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Work-From-Home Lawyer? 5 Things You Need to Outpace Your Competition

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Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s become more common for lawyers to implement a work-from-home model for their law practice. Working from home certainly comes with benefits like less commuting time, flexible work hours, and access to the best snacks in the fridge.

But adapting your law practice to a work-from-home model takes planning and hard work. While working from home can be a welcome transition for many legal professionals, it’s important to have the right tools in place to keep up with the competition and remain relevant in the legal sphere.

Here are our top 5 suggestions to help your law firm operate remotely and still achieve success.

 

#1 Create a Dedicated Work Space

If you don’t already have a home office, dedicating a space for work is a must. Creating a functional, private space helps spark productivity and delineates a boundary between home-life and work-life. Maintaining work / life boundaries is particularly important for your mental health, since legal work is often all-consuming and stressful. When you have a separate work-space it’s easier to set aside your professional concerns and rejoin your family when the day is over.

Although some folks have a tendency to overwork themselves at home, it’s also easy to procrastinate and do chores around the house, watch TV, or get distracted by family or roommates. Having a separate work space enables you to limit distractions and tackle the task at hand with greater efficiency.

 

#2 Focus on Marketing and Advertising

Now that your law office is operating remotely, it’s more essential than ever to advertise your skills to the public. Folks might expect you to have a brick-and-mortar location and may be confused by your lack of permanent address. To combat this confusion, it’s wise to broadcast your availability online.

You can market your law firm by:

–          Making sure your website is full of accurate and SEO keywords the target the types of things your clients are looking for. 

–          Investing in specific ways to point people to your website like advertising on spaces like law organization websites and Google Adwords or creating engaging content to post regularly on social media.

–          Starting an email newsletter with frequent updates and answers to general legal questions.

–          For more ideas on marketing strategy, just ask us! We have partners ready to help you take control of your digital marketing.

#3 Use Video Conferencing Software

Video conferences have become a ubiquitous form of communication. There’s no doubt that online meetings are the new normal and more folks are comfortable navigating online forums. To keep up with the ever-evolving legal world, it’s imperative to have the latest and fastest video conferencing software. 

Double check to make sure your camera is updated, your internet can handle video calls, and your microphone provides sufficient audio. Once you have your video-chat set-up complete, you’ll be ready to take meetings with clients and conduct interviews from the comfort of your home office.

 

#4 Embrace Tools for Collaboration

If you work in a firm with multiple partners, paralegals, and assistants, it’s crucial to maintain fluid communication even when working from home.

  •         Implement Online Chat Services – Instead of relying on text messages or phone calls to communicate, invest in online communication services to keep your team organized and on the same page. This way, you can keep communication all in one place and instantaneously send and receive messages through a secure platform.
  •         Use a Virtual Mailbox – You don’t want to receive business-related correspondence at your personal address. Aside from the obvious infringement on your privacy, receiving sensitive documents at a non-secure location may cause heightened anxiety. A virtual mailbox service provides you with all the benefits of a physical address without the need to pay any rent. Your mail will be directed to a real, secure address and instantly scanned and uploaded to an online server by a licensed courier. A virtual mailbox allows you to view your mail online instantaneously, and you don’t need to worry about packages being stolen or clients sending sensitive mail to a PO box or personal address.

#5 Employ Virtual Legal Assistance

Running a successful law firm entails completing a lot of paperwork and conducting extensive research. To help lessen the load, consider hiring a virtual legal assistant. Virtual assistants, or virtual paralegals, offer your firm the support you need on a case-by-case basis. Instead of hiring a full-time employee, virtual assistants offer all the expertise of highly trained legal professionals on a flexible scale. If you find yourself facing an increased caseload, or are going through a dry patch, you can scale-up or scale-down as needed to receive the support you need to tackle your workload.

 

Work with Amata Law Office Suites

At Amata Law Office Suites, we offer lawyers and legal professionals in-person and virtual law office opportunities. We are dedicated to fostering a community where lawyers can work, meet, and utilize legal resources to improve their business. 

Amata Law Office Suites provides the tools you need to upscale your virtual office, including virtual mailbox services, in-person conference spaces, and professional phone services. Come and join the Amata community today!

Discover our virtual offices in Chicago.

