractional Support Packages, you can hire an executive virtual assistant, an in-person administrative assistant, and paralegal support just for the hours that you need. No more overpaying for hours that you don’t need. You can pay as you need it with our flexible services that scale up and down to accommodate to your growth and seasonality.

 

By outsourcing these minor yet impactful details, you’re standing out and ensuring you remain at the forefront of your clients’ minds. This strategy also cultivates a loyal client base that will continue to seek out your services and enthusiastically refer others to you for years to come.

 

With Amata’s on-demand, fractional support, you can nurture your most important business relationships and create a direct ROI — Without the necessity of committing to a full-time hire.

 

Click here to learn more about our Fractional Support Services!

Starting Your Own Practice? Here’s How Amata Saves You on Costs

by

Starting your own practice is both exciting and scary. You envision all the things you want to do, achieve, and create, but at the same time the road to getting there feels uncertain.

That is why today we want to show you a simpler, more cost-effective way to start your law firm: Amata’s full-service law firm programs.

 

The 2 Biggest Costs Law Firms Incur

Achieving profitability is a constant balancing act between increasing revenue and decreasing expenses. In the beginning, when you probably have only a handful of clients, you want to keep a close look at expenses. This is what creates the positive cash flow to invest in team and infrastructure, so you can grow your business.

At Amata we have served attorneys for more than 21 years. That is why we designed unique solutions to reduce your two biggest expenses: Hiring and office space.

According to the 2020 Report on the State of the Legal Market by Thomson Reuters and Georgetown University’s Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession, law firms’ biggest expenses are:

 

  1. Personnel Costs: This includes salaries, benefits, and bonuses for lawyers, paralegals, administrative staff, and other professionals. They typically represent the largest expense for law firms, accounting for around 55% to 60% of total expenses.
  2. Office Space: Rent or mortgage payments for office space can be substantial, especially in prime locations. Additionally, expenses related to utilities, maintenance, and insurance also contribute to office costs. Office space and related occupancy costs account for approximately 10% to 15% of total expenses.
  3. Technology Infrastructure: Law firms invest heavily in technology for case management, document storage, billing, and communication. This includes software licenses, hardware purchases, IT support, and cybersecurity measures.
  4. Marketing and Business Development: Law firms often allocate significant funds to marketing and business development efforts to attract new clients and retain existing ones. This may include advertising, website development, networking events, and sponsorships.
  5. Professional Development and Training: Continuing education and professional development are essential for lawyers to stay updated on legal developments and maintain their expertise. Law firms may incur expenses for training programs, seminars, conferences, and certifications.
  6. Litigation Costs: For firms engaged in litigation, expenses such as court fees, expert witness fees, deposition transcripts, and travel costs can be substantial.
  7. Insurance: Professional liability insurance is a significant expense for law firms to protect against malpractice claims. Additionally, firms may purchase other types of insurance coverage such as general liability and cyber liability insurance.
  8. Administrative Expenses: This includes costs associated with office supplies, postage, printing, and other day-to-day operational expenses.

 

As you can see, personnel costs and office space can account for up to 70%-80% of a law firm’s expenses. If you can reduce costs on these two items, you give yourself a massive advantage over every other competitor in your market.

 

 

How Amata Saves You On Personnel and Office Expenses

Our full-service law firm programs are designed to do three things:

 

  • Give you access to everything you need to grow your law firm, including paralegals, virtual assistants, administrative staff, conference rooms, and more.

    Whether you’re running a virtual or physical office, Amata provides on-demand (hourly) support services in the form of admin assistants, paralegals, receptionists, and business phone/phone app services that help you cross tasks off your to-do lists and get back to growing your business.


  • Grow in a flexible way that adjusts to the ups and downs of the market. For example, if an associate suddenly leaves, you can drop office space without penalties. Or if you see a surge in clients and need new offices, you can also add them without rigid lease terms that impede it.

    Amata provides 12-month lease terms with a 30-day notice to adjust office space. This allows you to reduce costs and maintain profitability when you need it most.


  • Build a team you can delegate to, so you and your associates can focus on billable hours and enjoying a healthy work-life balance.

    When revenue goes down, you need to reduce expenses to maintain profit. Amata provides flexibility to achieve this in your office space and personnel costs.

