1. No category

IMPORTANT NOTICE
This ebook is sold for a one owner use.
Copying, distribution and sale of this ebook
(other than by the author, is a
VIOLATION OF COPYRIGHT LAW
and carries a penalty of up to $250,000
and up to 6 months in jail if convicted.
NOTICE TO READER
If you received this ebook and did not
purchase it from the author,
please report the violation immediately to:
50 State Notary
713Training.Com
1601 West Fifth Ave, Suite 123
Columbus OH 43212
Phone: 614-875-4496
Fax: 614-355-0184
How
to
Increase
Profits
for
Your
Law
Firm
How to Increase Profits
for Your Law Firm
by Angie Boyd
Executive Director, 713Training.Com
http://www.713training.com
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm. © 2006 by Angie
Boyd. Printed and bound in the United States of America. All rights
reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means; electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval
system — except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in
a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the
internet - without permission in writing from the publisher. For
information, please contact Graphico Publishing, 1601 West Fifth
Avenue, Suite 123, Columbus, Ohio 43212-2303 or
www.graphicopublishing.com.
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to
ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained
in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies,
omissions, or any inconsistency herein. Any slights of people,
places or organizations are unintentional.
First printing, October 2006
ISBN: 0-9761591-9-8
LCCN: 2006934349
ATTENTION CORPORATIONS, UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES,
AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS. Quantity discounts are
available on bulk purchases of this book for educational, gift
purposes or as premiums for increasing magazine subscriptions
or renewals. Special books or book excerpts can also be produced to fit specific needs.
For information, please contact Graphico Publishing,
1601 West Fifth Avenue, Suite 123, Columbus, Ohio 43212-2303
or http://www.graphicopublishing.com.
Graphico Publishing
a subsidiary of 713Training.Com, LLC
1601 West Fifth Avenue, Suite 123
Columbus, Ohio 43212-2303
Website: http://www.graphicopublishing.com
How to Increase Profits
for Your Law Firm
by Angie Boyd
Executive Director,
Training Instructor and
Bankruptcy Paralegal
http://www.713training.com
Legal Disclaimer
The author, Angie Boyd is NOT an attorney.
The information contained in How to Increase
Profits for Your Law Firm is for training purposes only
and should not be considered legal advice.
All the material in this book is written from the
perspective of Angie Boyd, an experienced bankruptcy
paralegal who has never attended law school and is
not authorized to practice law in any state.
The author and publisher do not warrant or
guarantee any of the website references or products
described herein. By following the instructions contained herein, the reader willingly assumes all risks in
connection with any transactions.
The author and publisher make no representations or warranties of any kind; nor are any such
representations implied with respect to the material set
forth herein, and the author and publisher takes no
responsibility with respect to such material The
author and publisher shall not be liable for any special,
consequential, or exemplary damages resulting in
whole or in part from the reader’s use of, or reliance
upon this material.
Stop playing the balancing act and learn how to
increase the profits for your law firm.
How to Increase Profits
for Your Law Firm
A law firm is like any other business. It must make
a profit or it will cease to exist. And as you know, time
is also money - but most law firms are already working
on maximum overload so it is easy to lose track of the
overall picture. However, before you know it - your law
firm could be losing thousands of dollars and you won’t
know about it until it is too late.
This book will provide you with alternative methods
and procedures that will help to:
Š
Increase your hourly income up to 1,000%.
Š
Ease or eliminate your staff’s current heavy
workload.
Š
Cut your law firm’s prep time by 75% or more
per case.
Š
Lessen the filing of Amendments due to
mistakes and errors caused in the original
document;
Stop searching in the dark for good paralegal services.
The world of virtual assistants are available to you
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
3
Our story begins with Matt Anderson. Matt Anderson has been a bankruptcy attorney for 22 years. His
dad started the law firm back in the 1960s and passed
it on to his son. Matt loved working on the debtor side
of bankruptcy law. He had a compassion for the
average blue-collar worker — and it showed; his
clients loved him and referred their family and friends
to his law firm all the time. Additionally, since Matt's
client base consisted mainly of no-asset cases, they
moved quickly through the court system. He rarely had
to go to court (except for a 5-10 minute 341 Meeting)
and this helped to create a fast turnaround rate for his
Chapter 7 cases and increased profits for his law firm.
Matt was happy with his bankruptcy law practice
and it had grown into a financially successful law firm.
Because he received many of his clients from referrals
by former clients (and other attorneys) his marketing
costs were low. Matt knew this was a result of providing good service and building a client base of loyal,
dedicated clients. However, Matt also noticed that his
law practice was experiencing a noticeable "growth
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a day you can relax and unwind?
Hiring virtual assistants can help you accomplish that goal!
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
5
spurt" and he needed to change some of his internal
office procedures to accommodate the growth.
However, Matt would soon learn that things were
much worse than he thought. Sometimes, what looks
good on the outside is not always good on the inside.
One day Matt sat down to put together some
statistical information about the demographics of his
client base. He wanted to get a handle on where his
law firm was presently at so he could make decisions
for future growth. He discovered that seventy-five
percent (75%) of his client base were Chapter 7's and
twenty-five percent (25%) were Chapter 13s. Matt
liked this mix and it was working well for him. The
Chapter 7s went through the court system relatively
fast so Matt's law firm earned the bulk of its income
from "volume."
Matt also found that the Chapter 13s helped to
keep the income balanced. From November to March,
he discovered that fewer people file no-asset Chapter
7 bankruptcy. The steady monthly income generated
Most virtual assistants have many years of experience,
and love what they do. The only difference is that virtual
assistants work from home instead of in your office.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
7
by the Chapter 13s helped Matt to keep enough
income coming into the law firm to pay the fixed
expenses during the slower months when the income
from the Chapter 7s was reduced.
But even though the mix that made up the
structure of Matt's client base was good, he still had a
major problem. His office was overloaded with so
much paperwork that files were stacked on the floor
due to the lack of space in the office. The three fulltime paralegals were also overworked and overstressed. In fact, the stress on the paralegals was so
great they were beginning to lose their patience with
the clients, even going so far as to raise their voice to
several clients — which resulted in them going to
another law firm.
Additionally, when potential clients called into the
office to check on their case, they normally received a
voice mail instead of a live voice. Unfortunately, most
of the calls were never returned. Why? Because the
paralegals didn't have the time or the patience to
Virtual assistants take care of the everyday tasks
which allows you more time to grow and expand your law firm.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
9
answer (what they considered to be) unnecessary
phone calls. Needless to say, these internal problems
were beginning to create several angry clients. In fact,
one day, a client walked into the law firm and started
yelling at the top of his lungs: "I am NOT leaving until
someone talks to me about my case." This outburst
caused the other clients in the waiting room to leave in
fear, resulting in a great deal of chaos as well as a
financial loss for the law firm.
At this point, Matt finally realized he had a major
problem on his hands that needed to be fixed immediately. What had looked good on the surface was falling
apart internally. The first "quick fix" that Matt could
think of was to hire three temporary full-time employees to answer the phones so they would not go to
voicemail. He knew the financial burden of hiring these
temporary workers would cut into his profits. However,
he only intended to keep them employed for a short
period of time. He had hoped hiring them would
provide him with the extra time he needed to
contemplate his next move.
12 out of 12 law firms surveyed who currently utilize
the services of virtual assistants report increases in their
law firm profits of 46% or more.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
11
Each temporary employee cost Matt $12.00 per
hour; a total of $288.00 per day or $1,440.00 per
week. This was an expensive decision because Matt
found the temporary employees did not relieve his staff
of the heavy workload. Although this was a good idea
in "theory," however, when Matt put it into practice he
had forgot one thing: the temporary employees had no
knowledge of his clients. In order to get the answers to
the client's questions, the temporary employee had to
call the paralegal. The paralegal had to stop what he
or she was doing, give the temporary employee the
information, which was then passed on to the client.
