The real work that drives your firm is work that moves cases forward, wins for your clients, and is billable. So how can you devote the most time possible to representation, client meetings, and negotiation, without allowing other tasks to slip through the cracks?
More and more attorneys are seeing the value of an ILA. These are International Licensed Attorneys, and they work alongside your firm, remotely, logging on and helping you complete tasks during your firm’s hours. Assignments that a paralegal can handle, an ILA can handle, too. And work that you might not feel comfortable delegating to a new paralegal, such as reviewing and organizing evidence packets, can be handed over, too.
These are fully accredited lawyers, helping you keep up and stay focused during your busiest months and throughout the year. Wondering how an ILA could benefit your firm? Let’s look at what makes this service so unique, and how to get the most out of your ILA partnership.
Many of the attorneys we connect with associate our services with those of a virtual paralegal. And there are certainly parallels. Both an ILA and an outsourced remote paralegal work digitally. Both help you handle administrative tasks that can eat into your billable hours. And both can offer an affordable alternative to in-office support. But there are differences, too.
For one, an ILA is a fellow lawyer. They’re not law students or recent college graduates. They’re not simply a virtual legal assistant, either. These are accredited men and women with legal careers, clients, and experience handling the law and strategizing in their own countries. They’ve been through law school, just as you have, and understand exactly what’s at stake for your clients.
They know the buck stops with you, and that every task they handle reflects on you, your firm, and your success. As a result, they’re able to offer a level of care, precision, and professionalism that has an intangible yet real benefit to your firm. Work is handled just as you would handle it— while freeing up 10 to 40 hours of your time per week to dedicate to billable, focused representation. This is a level of care and professionalism that most virtual legal support services simply can’t match, while still passing savings on to you.
What sets the men and women we hire as ILAs apart? For one, as mentioned, they’re fully accredited lawyers. We don’t hire legal students or recent graduates, but professionals who have negotiated for clients, represented their interests, and headed into court with their futures in mind.
Next, we make sure our ILAs have excellent, native-level proficiency in English. We vet our ILAs through multiple interviews, ensuring communication is clear, consistent, and will work well for your US-based firm. ILAs can communicate with you, your staff, and clients through email, video calls, and phone calls with equal ease. Written and spoken English must be outstanding, and attorney-level, as well.
Next, we train ILAs on US-based law practices, client privacy standards, HIPAA, and other legal and security-related topics before they reach your firm. Onboarding is handled by DocketWorks, ensuring that all your ILA will need are instructions on any work habits or schedules unique to your office.
Every part of the interview, vetting, and training process ensures that you’re partnered with an ILA who’s a good fit for your firm, geared toward quality, professional work, and ready to communicate flawlessly with you, your team, and clients on day one.
The benefits of an ILA are considerable. Not only are you saving an average of 50% over a US-based paralegal, but you’re working in real-time with a dedicated partner who helps you zero in on billable work.
Your ILA can handle…
Your ILA can even assist with organizing discovery, leaving you free to review this evidence with greater clarity and significant time saved. Billable hours go up, but more importantly, you get a level of support that leaves you free to do your best work at every client meeting, at the negotiating table, and in court, as well.
Firms have even onboarded a second and a third ILA, impressed by the quality of work, savings, and the value their support lends to their firm. It’s a fantastic, efficient cycle. Hours are saved, money is saved, billable hours increase, and your clients get even more of your time and attention.
Once you onboard an ILA, how do you work with them most efficiently? For one, all communication with your ILA is handled through RustDesk, a secure, encrypted platform monitored by DocketWorks.
Because they work when you work, you can assign tasks and ask for updates in real time. Your ILA can ask for clarification if it’s needed. Work is handed back to you as it’s completed. Channels of communication are simple, secure, and seamless.
Next, ensure your ILA understands when you need tasks back and which tasks take priority. This ensures they can work on your most pressing needs first and keep work moving smoothly.
Finally, if your firm has a specific workflow strategy, make sure your ILA understands this. Keeping your ILA on the same wavelength as your existing support staff helps ensure that everyone can work and benefit at the same time, with the same priorities, on the work that needs to be done first. Once your ILA is used to this rhythm, output goes from high-quality to truly optimal.
In short, communication, clarity, and ensuring your ILA understands your firm’s work culture will all help them to do their best work, every day.
Not every firm needs extra support, but we’ve found that attorneys who can delegate administrative tasks to someone they trust tend to work with less negative stress, see an increase in cases, and improve their earnings, too.
Does your firm need an ILA? Ask yourself these questions :
If all of this sounds like a win for your busy firm, reach out to us and schedule a call. We’ll simply review what your work week looks like, explain how the process works, and help you decide if an ILA could help your firm work better, smarter, and more profitably, too.
Grace Singh is a writer and editor for DocketWorks. She enjoys bridging services and client needs in ways that are meaningful, memorable, and human-focused, even as technology continues to change. When she’s not at her home office, she enjoys nature walks, reading, and brewing coffee.