Estate Planning: When you have a child with Special Needs! | THE 1958 LAWYER Podcast

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Gregg Garofalo is the Founding Partner at Garofalo Law Group, he has been practicing law for 20 years with a strong focus on probate matters and estate planning. Gregg talks about when it’s right to do estate planning and what are some basic estate planning one should have outright.

Gregg also talks about estate planning if you have a special needs child, how you can maximize their benefit to give them the best care they can receive from both your estate and the government. Lastly, he talks about how estate planning must be revisited at least annually to review how it can be adjusted to changes in the family’s life, decisions, circumstances, or just life in general.

Key moments:

  • When is a good time to consider estate planning? (7:35)
  • A guardianship estate for your college kids(12:35)
  • Setting up a special needs trust (14:39)
  • Estate planning and COVID, Cryptocurrency, and other changes (22:35)

Follow “The 1958 Lawyer” on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Sticher

MEMORABLE QUOTES

Greg Garafalo

“It’s never early to start planning – literally, we tell parents that when your kids turn 18, they should come in and do the basic estate plan…” – Gregg Garofalo

ABOUT GREGG GAROFALO

Gregg Garofalo, Founding Partner at Garofalo Law Group

Estate Planning

Gregg has been practicing law for the past 20 years with a strong focus on probate matters and estate planning. As a father of a daughter with special needs, he is passionate about educating families on how they can achieve their estate planning goals. As a result of Gregg’s vast experience, character and devotion to clients, the families he serves can rest assured that he will do everything he can to meet all of their expectations. Gregg is frequently appointed by the Court to serve as a Guardian ad litem in Guardianship matters. He is also routinely appointed by the Court as a Special Administrator in complex probate matters.

Gregg is an active member of the legal community, where he is serving or has served in several leadership roles within the Illinois Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association. Gregg is a past Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Probate Practice Committee, where he served two years as Chair. Gregg is also a past Chair of the Illinois State Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division, a member of the Trusts & Estates Council, and starting his third term as a member of the General Assembly after taking the mandatory one year off between terms.

Gregg serves as a member of the Illinois State Bar Association’s mentor program, and a speaker in the area of probate and trusts and estates.

In addition to his passion for law, Gregg works with professional and civic organizations. Gregg has worked with the Children’s Assistance Fund and the Illinois Bar Foundation chairing their annual holiday party, which has grossed over $150,000 during his ten-year involvement. Gregg is also a Past President of the Justinian Society of Lawyers, a past board member of the Italian American Political Coalition, and a board member of the Justinian Society Children’s Endowment Fund. In addition, Gregg volunteers for the Central Illinois Sheltie Rescue.

Website: www.glgfirm.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GreggGarofalo

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregg-garofalo/

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

“The 1958 Lawyer and his 1938 Dollar” still defines the business of law…
It’s time for a change.

If you’re a lawyer, you’re familiar with the ABA article “The 1958 Lawyer and his 1938 Dollar” which gives our podcast its title, and its inspiration. That article was the start of the billable hour for law firms…And the last major change to the business of law, 70+ years ago now. Well, it’s past time for another change.

This podcast is all about bucking the status quo of the business of law. Your host Ron Bockstahler runs Amata Law Office Suites, providing law firms an alternative to the traditional fixed-cost business model that places unwanted stress on attorneys to work long hours that often-times lead to burn out, broken relationships and in many cases substance abuse. Each week he’ll discuss alternatives to the 12 hours days, endless rotation of clerks and paralegals, and the expensive offices leased to impress clients who rarely show up in person anymore. He’ll interview successful lawyers who are doing law differently, and finding a work-life balance while still running a successful firm.

Do you want to find a better way to run your law firm? It’s time for the next big change in the business of law, and you’ll get it here on The 1958 Lawyer.

More episodes of The 1958 Lawyer podcast

Discover our networking events for Chicago lawyers.

3 Considerations for Becoming a Virtual Law Firm

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The COVID-19 pandemic has offered a hard reset to the legal profession. No longer are lawyers confined to big firms in big offices, and clients are happier than ever to take meetings from the comfort of their home computer. Becoming a virtual law firm comes with a host of benefits that can not only benefit your business, but makes your clients more satisfied.