Matt found this procedure was not freeing up any time
for his paralegals so he found himself back to Square
One.
Matt then decided to contact an office coordinator
who specialized in analyzing small businesses and
offering suggestions in order to maximize their profits.
The office coordinator was very expensive but Matt felt
if she could save him time and money it would be
worth the investment. However, even though the office
If you have an internet connection, it doesn’t matter where your
virtual assistant is located. All communication is electronic.
You now have the freedom to choose from thousands of virtual
assistants and not be limited to your area alone.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
13
coordinator held a Master's Degree and was extremely
intelligent, she had never started her own business
from the ground up. Her knowledge only came from
courses she had studied at college, books she had
read and working with other business owners and
gaining knowledge from the experience of others.
Although the suggestions the office coordinator made
were excellent for law firms who had money to invest –
Matt needed suggestions that would NOT cost him any
more money. He needed ideas that would cut his
costs immediately and increase the efficiency in his
office. The office coordinator did not clearly understand Matt's needs which again cost him time and
money; plus put him back to Square One for the
second time.
Although discouraged and slightly irritated, Matt
didn't give up. He began meeting with other attorneys
in the area (and through online bulletin boards) asking
them for their input and advice on how to handle such
a heavy workload and increase the profits for his law
firm. Unfortunately, most of the debtor bankruptcy
Expand your bankruptcy services for the elderly and
handicapped who have difficulty traveling to your office.
Send a virtual assistant to conduct the client intake interview
in the client’s home at the client’s convenience.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
15
attorneys he spoke with were in the same boat he was
in. They told Matt: "When you find a solution, let me
know."
Again, Matt was not discouraged in his quest to
find a solution. In fact, talking with the attorneys who
had no suggestions actually encouraged Matt to
continue seeking for an answer. He found the attorneys he talked to were complacent about the topic.
They simply had "given up" in finding a solution and
continued putting in 12-14 hour work days, overworking their staff and putting up with high office staff
turnover rates. Matt didn't want this to happen to his
law firm and he was determined NOT to let it happen.
One day, Matt was sitting at a local restaurant
eating lunch, Dennis Farmer (a local bankruptcy
attorney) recognized him from court. He asked Matt if
he could sit down and eat lunch with him. Matt eagerly
agreed. During the course of the conversation, Matt
told Dennis about the problems he was experiencing at
his law firm. He also revealed all the different ideas he
Virtual assistants are normally available 24/7 and easy to contact
by cell phone. In fact, most virtual assistants stay available for
their attorneys after hours and on weekends since they know
everything cannot be accomplished between 9:00 and 5:00.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
17
had implemented and how each one of them had
failed.
Dennis understood Matt's problem because he too
had suffered through the same experience less than
two years ago. But through internet research, Dennis
had found an excellent solution that enabled him to
have more free time to work on other areas of law.
Additionally, he enjoyed the benefits of having a dedicated staff of employees that had been with him for
two years or more. His office was also very wellorganized, relatively calm, peaceful and had an
enjoyable work environment. Instead of "fighting fires"
he invested more time into pro bono work and other
civic activities he enjoyed.
Dennis looked at his watch and asked Matt:
"How much time do you have?"
Matt replied: "All the time in the world for a
solution. I have waited a long time to talk with
someone like you."
When I passed the bar exam and started my law practice, I was
$100,000+ in debt with student loans. Utilizing virtual assistants
has saved me thousands of dollars in office equipment
and the costs of hiring and training new employees.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
19
So Dennis began to explain his experience and the
solution he found to the problem:
The Cons of Hiring Full-Time, Part-Time
and Temporary Employees
When Dennis saw that his law firm was growing
rapidly he first panicked and immediately thought
about hiring more full-time, part-time and temporary
employees. But during his internet research he
discovered the following problems with all three of
these types of employees:
Full-Time Employees
1. Full-time employees receive a paycheck
regardless of the quality of their work or when they get
the work completed.
2. Full-time employees sometimes take advantage of longer breaks and lunches which means
someone at the law firm has to monitor them or risk
losing even more money.
“Boy! It feels great to be organized and ready for the
341 Meeting. I couldn’t have done it without
my virtual bankruptcy assistant.”
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
21
3. Full-time employees are normally paid vacation
pay, sick time and for other emergencies when they
are not working or producing a profit for the law firm.
4. Full-time employees normally receive medical
benefits and other incentives which increases overhead costs for the law firm.
5. Too many full-time employees can create an
atmosphere of "gossip" and other personnel issues
that law firms must devote time to resolving.
6. There is always the possibility a full-time
employee can get upset and leave at a moment's
notice, leaving the law firm in the middle of a crisis.
Today, it is rare to find employees who put the interest
of their employer first and foremost.
Part-Time Employees
1. Like full-time employees, part-time employees
receive a paycheck regardless of the quality of their
work or when they get the work completed.
“I rejected the thought of hiring a virtual assistant
because I considered them to be violating UPL.
Perhaps I better rethink this idea over again.”
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
23
2. Part-time employees are normally less experienced because people who have superior skills
normally want to be employed full-time.
3. Often, part-time employees have a second job
or are attending college. This normally leads to the
law firm adjusting their schedule from time to time to
accommodate the demands of the part-time
employee's second job or college attendance.
Temporary Employees
1. Temporary employees are extremely expensive
and often command salaries higher than the full-time
staff. This is due to the heavy agency fees that are
charged over and above the temporary employee's
hourly pay. In other words, the temporary employee
could be getting paid only $10.00 per hour but the law
firm pays $18.00 per hour ($8.00 per hour is for the
agency fees.) This means that a law firm gets a $10.00
per hour employee — not an $18.00 per hour
employee. Employees with superior skills normally do
not work at a law firm for $10.00 per hour.
After hiring two virtual assistants I now have time
to plan the direction I want my law practice to grow into
and implement my ideas with better care.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
25
2. Although they don't like to talk about it, several
managers at temporary agencies admitted that
approximately 47% of temporary employees do not
arrive at an assignment on time and ready to work.
One of the most common problems is that temporary
employees will accept a temporary assignment on
Friday but change their mind before Monday. When
the temporary employee does not show up for work on
Monday the agency must quickly find a replacement.
Unfortunately, this causes downtime (waiting on a new
replacement) and the law firm gets another day behind
in its heavy workload.
3. Approximately 15% of temporary employees
have been known to commit fraudulent acts when
working temporary jobs. Some unscrupulous people
have the mindset that they can "get away with it"
because they will not be working at the law firm when
their crime is eventually discovered. Unfortunately,
even when temporary employees have been caught in
these acts, the normal recourse is to fire them. Rarely
are they prosecuted. This leaves the temporary
Keep your money in your hand. You don’t pay a virtual
assistant until after the work has been completed to your
satisfaction. Hiring employees does not provide this luxury.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
27
employee with the freedom to move on to become a
problem for another law firm.
The Solution
After weighing all the information about the problems with hiring employees, Dennis said to himself:
"There must be a way to run my bankruptcy law
practice without hiring employees, relatives or friends
of relatives." This is when he started researching on
the internet and discovered the world of virtual
assistants.
Dennis soon learned that many businesses (other
than law firms) utilize virtual assistants for a variety of
services. On the internet he found virtual assistants
being used for:
1.
Answering Phones and Taking Messages.
The business owner forwarded his or her phone to the
virtual assistant. The virtual assistant forwarded the
messages to the business owner's email address
immediately upon receipt for handling.
Even if your virtual assistant goes on vacation,
your workflow is not interrupted. Most virtual assistants
have a network of other professionals who can
assist you during their absence.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
2.
Page
29
Transcribing Dictation. The business
owner recorded his or her dictation in MP3 format,
emailed the file as an attachment to the virtual assistant. The virtual assistant returned the draft to the
business owner in MS Word format which the business
owner edited and mailed to his or her customers.
