Legal firms are arguably some of the busiest companies. After all, there are more than just court cases that they have to work on. Clients might also bring in other legal concerns for them to handle. And if your startup business is just a small firm, that amount of work can be overwhelming.
Here, it might be a surprise that outsourcing can be a great way to solve the problem. But you will probably be curious as to how it actually works. Let’s look at it and explore how Virtua Solutions can help your law practice.
What Outsourcing Offers For Your Legal Startup Business
You might already be aware of how outsourcing helps more traditional businesses. So, you might wonder what it can actually do for your firm. Aside from the more familiar ones, here are a few key benefits you can get from legal process outsourcing.
Reduced Turnaround Times
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With the tight deadlines that some legal processes have, it can be hard to go through all of them with a small team. Legal process outsourcing lets you hand over some of the work to an external team. It also works round the clock, saving you a lot of time. With that, you can quickly have the legal paperwork handed over.
Greater Flexibility
Even within industry-specific law practices, there is still a lot of variability. You want your firm to be as flexible as possible in dealing with different client cases. Outsourcing gives you that flexibility. You can quickly assemble a team that matches your specific needs.
Exposure For Your Legal Teams
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One thing worth noting with legal process outsourcing is that you’re not getting just ordinary staff. You are signing up with experts. They provide your team with additional legal training. These companies engage various clients, and your team can learn plenty from them.
Improving Customer Service
You might not realize it, but delivering great customer service in legal practices isn’t just about helping clients with the technicalities. You also need to provide them with assistance on other business matters. An outsourcing firm can also provide that, letting your internal team focus more on core tasks.
The Tasks That Your Startup Business Can Outsource
One likely question that you want to ask at this point is what legal processes you can outsource. Here, you should be more discerning to ensure you send out the right tasks. Some of the common ones you can consider outsourcing are the following.
Case And Written Work
The first area you want to consider outsourcing is clerical work. That includes things like writing case reports and filing the necessary documents for your clients. Outsourcing companies can also help you with non-case-related clerical work.
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Note that you can get the ongoing service of an outsourced provider or hire them for specific cases. That gives you a lot of flexibility. Especially useful if you are a solo practitioner needing extra help.
Document Review
Another particularly tedious part of legal practice is sifting through all the documents needed for a case. Note that the actual review part itself isn’t the only hard part. You also have to work on preparing these documents for archives and later distribution.
Additionally, you might want to outsource contract reviews. Legal process outsourcing firms can provide you with a team of expert lawyers who will focus on these. They will review the papers independently so that you get the needed documents processed while you work on other aspects of the case.
Court Appearances
Depending on your team’s schedule, you might not be able to proceed with some of the court hearings you have. Here, you can actually outsource your appearance in a non-substantive court hearing. Appearance counsel will be present in your place and will take down the important matters said during that appearance.
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It is a great option for streamlining your schedule. By handing these to third-party counsels, you can focus on the more crucial hearing dates. A great thing here is that you can connect with these counsels online and request appearances without traveling to their offices.
Other Tasks Your Startup Business Can Send Out
Aside from the above major tasks, you can also outsource various auxiliary legal processes. These include:
- Writing a case summary from the opposing party’s brief
- Drafting pleadings and motions
- Legal documents like leases, wills, and powers of attorney
- Legal correspondence
Note that these other legal procedures can be done on a per-project basis. As such, you can get the service as needed without commiting to a long-term contract.
Outside of these, you can outsource other tasks that you may have a hard time juggling. For instance, you might need support on handling social media or responding to initial service inquiries. Virtua Solutions is ready to handle these general support tasks for you.
We can also help you handle other business concerns. These include sales and marketing-related work. We can provide you with a customized support package adapted to your practice.
A Few More Things Your Legal Startup Business Should Consider
With all the intricacies of legal work, you need to think about how you will do the outsourcing effectively. Here are some quick pointers to help you make this a success.
Ensuring Effective Tracking And Communications
Updates from your outsourced team are especially crucial if the cases they are working on are currently being heard. Thus, you want to establish a strong communication channel between them and your internal legal team. Make sure that both sides know each other well so they can coordinate on the cases even without your intervention.
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You would also want consistent feedback about the progress of the cases. Your chosen provider should be able to provide that at a moment’s notice. On the other hand, you should be available to give legal advice they will need to respond to case developments.
Ensure Client Consent
When a client asks for legal assistance, they expect you or your team to be the one personally handling their cases. You should let them know you are outsourcing some of the work. Explain to them why you opted to outsource the work, so they understand what is going on.
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If possible, you can also let the client meet the external legal team. That will help them and the external and internal teams better understand the nature of the case. From there, you can get explicit content from clients about the arrangement.
Make Your Legal Startup Business More Effective With Outsourcing
Doing legal practice isn’t just about running a business. You are also on a mission to help people. And if your startup company wants to excel on that, it needs the right help. While Virtua Solutions is not an LPO, we are ready to provide you with the support you need in this area. Contact us today to know more.