But what does a virtual law firm need to succeed in today’s legal landscape? In this blog, we examine three pivotal considerations when deciding to make the switch to becoming a virtual law firm.

What is a Virtual Law Firm?

A survey conducted in an ABA Legal Technology Survey Report shows that the term “virtual lawyer” means many different things to many different legal practitioners. The most common consensus is that a virtual lawyer lacks a traditional office space. As lawyers have entered the 21st century, the common notion of a law firm has developed and evolved, particularly for solo or private practitioners.

Yet in the wake of COVID-19, the definition has once again evolved, as over 80% of law firms transitioned to working remotely some or all of the time. With this meteoric change, the way lawyers work has changed dramatically, and their tools with it. Nearly every law firm might now be called a “virtual law firm” to some degree.

The unprecedented shift towards virtual business across nearly every segment of the economy has also changed how customers engage with law firms. 

Minimum Requirements for Becoming a Virtual Law Firm

No matter how a lawyer defines a virtual law office, lawyers who use the internet to conduct business must make careful considerations around how they interact with clients. Failing to acknowledge certain aspects of your practice can put you in legal hot water, including:

  • Office Address Requirements
  • Client Engagement
  • Cybersecurity
  • Practicing Within Your Jurisdiction

Office Address

Two different types of office address requirements exist in the legal field: a physical office requirement, and an advertising office requirement. Depending on your state or jurisdiction, these requirements vary widely.

For instance, some states with an integrated bar requirement mandates a physical residence address necessary for Board of Governors elections. These are different from mailing addresses, which often don’t need to be tied down to a working space. In these cases, a physical office is mandatory.

An “advertising office requirement” is an adaptation of the ABA Model Rule 7.2(d), requiring that all legal marketing materials include the name and contact information of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content. Most states have some variation on this rule.

The internet offers a robust network for expanding your client base through online advertising. By targeting online content to prospective clients, lawyers can quickly net qualified leads by leveraging digital marketing strategies based on search inquiries. Before you start practicing law virtually, ensure that you check any office address requirements in your area.

Client Engagement and Cybersecurity

At the beginning of the pandemic, the speed at which lawyers were able to adapt to a new working environment was largely contingent upon whether they were a paper-based or paperless law office.

Paperless law firms provide lawyers with tools that help streamline their day-to-day operations, such as quick retrieval of documents and electronic signature authentication, all without being present in an office setting. Not only can this help put hours back in your day, it can also be of tremendous benefit for those who work off flat fees.

To successfully pull this off in a virtual law office setting, you will need to consider how you will engage with your clients without being present in the same room. Cloud-based client portals are quickly becoming a requirement for keeping a client and their lawyer aligned on a case, provided that due diligence is taken to ensure that their information is safe from cybersecurity attacks. The Illinois State Bar Association has outlined several methods for selecting a cloud-based service provider.

Taking the time to digitize existing paper documents can be arduous, but it future-proofs your legal practice and makes it easier to serve clients in the long-term.

Practicing in Your Jurisdiction

While your practice may be virtual, your ability to practice in different states is not.  Virtual law offices need to be extremely diligent in avoiding the unauthorized practice of law, or UPL.

Even if your business is not actively soliciting clients from other jurisdictions, you can only serve clients in regions you are licensed to practice in. Marketing efforts can usually be tailored from state-to-state, but the best digital strategy you can use to ensure you can serve your clients comes from the intake process.

Whether you opt to use an online form or virtual legal receptionists, your intake process should be clear about what states you can and cannot represent. The more structured this process, the less likely you will represent a client out of your jurisdiction.

Amata Law Office Suites: Providing Tools for Tomorrow’s Virtual Law Office

With more lawyers opting out of a physical office for a virtual one, Amata Law Office Suites provides clients with all of the tools you need to succeed in today’s legal environment. We provide a community where lawyers can work side by side and access the expertise across a wide variety of specializations, which can also be accessed on a hybrid or virtual model. Come in for client meetings as-needed, or utilize our legal services to bolster your business. Virtual receptionists and contract paralegals are all a part of our services, making us the premiere legal office experience. Full program and pricing details available here.

Discover our virtual offices in Chicago.