3.
Bookkeeping. The business owner for-
warded all sales and expense reports on a monthly
basis to the virtual assistant. The virtual assistant
compiled monthly reports and put together all the yearend accounting information for the tax accountant.
4.
Website Design. Virtual assistants work
closely with the business owner to develop a company
website including marketing the website to search
engines and directories to increase web traffic.
5.
Marketing Materials. Business owners use
virtual assistants to design brochures, letterheads,
business cards, postcard mailings to previous customers and other marketing materials. The cost is less
expensive compared to hiring a graphic artist.
Virtual assistants normally have several attorney clients
they serve. They often earn a higher income compared to working
as an employee. The virtual assistant and attorney both benefit
financially. It’s a WIN/WIN situation.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
6.
Page
31
Translation. Business owners with a strong
client base of non-English speaking persons used a
virtual assistant to translate their documents into other
languages.
7.
Secretarial Tasks. Business owners use
virtual assistants for setting appointments and reminders, even on personal issues such as anniversaries
and birthdays. Using a virtual assistant for these duties
immediately reduced the amount of phone calls the
business owner received and he or she never had to
worry about missing a deadline or important date
again.
8.
PowerPoint Presentations. The business
owner used the virtual assistant to prepare PowerPoint
slides which were used in meetings, training seminars
and online presentations that were displayed on the
company website.
9.
Voice Mail Retrieval. The virtual assistant
retrieved the voice mail of the business owner several
times per day. He or she sorted and organized the
Because virtual assistants work from their home office
with fewer interruptions — they usually have more time
to provide attorneys with a higher level of detail
that saves law firms thousands of dollars!
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
33
messages and forwarded them back to the business
owner by email. This helped to reduce interruptions
and allowed the calls to be handled at a more appropriate time by the business owner.
10.
Event Planning. The business owner
provided the details of the event to the virtual assistant
by email. The virtual assistant contacted all the parties, located the proper size meeting room, scheduled
the air flights and other transportation, then followed
up with the attendees to confirm the date, time and
location. This saved the business owner a great deal
of time, plus it helped to make the entire meeting a
smoother operation because it was so well organized.
11.
Email Screening and Processing. The
business owner set up a separate email address of
something like: "[email protected]." For all general
questions and inquiries, he or she used this email
address. The email was then automatically sent to the
virtual assistant who answered the questions from the
business owner's prepared script. For all other general
Unlike employees, attorneys do not pay their virtual assistant for
time they spend daydreaming or being non-productive.
Virtual assistants charge their attorney clients either a flat fee for a
particular job or an hourly fee based upon accurate reporting from
time-tracker software installed on their computer.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
35
questions and inquiries, the virtual assistant forwarded
them to the business owner for handling.
12.
Logo Creation. The business owner saved
over 50% by hiring a virtual assistant to design his
company logo compared to the price of a hiring a
graphic designer.
13.
Audio Production. The business owner
sent a WAV or MP3 file to the virtual assistant. The
virtual assistant edited the audio for clarity, converted
to the proper format for streaming and placed it on the
business owner's website in a secure area where
visitors could login and listen to the information.
14.
Data Processing from Hard Copy to
Electronic Format. The business owner supplied his
or her customer list to the virtual assistant (via envelopes and/or accounting records.) The virtual assistant
input the data and used it to prepare mailing labels for
a customer mailing. This kept the business owner in
touch with his customers and generated more sales as
well as enhanced customer loyalty.
One attorney filmed a 5-minute commercial about his law firm with
his digital camera. He then sent the video on DVD to his virtual
assistant who edited it, added a professional introduction and
placed it on his law firm website, The video has been one of the
major keys in increasing the client base for the attorney.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
15.
Page
37
Mailing Preparation and Processing. The
business owner had 1,000 postcards printed for a
customer mailing. He had the printer drop ship them to
the virtual assistant. The virtual assistant prepared the
mailing labels, placed them on the postcards, applied
postage and provided the business owner with proof of
mailing and postage costs for reimbursement.
Other Added Benefits
Dennis also discovered that virtual assistants
normally have superior software, more up-to-date
computers and office equipment compared to his own
law firm. Virtual assistants are also known to have
more expertise and knowledge of the latest technologies because their business income depends on it.
Dennis also found the following steps had been put
into place to provide verification of the actual duties the
virtual assistant performed:
1. The virtual assistant used time tracker software
like Joomial or TimePilot.Com that automatically
If you hire a virtual assistant who is located in your area,
they often provide free pick up and delivery to your office.
Some virtual assistants assist their attorney clients at court also!
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
39
tracked their time on projects so the business owner
could be invoiced correctly. This way, the business
owner only paid for the time the virtual assistant
worked on his or her projects — unlike a salaried or
hourly paid employee.
2. The virtual assistant used word-counters (that
are built into software programs like MS Word) that
automatically counted the words they typed. This
again provided precision billing during transcription.
3. There was no investment in additional office
space for the business owner when hiring a virtual
assistant. That's because the virtual assistant had
already made the investment. This allowed for the
possibility of expansion by utilizing more virtual assistants in the future without any additional costs of hiring
additional employees.
4. There was no downtime to train employees.
The virtual assistant was already pre-trained and
already had superior experience. In fact, many
Do you often find yourself in a race against time?
Hire several virtual assistants who specialize in various services
and they will be on-call to assist you during these peak times.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
41
professionals today who have 20+ years of work
experience are starting virtual assistant services. With
only 2 or 3 clients to keep them busy, a virtual assistant can often earn a higher income working from
home versus working for an employer.
5. There were no payroll taxes to worry about. In
some states, the services provided by virtual assistants
were recorded under "office expenses" for tax purposes. Other states required the business owner to
issue a 1099 at the end of the year if the virtual assistant was paid more than $600.00. But regardless of
the accounting method used, a virtual assistant was
much easier to keep expense records for compared to
onsite employees. In fact, several business owners
had stopped using their third-party payroll service
when they switched over to employing virtual assistants exclusively.
6. There was no additional investment for phone
systems. Virtual assistants already have their own
phone, fax and cell phones. For business owners
Virtual assistants often have obtained a higher level of
education before starting their businesses. This provides
attorneys with highly educated assistants at a lower cost
compared to hiring an onsite paralegal with a college degree.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
43
wanting to have an exclusive telephone line where the
virtual assistant answered the phone with the business
owner's company name — a second cell phone or
telephone line was installed at the virtual assistant's
office. This way, the virtual assistant knew that when
this particular phone rang, they were to answer it
something like: "Brown, Jones and Campbell (or
whatever)." But for some smaller companies who
simply forwarded their company phones to the virtual
assistant, the virtual assistant answered the phone
with a greeting like: "Hello, this is Beth. May I help
you?" This generic greeting worked well for some
business owners and no additional expense of a
second cell phone or telephone line was necessary.
7. There was no additional office equipment to
buy or maintain. This is a big savings for businesses
who utilize virtual assistants. Also, virtual assistants are
responsible for the expense of their equipment failure
or software upgrades so the business owner never has
to worry about these overhead costs.
I converted the mother-in-law suite at my home into an office,
hired three virtual assistants and operate my entire bankruptcy
and divorce law practice from my home. I immediately saved
$3,500 per month in overhead costs.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
45
Matt had been patiently sitting back and listening to
Dennis tell his story. But at this point he was so full of
questions he was about to burst. Matt interrupted
Dennis and said "Wow! This all sounds unbelievable.
So tell me Dennis, 'what's the catch?'" What follows is
the rest of their conversation:
Matt: Why haven't I heard about the virtual
assistant field before?
Dennis:
The virtual assistant field has been
around for a long time. We just didn't use the word
"virtual." The "virtual" field was first developed when
the internet exploded and became more widely
accepted. Since the internet has not been the mainstream tool utilized by businesses (except within the
past 5-10 years), many law firms have not embraced
the idea. Instead, some of them are still in the "learning stage" of how to send and receive email or need to
be trained in converting documents to PDF for electronic filings. Normally, experienced virtual assistants
have been performing these tasks for years.