 

Fractional Support Services

Our newest package allows you to hire pre-vetted talent at just the hours that you need. There are five pre-made packages, plus a pay-as-you-need-it option:

 

Program Benefits

  • Save 60% compared to a full-time employee
  • Take mundane tasks off your daily to-do list
  • Spend more time working with your clients
  • Work with a team to support your practice, not just one or two employees
  • No more time or money spent recruiting
  • Zero employee benefits costs
  • Scale team up for busy periods, scale down when done
  • No more payroll to cover during slow periods
  • Get expertise to help organize your days and reduce the anxiety created when you feel under pressure
  • Make more client deadlines without sacrificing work/life balance
  • Make time to take on more clients

 

To learn more about our program, contact our team here. Our programs allow you to hire support staff and access premium offices at flexible rates. We are ready to support your new law firm and see you thrive!

Streamline Your Law Firm With Virtual and On-Site Assistants

by

Did you know a virtual and on-site assistant are all you need to drastically reduce your workload and unlock new growth? Over 6,000 lawyers have experienced this with our attorney support services.

And now, for the first time, you can mix virtual and on-site assistants together, adjusting the hours that they work to your exact needs, so you can effectively benefit from the best of both worlds.

Introducing Fractional Support Services

Amata is committed to innovation. For years we have seen how many solo and small law firms NEED support on a daily basis, but they cannot afford a full-time hire yet. Either their finances cannot support it, or they do not have sufficient workload to justify a full-time hire.

Our Fractional Support Services solve that.

We have five package programs, plus a pay-as-you-need-it service pricing, to match the exact support needs of your law firm. In this article we are going to focus on one of the packages, which combines virtual and on-site assistants for the first time.

What a Virtual Assistant Can Do For You

In the book “Buy Back Your Time,” productivity and growth expert Dan Martell explains:

“If you want to see your business explode, hiring an assistant is non-negotiable. It’s the first hire every entrepreneur should make. Every hour you spend on admin tasks, answering emails, managing your calendar, calling the gardener, paying bills, et cetera is an hour robbed from your business, family, and dream life.”

Why is a virtual assistant such an impactful hire for a business owner? It’s because, with proper training, they can “clone” you and take over all those essential but time-consuming tasks that are draining you.

These include:

  • Schedule meetings
  • Calendar management
  • Client follow up calls
  • Research
  • Party planning
  • Book events
  • On-line shopping
  • Social media posts
  • Online Directory management
  • Manage to-do lists
  • Email management
  • Organize events
  • Accounts Payable / Accounts Receivable entries
  • Client collection calls
  • Enter attorney time/expenses
  • Pay invoices
  • Create templates/forms/charts/timelines
  • Updating case management systems
  • Prepare/edit PowerPoint presentations
  • Data entry
  • E-filing

And more!

A virtual assistant becomes a gatekeeper of your time, helping you do more without your personal involvement.

In our new Fractional Support Services packages, you can choose the number of hours of Executive Virtual Assistant support you need and whether or not you need on-site admin assistance or not. No more feeling like you don’t have enough for them to do or that you cannot afford one. Our packages suit your budget and demand as you grow.

What an On-Site Administrative Assistant Can Do For You

While virtual assistants can do a lot, some things need to be done in person and by someone experienced. That is where administrative assistants come in. This all-encompassing position can do anything that is required to keep your law firm running smoothly, such as coordinating staff events, bookkeeping, and making runs to the Recorder’s office, Secretary of State, County and Federal buildings.

Here is a list of services and on-site administrative assistant can handle for you:

  • Daily runs to Courts, Clerk’s & Sheriff’s Offices
  • Obtain certified copies, record liens, deeds, birth and death certificates, apostilles, and more.
  • Pay fees, deliver courtesy copies, and obtain duplicate tax bills.
  • Billing & data entry
  • Greet your clients and answer your phone
  • Notary services
  • Document witness
  • Electronic filing services
  • Document delivery
  • Translation/interpreter services (documents, remote, and on-site)
  • Skip tracing
  • Social media posting, Google Analytics monitoring, posting articles, and creating reports

The reason why Amata’s administrative assistants can do so many of these things is because they are specifically trained in the legal industry. They have worked with other law firms for years and will know the ins and outs of managing your back office.