How to Bates Number or Bates Stamp Documents| PDF Skills for Attorneys

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Bates numbering (or Bates stamping) is a helpful way to keep track of the documents you sent or received in your case. Gone are the days of manually adding that control number to your documents or trying to recall whether you received documents from opposing counsel or from a third-party subpoena.

This inexpensive process is just another way to stay organized and take advantage of the tools in your PDF software.

Basic Questions to Ask and Information Needed

  1. Do the documents need to be Bates numbered in any particular order?
  2. Do any of the documents need to be re-unitized?
    • i.e. Logical document breaks
  3. Are there any designations needed?
    • i.e. CONFIDENTIAL
    • CONFIDENTIAL – SUBJECT TO PROTECTIVE ORDER
    • ATTORNEYS’ EYES ONLY
    • CONFIDENTIAL – TRADE SECRETS
  4. Identify the Bates prefix to be used, the starting number, and the number of digits/places
    • i.e. AMA000001

When Bates numbering documents, you want to be sure each document is its own PDF file.

If you receive a single PDF file that contains multiple documents (like an employment file or insurance claim file), you will need to ask if the document should be unitized.  Unitized means that each document is a separate file.

Best Practice Tip: Never combine multiple PDF documents into one document if you will be uploading documents to a document review system. Each document should be unitized so that you can flag, code, or comment on the individual document.

Steps for Bates Numbering Documents in Adobe Acrobat

  1. Place all documents you need to Bates number in a folder called “originals.”
    You might have a mix of Word docs, email files, and PDFs. You will need to convert all to PDF in order to Bates number them.
  2. Create a target folder called “Bates.”
    This is where you will put all the final Bates numbered documents.
  3. This is where you will put all the final Bates numbered documents.
  4. Then select the “Bates Numbering” option and click on “Add.”

  5. Add all the documents you need to Bates number.
  6. Arrange the documents in the order you want them to be Bates numbered. If you need to move a document up or down the list, select the document and use the “Move Up” or “Move Down.” If you added a document by mistake, simply click on “Remove.”
  7. The settings should match the following.
    Click Ok.
  8. Then specify the formatting.
    Select the font and size you want and check your margins.
  9. Add the bates number conditions.
    Insert cursor into the “Right Footer Text” box and then click on “Insert Bates Number”. Add an alpha prefix and specify the number of digits you want.
  10. Click Ok.
    Adobe’s coding will be inserted in the “Right Footer Text” box and you will see a preview of your Bates number. Make any adjustments here.
  11. OPTIONAL: To add a designation as well, you can add it to the “Left Footer Text” box.
  12. Once you click on OK, the Bates numbering process will begin.

Quality Check

Do a quick final check of your Bates numbered documents to ensure your Bates numbers are in the correct position and any designations are correct. A sample designation and bates number are below.

 

You run the practice while we run the office. Now, that includes expert paralegal support.

Amata Law Office Suites has tripled the Legal Support Services team to add senior paralegals with extensive expertise, over 100 years of it in fact. All led by Tisha Delgado, Director of Legal Support Services.

See how Amata’s paralegals can support your firm while your work from home, downtown, or even in another state. Contact Tisha for a consultation or for assistance.

Tisha Delgado | [email protected] | 312-741-1089

Amata Law Office Suites only provides legal support services to attorneys.

Amata Law Office Suites also offers office space for like-minded lawyers to collaborate and work. We provide our lawyers with comprehensive solutions to many of the problems they face on a day-to-day basis. Alternative Legal Services are offered as part of our model and allow solo or private law firms the resources they need to achieve success in their law practices.

Contact us today to learn more about how Amata can help you. Email [email protected]

Discover our paralegal services in Chicago.

How to Properly Redact Legal Documents | PDF Skills for Attorneys

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Stay out of the news and learn how to properly redact your documents. Personal identity information cannot be included in documents or exhibits that are filed with the court. Make sure you are not inadvertently exposing your client’s information and understand the correct way to redact, especially when using software to help you.

In the PDF Skills Webinar (see video) we covered:

  • Faux Redactions: How the media pulls ‘redacted’ content
  • Properly redacting in different PDF document types
  • Common struggles and how to troubleshoot

Below is the how-to tutorial for proper redaction using Adobe Acrobat.