The average virtual assistant prefers working from home
so they can spend more time with their family and less time
commuting to and from an office. This makes the field attractive
for thousands of professionally skilled women and men who
provide high quality services to their attorney clients every day.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
47
Matt: But not all attorneys remained "behind the
times." Have internet-savvy bankruptcy attorneys used
virtual bankruptcy assistants in the past?
Dennis:
Yes. The first internet-based company
offering virtual bankruptcy assistant service was The
Lawyer Assistant. Like I said before, the term "virtual"
was not used back then so The Lawyer Assistant
marketed its services under the more widely used term
at the time: "bankruptcy forms processor."
Matt: But isn't a "bankruptcy forms processor" a
non-attorney who prepares documents for the general
public and competes with attorneys?
Dennis:
Not The Lawyer Assistant. They dedi-
cated their services solely to attorneys. In fact, many
attorneys who did not have a bankruptcy practice
formed one when they learned about the benefits The
Lawyer Assistant offered to their law firm.
Matt: Is the company still in business?
A virtual assistant never leaves your side. They are as close
as your office or laptop computer, regardless of where you
are located in the world!
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Dennis:
Page
49
No. Only nine months after develop-
ment, Victoria Ring (the sole proprietor) had a customer base of 56 attorneys. She was processing (on
the average) of 125-150 Chapter 7 and Chapter 13
bankruptcy petitions every week plus running the
company. Unable to find qualified people to help her,
she was unable to keep up with the workload and sold
the company so she could dedicate her time exclusively to training. That is when she developed the
company, 713Training.Com, which is responsible for
many of the experienced virtual bankruptcy assistants
working today.
Matt: Who bought the company?
Dennis:
It was sold to David Gonzalez, Esq. —
an attorney in Bronxville, New York. However, after
almost 2 years of operation, David's interests graduated to the corporate law arena. As you know —
corporate law is often more financially rewarding
compared to debtor bankruptcy law. In corporate law
an attorney has large businesses and corporations as
Victoria Ring, Certified Paralegal
Developer of The Lawyer Assistant and 713Training.Com
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
51
clients. In debtor bankruptcy law an attorney normally
has "John Doe public" as clients. There is a big
difference between the two when it comes to money,
power and prestige.
Matt: Did the paralegal who started The Lawyer
Assistant actually develop the concept of the "virtual
bankruptcy assistant"? It sounds like she is another
"Erin Brockovich"?
Dennis:
I was curious myself so I called her on
the telephone one day. After speaking with Victoria
Ring, I was convinced that she is definitely another
Erin Brockovich (except she doesn't use fowl
language.) In fact, I was so impressed that I offered
her a job working for me to help build my bankruptcy
practice. However, she explained that she had a strong
dedication to the goal of training others rather than
going back to the 9:00 to 5:00 world.
To find out more, I purchased her book: "How to
Start a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Service" (ISBN:
0976159171.) It was one of the best training manuals
How to Start a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Service
(a training manual for attorneys, paralegals and
other legal professionals working in debtor bankruptcy)
ISBN: 0-9761591-7-1
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
53
I have ever read — even better than many of the
books I used in law school. In Victoria's book, she
credits the entire concept development of the virtual
bankruptcy assistant field to a bankruptcy attorney she
worked for in Columbus, Ohio.
(Dennis pulls the book out from his briefcase, turns
to Page 221 and begins reading . . .)
"My story begins back in March 2000 (just after
the Y2K scare of 1999.) The bankruptcy attorney
I was working for on a part-time basis decided to
try an experiment. I would stop working in the
office and instead process bankruptcy petitions
from my home office. The attorney believed that
taking the petition preparation work out of the
office environment, the office would become less
chaotic and result in more detailed bankruptcy
petitions. He also believed that by paying me on
a per job basis versus an hourly wage, he would
save money."
Now you and your staff can prevent “desk overload.”
Virtual assistants aide in the reduction of workload for your
paralegals and other law office personnel.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
55
"During the experiment, I discovered that I could
easily draft 15 petitions in a weekend compared
to only 4 petitions if I worked in the office (due to
constant interruptions). I also found that most
clients were home in the evening and on weekends and I could quickly get answers regarding
incomplete information on the Client Intake
Forms without playing telephone tag. By making
a simple 10-minute phone call to the client, the
attorney determined that this reduced the phone
calls to his office by 85% and his clients were
more relaxed and cooperative talking to me
versus the attorney. Happy clients make for
easier and smoother bankruptcy filings and this
effect spilled over into many more benefits for the
office staff as well as the attorney."
"My attorney and I continued the experiment for
several more months and the results continued to
improve. In fact, the attorney found he had more
free time and was able to take a day off every
week. He also noticed that his profits had
Advances in technology now allows you
to hold the keys to your law firm’s financial success.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
57
increased by 50% in a short period of only 3
months. The experiment proved to be a great
success!"
Matt: I still don't understand why more attorneys
have not heard about this concept. If other attorneys
have had such a great success using virtual bankruptcy assistants since the original concept in 2000,
why has no one heard about it?
Dennis:
One reason is that many attorneys are
reluctant to change. If they heard about virtual assistants they normally dismissed them as UPL violators.
Also, for many years, the majority of debtor bankruptcy
attorneys did not acknowledge the importance of
preparing well-detailed bankruptcy petitions. In most
law firms, the bankruptcy petition was nothing more
than a set of forms and the law office staff treated
them like data entry documents. Therefore, millions of
bankruptcy petitions were filed in court with major
errors. The law firm then had to deal with drafting
Amendments when the Trustee found these errors.
Forward your calls to a virtual assistant and
get more work done with fewer interruptions.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
59
But when the bankruptcy law was changed on
October 17, 2005 — the attorneys were forced to
prepare well-detailed bankruptcy petitions. In fact, the
new law even allows the court to impose a fine on the
attorney for not using due diligence in verification of
the information within the petition. This helped to
create a panic with some attorneys while others simply
did not want to invest the time it would take to prepare
well-detailed bankruptcy petitions.
But Victoria Ring points out in one of her many
published articles:
"I was personally trained by two attorneys who
specialized in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. From the beginning I was taught to draft
well-detailed bankruptcy petitions. Because the
petitions were so well-detailed the attorneys had
fewer catastrophes occur and their cases went
through the court system more efficiently.
Therefore, when the new bankruptcy law went
into effect, as a virtual bankruptcy assistant,
Some virtual assistants provide you with the option of
calling into a telephone number, recording your dictation
and the virtual assistant retrieves the audio for transcribing.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
61
I didn't see much difference in drafting the
petition (except for a few form changes.) This is
because I had been drafting well-detailed bankruptcy petitions for many years before the new
law took effect. Only after I was involved with
my company, The Lawyer Assistant, did I learn
that drafting well-detailed bankruptcy petitions
was not the standard norm in the law firms."
"Additionally, I learned that many debtor bankruptcy law firms have not kept up-to-date with
the new technology. Prior to mandatory electronic filing, most bankruptcy attorneys continued
using the old-fashioned paper method. This was
the exact same thing they had done for the past
10, 15 or 20 years. At that time, only internet
and computer-savvy bankruptcy attorneys used
PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic
Records) to file their bankruptcy petitions. This
was evidenced by the fact that all the bankruptcy
courts offered PACER training for bankruptcy
attorneys and their staff before mandatory
Time is money and since virtual assistants save you time;
their service is worth money to your law firm.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
63
electronic filing was implemented. To me, this
was unbelievable. Electronic filing was so much
less complicated compared to doing it the old
fashioned way. So I wondered: ‘what could they
be training them?’ Electronic filing was a simple
method of point and click."