With our new Fractional Support Services packages, you choose to have an in-person administrative assistant on an 80/20 basis. This means that 80% of the time is allocated to a virtual assistant, and the remaining 20% to an in-person assistant. They will coordinate daily court runs, deliver courtesy copies to judges, keep vital records in your office, and also greet clients on your behalf.

By combining virtual assistants with on-site administrative assistants, you get the best of both worlds. You can drastically cut hours, allocate new time to grow, and increase profits without the risks of a full-time hire.

Amata’s support team allows you to get comfortable using the same staff member all the time, without carrying them on your payroll. You only pay for the hours they work for you and you never have to deal with employee benefits or payroll taxes.

If you would like to get started, contact our team today and we will give you all the information to hire your first (or next) virtual and on-site administrative powerful match.

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.

Can’t Afford to Hire a Team? With Fractional Services, You Probably Can

by

One of the hardest things as a growing law firm is the catch-22 situation of needing to hire talent in order to grow, but not having the funds in order to do it. Many times, the founder is fully booked, knows he needs support in order to scale, but isn’t sure if his finances allow for a new hire.

We understand. Hiring full-time staff can be quite expensive, especially considering all the benefits that they are entitled to.

But what if there was a way to hire top talent for your law firm at precisely the rates that you can afford right now?

A New, More Flexible Way to Hire

The job market has been undergoing a change for the last few years. Hiring a full-time employee is no longer the most common or even preferred way to hire. In fact, according to World Bank indicators, nearly 46.6% of the global workforce (1.57 billion people) are “self-employed.” This means that almost half of the workforce are freelancers working with flexible arrangements that suit the demands of both the freelancer and the companies.

For example, let’s say you are spending way too much time researching cases, drafting documents, checking facts, interviewing witnesses, and communicating with clients. A well-prepared paralegal can take all these things off your plate, but hiring a full-time paralegal with 3+ years of experience costs between $60,370 and $97,100 in the state of Illinois.

When looking at that rate, you might be thinking:

a) “I do not have the funds to hire this person right now.”
b) “I could hire them, but my profitability would go through the root.”
c) “I could hire them and my profit margins could sustain it, I just don’t know if I have enough work available for them.”

In either of these situations, you will feel overwhelmed by the decision and probably put it away “until you’re ready for it.”

The problem is that your number of to-dos keeps growing, and you are constantly being pulled into activities that are not the highest and most productive use of your time (like preparing affidavits.) This is the catch-22 situation we referred to in the beginning, and can leave a law firm owner stuck for years working too much time for not enough profits.

Hire Top Talent for Your Law Firm Without Hurting Profitability

That’s when Amata’s Fractional Services come in. With them, you can hire paralegals, executive virtual assistants, and in-person administrative assistants for just the hours that you need. We have five different packages to fit the amount of available work you can delegate right now, and the budget that you can devote for this new hire.

Imagine having a paralegal with 20 years of experience working only 10 hours a month on your cases. You could delegate the most important parts of your cases, such as interviewing witnesses and managing clients, while you focus on networking with your higher-tier clientele, the overall strategy on cases, and spending more time doing what you love.

You could also have 30 hours a month of support between an Executive Virtual Assistant and an in-person Administrative Assistant. Your virtual assistant works 80% of those hours, helping manage your calendar, return client calls, schedule appointments, plan events, make travel arrangements, and more. In the meantime, your in-person assistant takes over the daily runs to courts, Clerk’s & Sheriff’s offices, obtains certified copies, files applications, delivers courtesy copies to judges, and any other task that requires your physical presence.

These are just two of the five pay-as-you-need-it packages Amata offers as Fractional Services. If you would like to see a detailed explanation of these five packages, including what they include and their discounted hourly rates, click here to learn more.

The fastest way to grow your law firm is to delegate all the things that are not contributing directly to your bottom line, so you and your attorneys can focus on billable hours, while everything else is taken care of. In this way, you can do your highest value and most energizing work, reduce your hours, and still be able to protect and grow your profitability.

If you would like to learn more about how our new Fractional Services help you do this, contact our team today and we’ll take care of you.

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.

Get the Exact Support Your Law Firm Needs to Grow

by

Have you ever held yourself back from hiring a team member because you do not know if you will have enough work to keep them busy? 

Many solo practitioners and small law firms are choosing to do the work themselves instead of delegating it for this very reason. They dream of the day when their cash flow and workload will be enough in order to start delegating, scaling, and getting their time back, but they tell themselves “this is a luxury that I don’t yet have.”