Correct Redaction Setup in Adobe Acrobat

  1. Open your PDF document and select the “Redact” icon.
    Always use the software’s redaction tool

    which can be found in the panel to the right of your PDF document or in the Tools tab
  2. Once you click the icon, a Redact menu appears.

  3. In the “Redact Text & Images” dropdown, open “Properties” and make sure the redaction color selected is black.
  4. Click OK and you will go back to the Redact menu icons. You are ready to start marking your redactions.

The 3 Steps of Redacting Documents in Adobe Acrobat

Redacting is always three steps:

  1. Select or mark your redaction
  2. Apply the redaction
  3. Save the document

When you hover near the text or area you want to redact, your cursor will become either a selection tool that looks like a plus + or a symbol that looks like a book [I].

  1. Select or mark your redaction
    Select the text with the book tool or draw a box around what you want redacted with the plus tool.
  2. Apply the redaction(s)
    After you have marked a redaction, the blue “Apply” button will become enabled. ONLY click on the “Apply” button when all of your redactions have been marked in the document.
  3. After clicking “Apply” a pop-up box will appear
    Make sure the “Sanitize and remove hidden information” is enabled/turned on and click OK.

    Once you click on OK the redaction is burned in to the document and you see the resulting black box.

    NOTE: You are NOT done. You must now SAVE THE DOCUMENT properly.
  1. Save the redacted document
    You MUST save the redacted document to ensure that the information is permanently removed from the document as well as any metadata.

    Adobe adds the suffix “_Redacted” to the filename and prompts you to save the document.
    Click “Save” and your redaction is now complete!

Remember: Always use the REDACTION tool and redacting is always 3 steps.

  1. Select or mark your redaction
  2. Apply the redaction
  3. Save the document – this is where people are most likely to mess up!

If you simply draw a black box over information in your PDF documents, then you are not properly redacting. The media and all others can still access the information underneath the black box in the PDF.

Want to check if an item is properly redacted?

  1. Open your redacted file
  2. Highlight the area that is redacted and use CTRL + C to copy it
  3. Open a Word document and use CTRL + V to paste

A properly redacted file will only show the non-redacted information. Word may even pick up a picture of the redacted area and show that. No information that is redacted will be able to get grabbed in the copy-paste procedure. If you are seeing information you thought was redacted, your document has not been properly redacted, and you are at risk of exposing said info.

You run the practice while we run the office. Now, that includes expert paralegal support.

Amata Law Office Suites has tripled the Legal Support Services team to add senior paralegals with extensive expertise, over 100 years of it in fact. All led by Tisha Delgado, Director of Legal Support Services.

See how Amata’s paralegals can support your firm while your work from home, downtown, or even in another state. Contact Tisha for a consultation or for assistance.

Tisha Delgado | [email protected] | 312-741-1089

Amata Law Office Suites only provides legal support services to attorneys.

Amata Law Office Suites also offers office space for like-minded lawyers to collaborate and work. We provide our lawyers with comprehensive solutions to many of the problems they face on a day-to-day basis. Alternative Legal Services are offered as part of our model and allow solo or private law firms the resources they need to achieve success in their law practices.

Contact us today to learn more about how Amata can help you. Email [email protected]

Discover our paralegal services in Chicago.

Chris Dreyer: Powerful SEO for Attorneys without Compromising Authenticity | THE 1958 LAWYER Podcast

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Developing powerful SEO for your law firm doesn’t mean catering to the robots at the cost of the human being. Attorneys can differentiate their practices, help people, and gain backlinks. Chris Dreyer explains SEO, new options for attorneys, and offers case examples of brand and law firm marketing that offer personality robots could never mimic.

Quick answers to hot questions:

  • What is SEO? (09:35)
  • On-site SEO & Off-site SEO (11:46)
  • What’s working right now for law firm marketing (19:32)
  • The 3 funnels of content explained (24:22)
  • Time frame till SEO shows results (27:26)
  • What Chris Dreyer sees for the future of legal marketing (40:25)

Follow “The 1958 Lawyer” on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher

MEMORABLE QUOTES

“We were looking at different strategies to bring exposure to a firm, but also to acquire backlinks… We wanted to kind of be a win-win all-around approach and one of the things that we did was we would offer a scholarship to either a local community or nationwide….[Financial aid pages] would link back to the listing, not because they thought they were doing SEO but because it was good for the consumer.”