"However, because of the massive number of
attorneys and law firm personnel who were not
up-to-date with new technology, the bankruptcy
court offered the PACER training for filing the
petition. But I did wonder why the bankruptcy
court didn't develop an online tutorial that provided a video filmed on the computer screen. A
person could simply click a link and watch a
step-by-step video from their computer without
leaving their desk. This would have saved the
bankruptcy court thousands of dollars and
hundreds of hours in time. Perhaps the majority
of law firms were so out-of-date with their computer and software they would not have been
able to view the online video. That's my guess."
Most virtual assistants have advanced knowledge in technology.
They have to. Their income depends on it.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
65
Matt: But electronic filing is now mandatory for
bankruptcy attorneys. They have no choice but to
embrace technology now.
Dennis:
You're right. And that is why you are
now hearing about the "virtual bankruptcy assistant"
world. The paralegal who developed The Lawyer
Assistant back in 2000 and sold it in 2002 has been
actively working to train virtual bankruptcy assistants to
provide specialized services to bankruptcy attorneys.
She has been the inspiration for hundreds of people
who started their own businesses and some of them
are growing very rapidly and are financially successful.
There is even a company that offers franchise
opportunities for paralegals wishing to start their own
virtual assistant business working for attorneys. It was
started by two paralegals, Dorothy Secol, CLA and
Peggy E Stalford, LA and is called Paralegal Services
USA. So you can see, the virtual assistant world is
rapidly expanding. I anticipate that within five years,
the virtual assistant field will literally boom.
Unlike a salaried employee, if you are not happy with the work a
virtual assistant provides — you don’t pay the invoice.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
67
Matt: I don't know. The whole concept of sending
my client files outside the office to a virtual bankruptcy
assistant I have never met is not something I would be
comfortable with. How did you deal with that fear?
Dennis:
First of all, your files never leave the
office. The client intake forms (filled out by the client)
are faxed or scanned into a PDF document and
emailed to the virtual assistant. All the originals are
retained in the client file which never leaves the office.
Besides, law firms have been outsourcing their
work for many years. The only difference is they did
not use the term "virtual assistants." When in fact, a
virtual assistant is simply a person that performs work
offsite for a law firm and 90% to 100% of the
communication is handled via the internet or by
telephone. The law firm communicates and receives
finished work via the internet through emails and PDF
files versus paper. In the past, law firms used outside
assistance for:
Virtual assistants are notorious for keeping backups of their
client’s work on CD-Rom. After the job is complete, you can
request the CD-Rom be mailed to you or keep in the virtual
assistant’s office as a back-up in case your computers fail.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
69
1. Notarizations;
2. Depositions by court reporters;
3. Printing and mailing services;
4. Going to court and filing documents;
5. Copying services; and
6. Document storage services;
Law firms also allow their employees to take work
home to complete complex assignments, drafting
documents and other pleadings. In addition, many law
clerks and paralegals must travel outside the office to
work on cases or go to the law library to cite cases for
briefs and other pleadings. Take a look at your own law
firm and see for yourself how much work is actually
done outside the office.
Matt: But what about confidentiality? I know the
people employed at my law firm personally. They may
take files out of the office to work off-site but I know
they will be coming to work the next day to return
them.
Virtual assistants who are located in your local area can also
assist you in court — just like your paralegal does now.
This frees up your paralegal to work on other tasks.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Dennis:
Page
71
Do you? I have had employees take the
files home to work on and the files get in the hands of
unauthorized people. I also have had employees quit
and I had to go through legal means to get the files
they took home with them returned. For me, I found it
more confidential to strictly deal with one unbiased
virtual assistant who was often more professional and
trusting than my own office staff.
Matt: Are you saying a virtual assistant does a
better job compared to your legal staff?
Dennis:
For certain things — yes. I found that
drafting bankruptcy petitions is a job that needs to be
done from start to finish with no interruptions. This is
impossible to do in a busy office. In fact, that is what
the bankruptcy attorney in Columbus, Ohio noticed
when he set Victoria Ring up in her own virtual bankruptcy assistant business. One day this attorney
watched one of his paralegals draft an entire bankruptcy petition. She would start on the Voluntary
Petition and get interrupted with client calls and
Virtual assistants like Geoff Gratz of Monkey Productions
can install a remote connection on your computers whereby
technical computer support is provided 24 hours a day
and he doesn’t need to come to your office.
Ref: Monkey Productions - 614-668-5037
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
73
questions from other employees. When she went
back to drafting the petition, it took her several minutes
to find the place where she had left off and begin
again. Unfortunately, this method of drafting petitions
helped to create a lot of errors which caused major
problems when the petition went through the court
system.
However, by drafting the bankruptcy petition at the
paralegal's home office, she had less interruptions and
could direct her concentration solely on the client's
information. The quality of the bankruptcy petition
increased dramatically and literally transformed his
law firm.
Dennis then began to detail for Matt the step-bystep procedure he used when working with his virtual
bankruptcy assistant:
1. The clients filled out a set of client intake forms
which were much more detailed than the previous
4-page intake forms I was using. These client intake
Virtual assistants allow attorneys to break the chains
and move forward in building a successful law practice
without the additional overhead expenses.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
75
forms were provided by the virtual bankruptcy assistant and personalized with my law firm's name and
address. I also made them available as a free PDF
download from my website. This made the process
easier for the client and they did not need to make a
special trip to the law firm to pick up the client intake
forms. Additionally, this process helped to save my
staff a lot of time and they had fewer interruptions.
2. Once the clients filled out the client intake
forms, they were instructed to call the office and set up
an appointment to pay their attorney and filing fees;
and to meet with me to sign the Retainer Agreement.
Also, they were required to bring the following documentation with them to their first appointment:
a. Completed Client Intake Forms;
Free client intake forms are provided online
at https://www.713training.com/intake_forms/
b. Attorney Fee and Filing Fee;
Some attorneys prefer to allow their clients
to pay their attorney fees in installment payments.
Stop and calculate the savings for yourself. With a little
reorganization, you too may benefit from
the services of a virtual assistant.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
77
However, many attorneys have expressed problems
with this payment method. For example, Joe had his
clients pay 1/3 of their attorney fees at the initial
consultation, 1/3 when they reviewed their petition prior
to filing and the remaining 1/3 when they met at the
341 Meeting. Unfortunately, many clients did not pay
the remaining 1/3 of their balance at court but the
attorney had to proceed with representation anyway.
This created the high cost of collection procedures
and often the clients had relocated after the bankruptcy and were unable to be found.
c. Credit counseling certificate;
If the clients had not obtained their credit
counseling certificate they were provided with the
name and contact information for a court-approved
credit counseling agency. They were asked to obtain
this certificate before scheduling their appointment and
to bring it with them. By obtaining the certificate
before the initial appointment, it saved me (as well as
the client) a lot of time. It eliminated the need to
Most paralegals cannot believe how virtual assistants
relieve their heavy workload. In fact, virtual assistants are not
taking the place of paralegals — they are providing an excellent
support base for the entire staff including the attorneys.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
79
follow-up with the client and wait on them to obtain the
certificate after the petition was drafted.
Additionally, once a bankruptcy petition is
drafted it must be filed within 30 days or the Means
Test will expire. Once a Means Test expires, before
the petition can be filed, not only does the Means Test
need to be updated, but the Statement of Affairs and
other schedules must be revised to include the current
month. By requiring that clients obtain their credit
counseling certificate before they schedule an intake
appointment, the possibility of allowing a Means Test
to expire is eliminated.
d. 6 Months of Paycheck Stubs;
e. Copies of all the titles to motor vehicles
(cars, trucks, etc.);
f.
Recorded mortgage and deed if
applicable;
g. A copy of the most recent appraisals on
real property;
Some attorneys turn away bankruptcy cases every day
due to the changes in the new bankruptcy law.
With a trained virtual bankruptcy assistant,
the process is minimized for the attorney.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
81
h. Copies of any lawsuits the clients had
been involved in within the past two (2)
years;
i.
