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!