The VLO from the perspective of the Long Family Law Group’s Junior Associate, Jasmine S. Chu:
“I never imagined that a small firm would be big on technology… until I joined Long Family Law Group as a junior associate this fall. Having only been here a few weeks, I can already say that being part of this Virtual Law Office (VLO) is one of the perks of this job.
Casey, our I.T. guy, set up my computer, set up remote access, and has been able to fix computer issues without even coming into the office. I have yet to put a face to the name. I anticipate that as my practice grows and I get busier, I will only come to love the VLO more. Access to email anytime, anywhere, has been great. At the end of a long weekend, as I am getting ready for bed, I find myself wondering what will be waiting for me in my email inbox when I arrive at the office the next morning, or I may ask myself if I ever did add that clause to that document I was working on Friday afternoon. All I have to do is log on remotely and do a quick check.
The firm that I was previously at did not have remote access. When I was out of the country, I set an out-of-office auto-reply stating that I would be without any access to email during that time. I asked staff to check my emails and contact me at my personal email address or at the emergency phone number I provided. I was certainly apprehensive about being entirely unavailable to my clients but there was nothing I could do about it. There was also an instance where I caught the 24-hour stomach flu and had a deadline to make for the next day. Since the file was at work and the draft document on my work computer, I ended up going in to the office after-hours when I was feeling slightly better.
At Long Family Law Group, we keep electronic files that mirror our hard files. I know that if I catch the 24-hour stomach flu again, I can make a deadline, since I can access everything I need from the comfort of home. When I am away from the office, staff can stay in touch with me by Spark – our inter-office instant messaging program. There is no longer a need for an out-of-office auto-reply to emails. In family law, where a client’s situation can change at the drop of a hat, the last thing that client needs is an auto-reply email that I am away and without access to email. The client comes first, and he or she needs to know that I am available, no matter where I am. I may be slower to respond while I am out of the office, but the client can be assured that after time away from the office, I am still up to speed on the latest developments.”
Stayed tuned for Part 8: The Mentor/Mentoree Relationship