Copies of all life insurance policies;
j.
Copies of federal income tax returns for
the past two (2) years;
k. Divorce Decree or Separation Agreement if
the clients had been involved in a divorce
within the past one (1) year;
l.
Copies of the last statement from any
retirement accounts; and
m. Copies of bank statements, stock certificates, bonds, credit union and passbook
savings accounts from the past six (6)
months;
3. After these documents were gathered, the
clients called the office and set up an appointment. At
this appointment, I personally met with them to answer
Most virtual assistants often have office equipment
that is superior to some law firms — and the knowledge
to use it to save their attorney clients the most money.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
83
any questions, sign a Retainer Agreement and collect
the attorney and filing fees.
As the attorney, I also looked over the client's
income and expense pages from the client intake
forms to try and determine if these clients would
"probably" be a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 case. Of
course I am not always correct in my analysis, but
many times I am. This allowed me to better estimate
the total attorney fees. If I knew someone could
potentially become a Chapter 13 client, I would alert
them of this possibility and warn them of additional
attorney fees if this situation occurred.
For Chapter 7 cases that became Chapter 13s
(according to the Means Test) I would collect the entire
attorney and filing fee for a Chapter 7 at the initial
intake. When and if the case turned out to be a
Chapter 13, I called the clients and collected any
additional monies. This way, the clients normally did
not complain since they had been forewarned in the
initial client intake interview of this possibility.
https://www.713training.com/intake_forms
713Training.Com provides client intake forms that are
well-detailed and are designed to flag potential problems
before the petition is filed.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
85
Additionally, since the clients had already been
provided with the list of documents to bring with them
to the intake interview, the intake process flowed much
more smoothly compared to the old method we used
to use. Before using virtual bankruptcy assistants, I
was losing a lot of time. The paralegal would spend
from 1 to 2 hours getting the intake information and
now this time was automatically eliminated.
If the clients did all their homework correctly, the
intake process took approximately 30 minutes or less.
Total time invested by the law firm so far
= 30 minutes
During the initial intake interview, the only tasks the
paralegal (or secretary) needed to perform were:
a. Making copies of the documents the clients
brought with them for the file and returning the originals to the clients. Clients should also be encouraged
to keep their own file at home which contains all the
documentation pertaining to their case. This helps to
“Unbelievable! Within 90 days after hiring a virtual assistant,
my law firm profits increased from $7,000 per month
to $12,000 per month.”
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
87
prevent future problems and loss of important
documents.
b. Making copies of the client's driver's license or
other photo IDs for the file, making sure to verify the
social security number is correct on the client intake
forms. (This is an often overlooked step. It only takes
a few seconds to verify identification and to protect the
attorney from filing a fraudulent petition.)
This process took the paralegal (or secretary)
approximately 10 minutes.
Total time invested by the law firm so far
= 40 minutes
4. Next, the following documents were faxed (or
scanned and emailed as a PDF document) to the
virtual bankruptcy assistant:
a. Client intake forms;
b. 6 months of paycheck stubs (so they could
be compared to the amount reported by the client on
the client intake forms and utilized for the Means Test);
“I expanded my law firm to offer bankruptcy services. The virtual
bankruptcy assistant I hired does the majority of the intake work
and I usually net a profit of $901.00 per Chapter 7 case.”
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
89
c. credit counseling certificate (so the virtual
assistant could verify the date and ensure the certificate was obtained within 180 days of filing);
Faxing or emailing this information to the virtual
bankruptcy assistant took approximately 15 minutes.
Total time invested by the law firm so far
= 55 minutes
5. The virtual bankruptcy assistant performed the
following tasks:
a. Drafting the bankruptcy petition;
b. Conducting an online criminal and civil
records search for additional debts;
c. Conducting an online real property search
for additional assets;
d. Compiling a list of questions that need
addressed before the petition could be finalized;
Often this problem is created because the
client intake forms were not filled out completely by the
In the past, some attorneys considered virtual assistants to be
UPL violators and refused to entertain the idea of utilizing their
services. They are now learning that professional legal virtual
assistants are an integral part of a law firm practice.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
91
clients, or the virtual assistant finds conflicting information that needs verified. (This is one of the benefits of
using the detailed client intake forms developed by
713Training.Com. They are designed to flag potential
problems so they can be solved during the initial
drafting stage.)
I found that some attorneys working with a
virtual assistant for the first time will have the list of
questions faxed or emailed back to the law firm. A
member of the staff contacts the client to obtain the
information and sends it back to the virtual assistant.
However, once the attorney builds a level of trust with
the virtual assistant, they normally permit them to
contact the client directly to obtain the information.
This speeds up the process and normally results in
more accurate reporting because virtual assistants are
trained how to listen and obtain any additional information the clients did not reveal in their client forms.
e. Compiling a Case Cover Sheet that provides me with information about the case for specific
review. Sometimes, this additional information can
With the changes in the new bankruptcy law,
the bankruptcy petition is no longer considered a data entry job.
Instead, drafting a well-detailed petition is a high-level skill.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
93
change the case entirely or cause me to make adjustments to the bankruptcy petition before it is finalized.
The Case Cover Sheet is a great time saver
for me. For instance, when drafting the petition the
virtual assistant may discover that the client's home
has $15,000 in unexempt equity. By making a note for
me on the Case Cover Sheet, I can quickly locate the
problem and solve it before the petition is filed. Again,
this is another important step that helps to eliminate
the majority of catastrophes.
f.
Returning a complete and thorough bank-
ruptcy petition for my review. Once I receive the
bankruptcy petition for review, if the virtual assistant
has done his or her job correctly, I will have less than
30 minutes invested into reviewing the draft. At that
point, I can send an email to the virtual assistant and
approve the draft for filing or contact the clients to
review their petition and make changes. Because the
document is returned to me in PDF format, it is easy to
email a copy to a client and call them to discuss
certain issues.
Utilizing virtual bankruptcy assistants, debtor bankruptcy attorneys
can earn as much as $515.00 per hour. See the chart at right.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
95
Total time invested by the law firm so far
= 1 hour, 25 minutes
g. After my review and approval, the virtual
bankruptcy assistant electronically files the case
through PACER using my login and password.
The following is an example that demonstrates how
the profits for my bankruptcy law firm were immediately increased when I hired my virtual bankruptcy
assistant:
TASK
Total Law Firm Time
Total Attorney Time in Court
Total Time Per Client
Total Amount Paid by Clients
Less Filing Fees
Less Virtual Assistant Fees
Net Profit Per Case
Net Hourly Income
AVG TIME
1 hr 25 min
20 min
1 hr 45 min
$1,500.00
-299.00
-300.00
$901.00
$515.00*
* This is only an example using the calculations provided.
Your actual income may vary.
Virtual bankruptcy assistants normally extend their hours
to evenings and weekends. This enables them to contact
your clients and obtain necessary information after
they have returned home from work and are
more comfortable in their own home environment.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
97
Dennis told Matt that he didn't know of very many
attorneys making $515.00 per hour. Compared to the
old method Dennis was using (where he averaged $90
per hour), by using virtual bankruptcy assistants he
was able to increased his hourly income by 1,000%.
Utilizing this method not only provided Dennis with
the ability to handle more bankruptcy petitions and
increase his law firm profits dramatically, but the extra
time he gained allowed him to pursue other areas of
law which also brought in even more income for the
law firm.
Matt: I am shocked. I had no idea that technology
had advanced to the level where I could hire professionals to work out of their home drafting bankruptcy
petitions. I would be fearful of the virtual assistant
committing unauthorized practice of law.
Dennis:
I used to think the same thing. How-
ever, after reviewing many cases involving UPL,
I discovered there were just as many cases filed
against attorneys who had been barred for misconduct
“Since I hired two virtual assistants and moved to my own home
office, I now only need to put on a suit and tie when I go to court.”