“You first have to be able to at least know the basics and the foundation in order to evaluate if the SEO specialist you’re working with is even doing a good job. And you need to be able to speak the same type of language and understand those KPIs and goals that everyone’s striving for because SEO is not immediate like Google ads.”

“It is the most challenging circumstance when [law firms] don’t have something that’s different. It makes it really hard for any type of marketing to have the extreme effectiveness that it could have.”

“If you’re really focusing on quality and helping the consumer and not just creating fluff pieces of content, [but] where it’s excellent resourceful content; that can really go a long way in the Evergreen approach.”

 

CONNECT WITH CHRIS DREYER

Chris Dreyer is the President and Founder of Rankings.io, an agency that specializes in personal injury lawyer SEO. His agency ranks personal injury firms for the most lucrative keywords in your industry with end-to-end SEO, from content creation to technical optimization.

“Most personal injury attorneys struggle to rank at the top of the search results. That’s why I’m here: I help elite personal injury law firms generate motor vehicle and serious injury cases through Google’s organic search results.” Chris Dreyer

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisdreyerco/

Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/

KEEP READING

Have comments, questions, or concerns? Contact us at [email protected]

“The 1958 Lawyer and his 1938 Dollar” still defines the business of law…
It’s time for a change.

If you’re a lawyer, you’re familiar with the ABA article “The 1958 Lawyer and his 1938 Dollar” which gives our podcast its title, and its inspiration. That article was the start of the billable hour for law firms…And the last major change to the business of law, 70+ years ago now. Well, it’s past time for another change.

This podcast is all about bucking the status quo of the business of law. Your hosts Ron Bockstahler and Kirsten Mayfield run Amata Law Office Suites, providing law firms an alternative to the traditional fixed-cost business model that places unwanted stress on attorneys to work long hours that often-times lead to burn out, broken relationships and in many cases substance abuse. Each week they’ll discuss alternatives to the 12 hours days, endless rotation of clerks and paralegals, and the expensive offices leased to impress clients who rarely show up in person anymore. They’ll interview successful lawyers who are doing law differently, and finding a work-life balance while still running a successful firm.

Do you want to find a better way to run your law firm? It’s time for the next big change in the business of law, and you’ll get it here on The 1958 Lawyer.

More episodes of The 1958 Lawyer podcast

Need marketing support? Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.

Home Office Deductions: A Refresher on the Rules

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Woman working from home

The Internal Revenue Code (IRC) allows taxpayers to claim a business deduction for expenses arising from the qualified use of all or part of a residence, as long as certain conditions are met.

This deduction can be a particularly attractive tax planning tool for those who meet one of the following requirements:

  • The home office is taxpayer’s principal place of business. A home office must be used regularly and exclusively to conduct business. Consequently, working on the kitchen table (which is also used for purposes other than work) doesn’t qualify, but a desk set up in a bedroom might.
  • The home office is where the taxpayer meets patients, clients, or customers in the regular course of business. This can be difficult to assess if the taxpayer operates out of different locations. In such cases, the IRS will look at things like the amount of time spent at the location. To assess where the principal place of business is, if a taxpayer has multiple work locations, consider the relative importance of the activities conducted in each location, the amount of time spent there, and whether another fixed location might compete as the principal place where work is done.
  • A separate structure not attached to the dwelling and used in connection with the business may qualify.
  • If the dwelling is the only fixed location of the taxpayer’s business. A space within it that is used regularly to store the business’s inventory or product samples may qualify as a home office.

These considerations generally apply to the self-employed, because employees who work from home are not entitled to claim a home office deduction even if the employer requires the employee to maintain a home office. (The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated employees’ ability to deduct unreimbursed job-related expenses paid with personal funds as miscellaneous itemized deductions.)

The following is something of an exception to this rule: if the employer sets up an “accountable plan,” which reimburses workers for business expenses, that reimbursement is not counted as income, and it is not subject to withholding or reported on the employee’s W-2. When setting up the plan, the employer must (1) ensure that reimbursed expenses are business-related, (2) substantiate the expenses within a reasonable period and (3) make sure that any unspent funds are returned to the employer within a reasonable period.

