A virtual assistant for law firms who runs the admin so attorneys can practice.
Dedicated full-time legal admins trained on intake, calendaring, Clio or MyCase billing, conflict checks, document prep, and e-filing support. Non-substantive admin only, so attorneys stay on the practice work.
What you actually get
One dedicated legal admin trained on your intake script, your matter intake form, your billing rules, and your e-filing workflow.
Strictly admin and non-substantive support. No paralegal work, no legal research, no legal advice, no drafting of legal opinions. The attorney remains the practitioner of record.
Pricing. Roughly $2,000 to $4,500 per month for a full-time dedicated admin, Philippines or Latin America based, with a lifetime replacement guarantee.
Why most law firm admin hires go sideways.
Solo and small-firm attorneys do not lose hours to litigation strategy. They lose hours to intake calls, calendaring, chasing client documents, processing billable time into Clio, running conflict checks before accepting a new matter, and assembling the e-filing packet. A generalist VA who has not worked in a legal environment will mishandle the intake script, miss conflict-check steps, and undercharge or overcharge time entries because they do not understand the firm's billable hour conventions.
A dedicated executive admin trained on your firm's specific workflow handles the repeatable, non-substantive load so the attorney is on practice work, not running the office.
What a legal admin VA at Staffify actually does.
Client intake calls and scheduling
Inbound intake calls answered against your firm's script, basic case-type questions captured, and qualified prospects scheduled into the attorney's Calendly for a consultation. Disqualified or out-of-scope prospects handled politely with the firm's referral language. No legal advice given.
Calendaring and deadline tracking
Court date entry, response deadlines, statute-of-limitations reminders, and client meeting calendaring across the attorney's calendar and the matter management system. The admin tracks the calendar; the attorney owns the legal interpretation of any deadline.
Conflict checks and matter intake
New-matter conflict checks run inside Clio, MyCase, or your firm's conflict database against existing client names and adverse parties. Results documented for attorney review. The attorney makes the final go-or-no-go conflict decision.
Billing, time entry, and invoicing
Attorney time captured from notes, dictation, or task logs and entered into Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, or CosmoLex against the correct matter and rate. Monthly invoice prep, trust ledger reconciliation support, and accounts-receivable follow-up on past-due invoices.
Document prep and e-filing support
Document assembly from your firm's templates (engagement letters, fee agreements, standard form pleadings supplied by the attorney), exhibit indexing, file pagination, and e-filing packet preparation for state and federal systems. The attorney reviews and signs everything substantive before filing.
Client communication and matter status
Client status updates drafted from attorney notes, document requests sent and chased, and routine "where are we on my case" emails handled with attorney-approved language. Anything substantive routed to the attorney.
Where the line is.
This is a hard line and we hold it. Staffify legal admin VAs do not: provide legal advice to clients or prospects, perform legal research, draft substantive legal arguments, interpret contract or statute language for clients, sign documents on behalf of the firm, or make any decision that requires legal judgment. The attorney is and remains the licensed practitioner of record on every matter. The VA's role is administrative and ministerial only.
Tools your legal admin VA will know.
- Practice management. Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, CosmoLex, Smokeball.
- Document and e-signature. Microsoft Word, Adobe Acrobat, DocuSign, Adobe Sign.
- Communication. Gmail or Outlook, RingCentral or OpenPhone for inbound intake, Calendly for consultations.
- E-filing systems. State e-filing portals (varies by jurisdiction) and PACER for federal court (admin access only, attorney-supervised).
- Bookkeeping handoff. QuickBooks Online, LawPay for client payment processing handoff to the firm's bookkeeper.
Onboarding cadence.
Most firms have a legal admin running intake and billing inside 21 days. Week 1: SOP build (your intake script, your conflict-check workflow, your billing rules, your e-filing process, your client communication tone). Week 2: paired work, the VA drafts and the attorney reviews every intake summary, time entry, and outbound client email. Week 3: solo on routine admin with daily attorney review of a flag list. For more on the model see first employee vs VA.
Law firm hiring model comparison.
| Model | Typical cost | Fit |
|---|---|---|
| Attorney doing it themselves | "Free" but 10 to 20 hours/week of non-billable time | Solo practitioners under 50K in monthly billings |
| In-house legal secretary (US W-2) | $4,500 to $7,000 / mo loaded | Firms wanting in-office support and physical file handling |
| Virtual receptionist service | $200 to $700 / mo (per-call pricing) | Firms needing intake-only coverage, no other admin |
| Freelance legal VA (marketplace) | $600 to $1,800 / mo part-time | Firms ready to vet, train, and manage themselves |
| Staffify dedicated legal admin | $2,000 to $4,500 / mo (full-time) | Solo and small firms (1 to 5 attorneys) at 30K-plus monthly billings |
Where this works (and where it does not).
Strong fit: solo practitioners doing $30K-plus per month in billings who are leaking time on admin, small firms of 2 to 5 attorneys without a dedicated office manager, and firms with consistent intake volume that justifies a full-time seat. Practice areas where this model works well include family law, immigration, estate planning, personal injury, real estate, and small-business transactional work.
Weaker fit: high-stakes litigation practices where the admin work is deeply intertwined with legal substance (use a true US-based paralegal instead), and firms with very low intake volume (a virtual receptionist may be enough). Also see the hidden cost of doing it yourself for the math on attorney admin time.
Frequently asked questions.
How much does a legal virtual assistant cost?
Freelance legal VAs run roughly $600 to $1,800 per month part-time. Virtual receptionist services run $200 to $700 per month for intake-only. A dedicated full-time offshore legal admin VA through Staffify is roughly $2,000 to $4,500 per month with lifetime replacement guarantee.
Do your VAs do paralegal work or legal research?
No. This is a hard line. Our legal admin VAs handle administrative and ministerial work only: intake, calendaring, billing, conflict checks, document assembly from your templates, e-filing support, and client communication using attorney-approved language. Paralegal work, legal research, and any task requiring legal judgment stay with licensed staff at your firm.
Can your VA work inside Clio or MyCase?
Yes. Clio and MyCase are the most common practice management systems we work in, plus PracticePanther, CosmoLex, and Smokeball. The VA learns your specific matter intake form, time-entry rules, and billing setup during onboarding.
Can they run conflict checks?
Yes, they can run the search against your firm's conflict database in Clio, MyCase, or your separate system and document the results for attorney review. The attorney makes the final conflict determination.
What about confidentiality and client data?
VAs sign confidentiality agreements and work under your firm's data handling policies. Most firms grant the VA access only to the systems they need (matter management, calendar, email) and use role-based permissions inside Clio or MyCase to limit visibility.
What if my legal admin does not work out?
We replace them. Lifetime replacement guarantee, no extra fee. Most replacements happen in the first 30 days and are usually about pace or attorney communication style fit, not skill.
Get the admin off the attorney's desk.
25 minutes. Tell us your practice area, your monthly intake volume, and your practice management system, and we will tell you what a dedicated legal admin seat would look like at your firm.
Book a 25-min discovery call