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
99
compared to paralegals working from a home office.
While it is true that before the bankruptcy law changed
on October 17, 2005 there were unscrupulous people
with no experience who attempted to prepare petitions
directly for the general public – the new bankruptcy law
now makes that almost impossible.
Additionally, non-attorneys preparers who used to
draft petitions for the general public (and some of them
did a better job than some law firm employees) found
they can earn a higher income and maintain a steadier
stream of work by working under the direction of
attorneys. Therefore, non-attorney petition preparers
working for the general public are a dying breed.
Matt: But what about due diligence? The bankruptcy law now imposes a fine for attorneys if they do
not exercise due diligence.
Dennis:
Personally, I have never had any of
these problems occur. The virtual assistant verifies all
the information provided by the client on the intake
forms. The virtual assistant also conducts an online
Hiring virtual assistants helps to eliminate “office gossip”
that is common with salaried employees and
costs your law firm money.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
101
search of real property records including a civil and
criminal records search for all the clients to ensure all
their assets, debts, lawsuits and other issues are
included in the bankruptcy petition. Additionally, the
virtual assistant prints out a copy from the Kelly Blue
Book website to verify the value of the motor vehicles.
Utilizing this level of detail in documentation not
only improved the quality of our petitions, but also
made them easy for the court personnel to process.
In fact, court officials are always commenting on how
well-detailed my petitions are and several have asked
me to train other attorneys. I understand that many
courts are flooded with petitions that contain numerous
errors and omissions. So if a virtual assistant has
been professionally trained in drafting bankruptcy
petitions, these problems are often eliminated.
Matt: What about the issue of "sharing fees" with
a non-attorney assistant?
Dennis:
You pay people to work for you at your
law firm don't you? Do you consider paying your
employees the same thing as sharing fees?
Virtual assistants are paid like any other vendor.
They never share fees and work under the sole discretion
of the attorney just like your office staff.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
103
Matt: Of course not.
Dennis:
A virtual assistant is just like any
employee that works at your law firm. The only
difference is that a virtual assistant does the same job
except at a separate location and communicates via
the internet.
In fact, I spoke with several Trustees who told me
the issue of "sharing fees" normally relates to people
who find clients for the attorney and are paid a commission for each new client they get. It is illegal to
attempt or force to attempt someone to make the
decision to file bankruptcy. "Head hunters" (as they
are known) will use any sales tactic they can to get
clients for the attorney since they receive a commission for each one.
Virtual assistants (just like your employees) play no
role in obtaining clients for attorneys. Therefore, the
attorney is never "sharing fees" with the virtual assistant. Instead, the attorney pays the virtual assistant
Virtual assistants can be located in any state and still have access
to electronic court records to conduct criminal record searches to
ensure there are no additional debts the client has not revealed.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
105
just like he or she would pay any vendor, temporary
employee or salaried employee.
Matt: I heard you say something about a virtual
assistant being professionally trained in the skill of
drafting bankruptcy petitions. Where do they get their
training — from the paralegal who sold The Lawyer
Assistant?
Dennis:
Yes, her company is 713Training.Com
and you can review all the training materials Victoria
Ring developed at http://www.713training.com.
Victoria now dedicates all her time and efforts to
training this high level skill and the number of
professionally trained virtual bankruptcy assistants
is growing every day.
Matt: One more thing — do you know of any
problems people have had hiring virtual assistants?
Dennis:
Yes. Like anything else — nothing is
perfect. One attorney told me he hired a virtual assistant, sent her five petitions to draft and she went on
The virtual assistant field is one of the fastest growing industries
in existence today. Virtual assistants are highly trained
professionals who prefer to work from their own offices and
provide superior services for the attorneys they serve.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
107
vacation without telling him. One of those petitions
involved a client who was in danger of foreclosure so
time was of the essence. He had expected to have the
five petitions drafted within 48-72 hours but was
unable to locate the virtual assistant after numerous
calls to her home office.
When she returned from her vacation she returned
his numerous voice mail messages and apologized;
but the attorney was so angry, he fired the virtual
assistant and hired someone else.
Although incidents like this can occur with any
salaried employee, I didn't find it alarming enough to
prevent me from hiring virtual assistants. The main
reason I enjoy working with them is that if they don't
work out (for whatever reason) I can easily find a
replacement and there is no financial loss to the law
firm. I only pay after satisfactory services are rendered.
Matt: Did you have your virtual assistant sign any
type of confidentiality agreement before they started
working on your client's cases?
Virtual assistant handle the nuts and bolts
while you build a successful law practice!
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Dennis:
Page
109
Yes. In fact, 713Training.Com provides
a sample template of an Attorney Agreement for the
virtual assistants to use when working for bankruptcy
attorneys. It is provided in Victoria Ring's book as well
as being distributed at all her seminars.
Matt: Okay. You have convinced me to give this
new idea a try. Where should I start looking for a
virtual bankruptcy assistant?
Dennis:
I will have my secretary fax you over a
list of the website links I use for locating virtual assistants so you can get started.
Below is the list that Dennis provided to Matt:
Š
The Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Online
Directory
http://www.713training.com/directory/
Š
Quik-Sec – Virtual Secretary
http://www.quiksek.com/
Save the high cost of investing into software programs.
Virtual assistants have already made the investment and can
export files in PDF format for cross-platform review.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Š
Page
111
The International Association of Virtual
Assistants
http://www.iavoa.com/
Š
Certified Virtual Assistants
http://www.vacertification.com/directory.htm
Š
Paralegal Services USA
http://www.paralegalservicesusa.com/
Matt thanked Dennis for all this wonderful information and went back to his office. He spent the evening
researching the field of virtual assistants. Not only did
he review the list of websites that Dennis provided to
him, he also did a keyword search for "virtual assistants" on Google at http://www.google.com. What he
found amazed him.
Today Matt has four virtual assistants working for
his law firm. He no longer needs three temporary
employees and three paralegals. In fact, two of his
paralegals said they preferred to work from home so
Matt was able to keep them on the payroll while totally
When salaried employees are sick, the law firm
normally still pays them. But when a virtual assistant is ill, you
don’t pay anything. Virtual assistants are only paid once the work
is completed to the attorney’s satisfaction.
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
113
eliminating a huge amount of office overhead
expenses.
Summary
This story is a typical example of the huge benefits
a professionally trained virtual bankruptcy assistant
can provide to a debtor bankruptcy attorney. However,
you don't have to be a debtor bankruptcy attorney to
enjoy the same type of benefits from virtual assistants.
As previously stated, virtual assistants can perform a
wide variety of tasks which will eliminate overhead
expenses, time and problems for law firms — regardless of the area of law they practice in.
As time moves on, many people who commute to
the office every day will be working from home and
communicating with their employers via the internet.
But don't take my word for it. Do the research yourself. You may find that as an attorney, you can increase your hourly income to $500 or more per hour,
just like Dennis and Matt did.
“When I grow up, I want to be a virtual assistant
just like my mommy and daddy.”
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
115
For more information about training products and
consulting services provided by 713Training.Com
contact http://www.713training.com.
WebSite References
Š
The Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Online
Directory
http://www.713training.com/directory/
Š
Quik-Sec – Virtual Secretary
http://www.quiksek.com/
Š
The International Association of Virtual
Assistants
http://www.iavoa.com/
Š
Certified Virtual Assistants
http://www.vacertification.com/directory.htm
Š
Paralegal Services USA
http://www.paralegalservicesusa.com/
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
written by http://www.713training.com
Page
115
About the Author
Angie Boyd is the Executive
Director of 713Training.Com.
She is the also the Training
Instructor at the 713Training
Center and assists with training
at the 713Training seminars
which are held throughout the
United States.