This means that to avoid raising red flags for the IRS that can result in the plan being treated as a nonaccountable plan, the business owner must set up the plan carefully, fully document all associated expenses and comply with any limitations or restrictions associated with deductible expenses.

Ultimately, the point is that an accountable plan is a simple way to shift deductibility of business expenses from the employee to the employer and offers the ability to mitigate tax liability by allowing business owners to choose which expenses are reimbursable and which employees will be eligible to submit reimbursements. These rules can get complicated, so be sure to work with a professional on these, and all home office tax issues.

Additional reading:

Discover our virtual offices in Chicago.

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Attorneys can now use RON (Remote Online Notarization) in Illinois! Here’s how it works.

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At the Office

Governor Pritzker has approved an executive order for remote online notarization (RON) of documents. This executive order will be in place while the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation is in force.

If you need remote online notarization services, reach out to your regular notary, set up a web conference and follow the guidelines below. Or if you’re an Amata Law Office Suites client email [email protected] and a notary will work with you.

Below are the key provisions of the executive order:

  • The remote notarial act must be done by two-way, real time web conference communication that allows for direct interaction between the Notary and the signer.
  • The signer of the document must attest that they are currently physically in Illinois during the web conference, and state what they are signing on the web conference.
  • The resolution of the web conference must be of sufficient quality for the Notary to properly examine the signer’s personal identification credentials.
  • All attorneys must record the remote notarization process using their web conference platform. A copy of the recording must be emailed to the Amata Notary to retain for a minimum of 3 years.
  • The signer must show the Notary every page of the document being signed. The signer should also initial each page to ensure that the document is complete.
  • The signer must fax or send by electronic means the signed document requiring notarization to the Notary no later than the same day, and the Notary must send the completed notarized document back to the signer by fax or electronic means within 24 hours.

Amata also provides virtual paralegal services to attorneys in need. For our virtual paralegal rates, reach out to Director of Legal Support Services, Tisha Delgado at [email protected].

Discover our legal support staff for lawyers in Chicago.

How to Keep Your Firm Running During a Crisis (And How Amata is Doing the Same)

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Tablet on Couch: VPN Access

“Flatten the Curve.” This is not a Flat-Earther motto, but a worldwide goal to minimize the coronavirus by hindering the spread of the infection. Social distancing is key, but as of March 26th, there is still no federal mandate to shelter-in-place, and as Chicago found out just this week, warming weather causes many to disregard these executive orders (which in turn caused Mayor Lori Lightfoot to close down the parks).

All these factors pile up against our race to flatten the curve, and work against our goal to contain the spread. Meaning we could be experiencing these Shelter-In-Place orders for longer than anyone would truly like.

This makes it all the more important for law firms to innovate, adapt, and keep business running even from their homes, and we have a few tips to help.

Pick up the phone and give people a call

Friendliness. A new person to talk to. A reassuring voice. There are many reasons why this is our top tip. We are doing it ourselves: Amata staff members have been calling clients daily checking in on how they are doing, assuring them their firms are in good hands at Amata and asking if they need any help or training on our office services.

As a lawyer, calling existing clients and letting them know you’re still doing everything possible to work on their case (even though the courts are closed) can be a great way to keep the client relationship connection strong, and give not only reassurance, but great customer service during a trying time. The not so obvious tip is to also call your staff, peers, mentors, and people in your network regularly as well; more often than you normally would. The idea is to make up for lost time around the watercooler (so to speak). Better yet, schedule video conferences and invite a handful of people! There is no reason for social time, networking, and business to grind to a halt, and video conferences can reestablish a normalcy in performing all those tasks while we observe the current Shelter-in-Place order.

Commit to new technology

Now may not seem to be the right time to spend more money. But if your firm is having a hard time working (or even at a standstill) due to a lack of flexible infrastructure, then you may need to reassess that instinct. What happens if you experience Shelter-in-Place for a month? Or for two months? Or more –  as this opinion piece from the New York Times suggests is necessary for the orders to be effective?