For this very reason, Amata has released a powerful program that opens a new possibility: Hiring legal support staff now, for only the hours that you need it, and at reasonable rates that your budget can support.

This article will explain our new Fractional Support Services Program and how it allows you to stop waiting and start building the law firm and life that you want today.

 

How To Operate Like A Big Firm, Without Being One Yet

Most solo practitioners and small law firm owners come from a corporate background. They have experienced what is like having a paralegal drafting documents for them, conducting research on critical cases, and coordinating court hearings and mediations. They know the time relief that having an administrative assistant or a VA to handle all their client communications and administrative procedures creates. That is how AM250 firms get the most profit out of every team member: The lawyers focus on billable hours, while the support staff covers all the other tasks for them.

After all, “it takes a village” to see a lawyer succeed. Imagine if you could delegate all the menial tasks that are taking up your time, and then focus on only your highest impact activities, like billable hours, strategic networking, and enjoying time off. How much more productive, profitable, and energized would you be?

“Amata makes the transition from large law firm to solo practitioner virtually effortless. Secretarial and paralegal services are available at competitive rates on an ‘as needed, pay-as-you-go’ basis which is ideal for the solo practitioner or small law firm.”
Paula Kaplan Berger, BERGER LAW, LLC

Fractional Legal Support Services

Our new program allows you to hire legal support on a “pay as you need it” basis. Many solo practitioners and small law firms are holding themselves back from hiring (because they do not need it full-time), and this program fixes this forever.

There are five pre-made programs, and the option to also pay-as-you-need-it. Pick the one that suits you best!

Hybrid 30

30 hours/month of:

  • Executive Virtual Assistant Service, and
  • On-site Admin Support

This is an 80%/20% program, where up to 20% or 6 hours of time each month may be allotted to an in-person administrator for court runs, courtesy copies to judges, trips to the clerk’s office, and the vital records office. It may also be used for copy work or any other task an administrator can perform.

Investment: $900/month (a 39% discount from hourly rates.)

Virtual 15

15 hours/month of:

  • Executive Virtual Assistant Service

This program is 100% Virtual Executive Assistant service, including email management, appointment setting, social media management, and event scheduling, and any other task a Virtual Executive Assistant may perform.

Investment: $506/month (a 25% discount from hourly rates.)

On-Site 15

15 hours/month of:

  • On-site Admin Support

This program includes court runs, trips to the Clerk’s Office or Vital Records, copying, scanning, mail preparation, and all other admin support services available at Amata.

Investment: $731/month (for a 25% discount from hourly rates.)

Paralegal 10

10 hours/month of:

  • Paralegal support

This service may include document drafting, document review projects, case management, and any other task a paralegal may perform.

Investment: $1050/month (for a 12.5% discount from hourly rates.)

Paralegal 18

18 hours/month of:

  • Paralegal support

This service may include document drafting, document review projects, case management, and any other task a paralegal may perform.

Investment: $1620/month (for a 25% discount from hourly rates.)

 

These programs will auto-renew each month until canceled and must be purchased and paid for prior to work being performed. Any unused hours expire at the end of the month and do not roll over into the next month. All monthly overages will be invoiced at the pay-as-you-need-it rates:

    • Paralegal  $120/hour
    • On-site Admin  $65/hour
    • Virtual Executive Assistant $45/hour

Learn more about our Fractional Support Services Program here.

The Fastest Way to Grow Your Firm and Escape The Time For Money Trap

Most law firm owners want to generate more revenue and serve more clients, but are capped by their personal time. They simply do not have more hours in the day to build their team, streamline their operations, and create those strategic relationships that will take their law firm to the next level.

With our Fractional Support Packages, they can finally bring an experienced team on board, at rates that suit their budget. No longer do you have to choose between a full-time or nothing: You can now bring experienced paralegals, virtual assistants, and administrative staff at just the hours that you need.

In other words, you can start operating like a bigger, more profitable law firm, and clean your calendar from all those tasks that do not add directly to your bottom line or happiness.

Our Fractional Services can be paused at any moment and scaled up and down to match the exact demand and budget that you have at any time. If you would like to experience a new way to grow your firm without having to do all the work yourself, contact our team to get started today.

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.