Angie discovered her passion for debtor bankruptcy
law when she drafted her first bankruptcy petition in April
2006 while working for 713Training.Com. Since then, she
has enrolled in a paralegal study program to obtain her
Associate’s Degree and started her own company,
BankruptcyPlus.Com. She currently works as a virtual
bankruptcy assistant for several attorneys in Ohio and
Arizona in addition to her role as Executive Director of
713Training.Com.
Angie lives in Columbus, Ohio with her three sons.
She enjoys digital photography and hanging wall murals.
Graphico Publishing
a subsidiary of 713Training.Com, LLC
1601 West Fifth Avenue, Suite 123
Columbus, Ohio 43212-2303
Website: http://www.graphicopublishing.com
I
n 2001, a bankruptcy attorney and his
paralegal decided to try an experiment in an
effort to streamline the law firm operations.
This experiment proved to be so successful that
the attorney dramatically increased the profits for
his law firm within 60 days.
But the attorney also recognized something
else. The redundant and unnecessary calls from
clients diminished and the stress level from the
staff was a noticeable improvement.
After this successful experiment, the paralegal
decided to implement the same techniques and
offer them nationwide to attorneys via the internet.
Within 9 months, fifty-six attorneys were utilizing
the methods in this book and 100% were overjoyed
with the results.
In this book you will learn all the details of this
experiment so you can use the same techniques to
increase profits for your law firm.
by Angie Boyd
Executive Director;
Training Instructor; and
Bankruptcy Paralegal
for 713Training.Com LLC
$12.99
Printed in the USA
Graphico Publishing
www.graphicopublishing.com
PRODUCT PRICING LIST
ITEM NO
PRODUCT
PRICE
BOOKS
BK01
How to Start a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Service
348 pages, 9 x 11, updated for new bankruptcy law
$79.99
BK02
The Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Workbook
248 pages, 8 x 11, all training materials included
49.99
BK03
How to Increase Profits for Your Law Firm
125 pages, fully illustrated with additional tips
12.99
BK04
From Author to Publisher to Profit
Learn how to publish your own ebooks and paperbacks
39.99
NO01
How to Start, Operate and Market a Freelance
Notary Signing Agent Business
29.99
VIDEOS
MK01
How to Market a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Business
2 hour video includes online marketing strategies
39.99
TR01
Training Video: Voluntary Petition (30 minutes)
29.99
TR02
Training Video: Schedule A (30 minutes)
29.99
TR03
Training Video: Schedule B (1 hour)
59.99
TR04
Training Video: Schedules C, D and E (30 minutes)
29.99
TR05
Training Video: Schedule F (45 minutes)
49.99
TR06
Training Video: Schedules G and H (35 minutes)
29.99
TR07
Training Video: Schedules I and J (1 hour, 30 minutes)
89.99
713Training.Com LLC ‹ 1601 West Fifth Ave, Suite 123 ‹ Columbus, Ohio 43212-2310
Office: 614-875-4496 ‹ Fax: 614-355-0184 ‹ Website: http://www.713training.com
Product Pricing List - Page 2
VIDEOS (continued)
TR08
Training Video: Statement of Affairs (2 hours)
129.99
TR09
Training Video: Miscellaneous Forms (1 hour, 30 minutes)
89.99
TR10
Training Video: The Means Test (1 hour, 30 minutes)
59.99
CDs
CD01
2005 Bankruptcy Teleconference Audios
Interviews with special guests and insider tips
39.99
DVDs
DV01
The Road to Success: 2005 Bankruptcy/Notary Seminar
Filmed in front of a live audience in Columbus Ohio
89.99
EBOOKs
EB01
An Introduction to Foreclosure Mediation
Add on service for virtual bankruptcy assistants
EB02
An Introductory Training Course for Virtual Bankruptcy
Assistants - 30 pages
9.99
EB03
How to Protect Your Business From Scams and Frauds
12.99
EB04
How I Built 7 Businesses
30 pages, Author: Victoria Ring
EB05
Ebook Version: How to Start a Virtual Bankruptcy
Assistant Service - 348 pages
59.99
EB06
Ebook Version: The Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant
Workbook - 248 pages
39.99
EB07
Ebook Version: How to Increase Profits for Your
Law Firm - 125 pages
9.99
713Training.Com LLC ‹ 1601 West Fifth Ave, Suite 123 ‹ Columbus, Ohio 43212-2310
Office: 614-875-4496 ‹ Fax: 614-355-0184 ‹ Website: http://www.713training.com
19.99
9.99
Product Pricing List - Page 3
EBOOKs (continued)
EB08
How to Design a Web Site - 70 pages
18.99
EB09
How to Start, Operate and Market a Freelance
Notary Signing Agent Business
24.99
COMBINATION OFFERS
CB01
Buy: The Road to Success (DVD)
Receive Free: 2005 Teleconference CD (reg: $39.99)
CB02
Save over $200: All 10 Training CDs
Items TR01 through TR10
89.99
359.99
PERSONALIZED 1-ON-1 TRAINING
Training at your office includes bankruptcy software installation, setup and
software training for you and your staff utilizing Best Case software.
PE01
1-Day Training at 713Training Center, Columbus OH
includes meals, transportation and reduced lodging
800.00
PE02
2-Day Training at 713Training Center, Columbus OH
includes meals, transportation and hotel lodging
1,200.00
PE03
Training at Your Office for 1 Person, 8 hours
plus transportation and lodging expenses
500.00
Add 1 to 5 people (price each)
Add 6 to 15 people (price each)
More than 16 people to be trained at one time
150.00
100.00
CALL
SEMINARS
SE01
2-Day Bankruptcy Training Seminars (7 CLE credits)
Check website for dates and locations
713Training.Com LLC ‹ 1601 West Fifth Ave, Suite 123 ‹ Columbus, Ohio 43212-2310
Office: 614-875-4496 ‹ Fax: 614-355-0184 ‹ Website: http://www.713training.com
375.00
Product Pricing List - Page 4
BANKRUPTCY CLUB
CL01
1 month membership (recurring charge)
cancel anytime, no minimum requirements
$15.99
CL02
3 month membership (recurring charge)
cancel anytime, no minimum requirements
39.99
CL03
6 month membership (recurring charge)
cancel anytime, no minimum requirements
79.99
CL04
12 month membership (recurring charge)
cancel anytime, no minimum requirements
129.99
NATIONWIDE VIRTUAL BANKRUPTCY
ASSISTANT DIRECTORY
DR01
6 month listing
69.99
DR02
1 year listing
79.99
DR03
2 year listing
119.99
DR04
Lifetime Listing (never expires)
199.99
CLIENT INTAKE FORMS
FM01
Personalized Set of Client Intake Forms
delivered by email in PDF format
SEE NEXT PAGE FOR ORDER FORM
713Training.Com LLC ‹ 1601 West Fifth Ave, Suite 123 ‹ Columbus, Ohio 43212-2310
Office: 614-875-4496 ‹ Fax: 614-355-0184 ‹ Website: http://www.713training.com
50.00
ORDER FORM - 713TRAINING.COM
24-Hour Fax Order Line: 614-355-0184
QTY
DESCRIPTION
PRICE EA
SHIPPING CHARGES
TOTAL
Subtotal
Regardless of the size of your order, there is only ONE
FLAT FEE of $6.50 for shipping to any U.S. address.
All orders are shipped from a smoke-free environment by
U.S.P.S. Priority Mail. Your order should arrive within 2-3
days after shipment.
Add Shipping
Tracking number is sent by email when your order ships.
Grand Total
$6.50
Payment Method: † Check † Money Order † Credit/Debit Card
Visa
Mastercard
Discover
Am Exp
Exp Date:
If paying by credit/debit card, fax your order to 614-355-0184.
If paying by check or money order, mail to: 713Training.Com, 1601 West Fifth
Ave, Suite 123, Columbus OH 43212
Name
Company
Address
City
State
Zip
Telephone
Email
Website Address:
Also Order Online at http://www.713training.com