KNOW, the Magazine for Paralegals Summer 2014 | Page 31
workplace for you. In order to be successful If you do not have excellent written and oral
as a virtual paralegal, you need to have some communication skills, you will find it very difvery specific skills. These include:
ficult to convince any attorney that you draft
pleadings, motions, and correspondence that
• The ability to work independently. are clear, concise, and free of grammatical errors.
When you work in an office, your boss is
available to answer your questions and offer
• Self discipline. Making yourself work
quite a bit of guidance. However, as a virtual can be a challenge when you are self-emparalegal, you must figure most things out
ployed. There is no one to make sure you start
on your own.
work at a certain time and no one who cares
when you knock off for the day.
• Superior time management capabilities. When you have no boss expecting you
to arrive at work at a certain time and stay
if you are not
until the end of the day, it can be difficult to
manage your time in a way that ensures you
keeping up with
get all of your work done. Particularly when
current technology,
you work from a home office.
Shelley M. Riseden, a seasoned virtual paralegal, put it like this: “The biggest challenge
to working as a virtual paralegal is making
work fit in with the rest of my day. I have a
husband, daughter, 3 dogs, a cat, 4 birds and
a house to take care of, so it is sometimes
very difficult to make enough time to forget
about all of that and just work.”
• Competency using the internet,
various software programs and the latest
technology. Let’s face it, if you do not do
well with the internet, have trouble learning
to use new software programs, don’t know
how to set up a fax machine or un-jam a
printer, and aren’t sure what you need to do
to access your voicemail – a virtual job doing
anything may not be right for you.
• Command of the English language.
When you run your own business, you spend
a large amount of time communicating with
potential clients, selling yourself and your
services.
updated your skills,
can’t produce enough
billable hours
or anything
that may
impede your
performance, the
handwriting is
already on the wall.
It’s just probably not
the Virtual
Paralegal who is
replacing you.
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