Your firm has to keep running during this time because you still have business to get done, and that may mean taking new steps and adopting new tech. Find good options, and become prepared for the future. You may be surprised what great new things can be achieved when one is forced to innovate.

We’re a shining example of this tip at work: while Amata has been providing flexible law office services for nearly two decades, over the past two weeks we launched additional services to help our clients. Our 3CX Web & Video Conferencing is now included, free-of-charge, for all clients currently using our 3CX phone services and for everyone who signs up for a phone only, virtual law office, or private office during this time. This service was added due to the COVID-19 crisis and all our services are better now because of it.

Stay secure while working from home

This final tip comes in two-steps — the first is courtesy of the Amata Law Office Suites preferred technology services provider, Bridgepoint Technologies:

If you and your staff are new to working remotely from home, make sure your setup has a router along with a recommended firewall and that the computer being used has recent updates and virus protection. If you are connecting directly to your business network, only do so through a secure channel such as a VPN or secure remote software. Before doing so, make sure that your wireless network at home has a complicated password with a name that will not personally identify your home. I.e.: Don’t name it: “Smiths House”.

Read more about the importance of Network Security.

Part two of this step is to check that all employees and staff members have the equipment they need to successfully work from home. At Amata Law Office Suites we just recently started ordering headsets to make conferencing and calling easier now that many of us are using our computers instead of phones to communicate — having a sturdy Bluetooth headset has been invaluable for our staff during video conferences.

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How to Get Affordable Health Insurance for Your Small Law Firm

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How to Get Affordable Health Insurance for Your Small Law Firm

 

If you’re a partner at a law firm, then being an attorney is not your only focus: running the firm takes up a large portion of your time and energy. It’s probably why you’re reading our blog. You are interested in shared law office space (like we provide at Amata Law Office Suites) because of its cost-savings and extensive, built-in, support staff for your firm.

At Amata, we want to ensure that we help support your business knowledge so you can run your firm well, and focus on practicing law. Today, we’re tackling one of the most fraught areas of running a law firm: selecting health insurance.

The truth behind small business health insurance…

After reading The Price We Pay by Marty Makary, M.D., our CEO & Founder, Ron Bockstahler, dove deep into the world of health insurance and uncovered some interesting information: small businesses have more comprehensive and affordable health insurance options than they are often led to believe. For instance, many small firm attorneys would be surprised to learn that as a one-person business, they have access to group-health insurance.

If you have individual health insurance, you may have learned the hard way that the individual market lacks stability: the plans are often shifting & changing, and prices are prone to jumping (many see this happen yearly!). The group market, on the other hand, is lower cost and provides more stable insurance options. The plans do not change often, either in design or in price. They also renew each year, and are less susceptible to drastic federal and state legislative changes.

How is it possible that a one-person business can have access to something labeled “group”?

Technically, it is referenced as a small group, and there are restrictions. Since many of us infer group as including a large number of individuals, we don’t look into whether group insurance is an option for us as small businesses and default to the individual insurance options. For many small business owners group insurance is not only a viable option, but the best option. The benefits of group health are so large that business owners shouldn’t assume they won’t have access without talking to an experienced insurance professional first.

What are the benefits of going with group insurance?

Aside from the lower costs and increased stability, providing good health insurance both for yourself and your employees can create a better work atmosphere. Health insurance is one of the most contentious topics in America right now, but everyone can agree that they want good insurance. Being the firm who can provide great benefits will help bolster your employee satisfaction, and can boost not only staff retention but overall happiness – both of which will bolster your firm’s effectiveness.

Does your firm qualify for group insurance?

Answering this question is worth the time investment. You can either contact your existing insurance people, or if you’re an Amata Law Office Suite client, you can attend our special education event “Insurance Education: What they don’t tell you” hosted by Alexandra Eidenberg of The Insurance People and Richie Marrero of 360 Benefits. This event takes place at 77 W Wacker on Thursday, February 20th, and is open to all Amata Law Office Suites clientele. You can RSVP with us at [email protected]. If you missed the event and want more information, send us an email!

In only an hour Alexandra and Richie will give a crash course on the insurance options you don’t know about, and you can pick their brains to see if any of these options are good for your firm. If you want your questions answered, please RSVP. For anyone looking to network, cocktails and appetizers will also be available post-event.

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