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Telecommuting Possibilities in the Lawfirm
How new technology has opened the doors for paralegals and attorneys to break free from the traditional office environment and work out of their home office.
More than any time in history, paralegals across the United States have an excellent opportunity to consider the transition from their traditional office environment to their home office - working for the same employer; but just in a different location. Let me explain, using the area of debtor bankruptcy law as one example.
According to a year-old survey conducted by the American Bankruptcy Institute of bankruptcy attorneys and trustees across the United States, 83.44% predicted a significant rise in the filing of bankruptcy petitions in the coming year. That prediction came true! The latest statistics at ABI World Online (conducted in the last quarter of 2002), reveal that bankruptcy filings have increased approximately 33% compared to their quarterly figures from the year before. What kind of “real word” numbers am I talking about? In the 2nd quarter of 2002, there were 400,686 bankruptcies filed. If you divide 400,686 by 3 (months) you get a figure of 133,652 bankruptcy petitions that were filed per MONTH across the United States or 4,456 per DAY. As we speak, that number still continues to increase.
Due to this tremendous increase, many attorneys, practicing in other areas of law are opening their doors to bankruptcy cases in order to bring in extra income for their law firms. Besides, an attorney can make $700 to $1,300 for every Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition they prepare for a client and up to $2,000 for each Chapter 13. And to make the offer even more attractive for the attorney just beginning to offer bankruptcy services to their clients, he or she will find the overhead costs very easy to afford, thereby increasing the overall profit for the attorney and/or law firm.
Let me give you an example. As a bankruptcy paralegal working with attorneys in all 50 states, I noticed that the standard procedure these attorneys follow for processing their bankruptcy filings is the following:
1. Clients are provided a free initial consultation; however, in order to correctly assess their present financial condition, the client is required to fill out a set of Client Intake Forms. Often, to save time, the attorney or paralegal may have the client come by the office and pick up a set of forms to take home and fill out.
2. After taking the time to fill out the forms, the client normally will return to the office for their free consultation. The attorney may spend 15-30 minutes with the client and advise them concerning whether to file bankruptcy or not. If the client agrees to file, the attorney normally asks for $200 for the Chapter 7 court filing fee, plus $300 as the retainer fee. Any debtor who is serious about being relieved of $1,000’s of dollars in credit card debts and medical bills, or to stop a foreclosure on their home, repossession of their automobile or stop a wage garnishment will be more than happy to pay $500 to get the process started.
3. The client is then required to pay the remaining balance (normally $500) at the 341 Meeting. Because the 341 Meeting is normally held several weeks or months after a debtor files bankruptcy, the debtor has plenty of time to obtain this extra money. Besides, since the debtor(s) will not normally be making any payments on their unsecured debts, they will have more money left at the end of the month and easily be able to save up their remaining attorney fee.
Please understand that these figures are used solely to help you understand the concept. I have found that attorneys in the mid-west charge an average of $700 in attorney fees for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition. However, attorneys on the west coast charge an average of $1,500 in attorney fees. Therefore, the figures above would need to be adjusted depending on the area of the country where the attorney practices.
So how does all this relate to paralegals working out of their home instead of the traditional office? Let’s look at Item #1 above in the list of procedures. The client calls the office and a set of Client Intake Forms are mailed to them. The phone number the client calls could easily be transferred to the dedicated phone line at the paralegal’s home office. The paralegal would answer the phone and provide the client with any “general” information his or her attorney directs them to provide. Then, the paralegal could either email the Client Intake Forms to the client, ask them to stop by the office and pick up a set or mail them a printed set.
In this manner, the attorney does not have to waste time with people who are not serious about filing bankruptcy. The attorney will only be in contact with serious debtors who took the time to fill out the Client Intake Forms and make an appointment. Once the attorney receives the initial retainer fee and counsels the client, he or she faxes the forms to his paralegal (working in his or her home office) and the paralegal prepares the first draft of the bankruptcy petition. The paralegal is paid for every bankruptcy petition he or she processes, eliminating the standard hourly wage.
The reason most law firms utilizing telecommuting paralegals have implemented the procedure of paying on a “per job” basis versus an “hourly” basis, is to keep costs low and to ensure the job is completed on time. In the traditional office environment, an employee is normally paid for 8 hours of work. The emphasis of paying employees for the time they work versus the amount of work they produce makes paying a telecommuter more attractive for the attorney. The attorney incurs no lost expenses wasted time monitoring employees for tardiness, breaks, etc. since telecommuters are normally paid one flat fee to complete a project. If they are tardy or take excessive breaks, it does not matter since the attorney does not pay the telecommuter until the project is complete. This causes the telecommuter to make a greater effort to complete the project so they can receive payment for it.
But what would make telecommuting attractive to a paralegal? How could they be assured a steady paycheck if they are not paid on an hourly basis? How can they be assured they will be making their same salary working from home? The fact of the matter is that the paralegal working from home actually makes more money. I know this to be true, because I made the transition less than 1 year ago and I doubled my salary compared to working in the traditional office environment. The “key” is to work for several attorneys, not just one. Of course if one attorney can keep a paralegal busy enough so that he or she can earn approximately the same salary they would earn working in the attorney’s office, there would be no reason to work for other attorneys. But as long as the paralegal maintains the utmost confidentiality with every attorney he or she works for - there is no problem.
Now this brings up another interesting concept. How can a paralegal process telephone inquiries and bankruptcy petitions in another state? Simple! Because of the technology available to us through the internet, you can sit at your home and communicate with people on the other side of the world! That same technology is utilized in my own business. When a set of Client Intake Forms are faxed to my home office, I prepare the petition and send it to the attorney in PDF format for his or her review. The attorney will either call, email or fax me any changes. I revise the petition and send it back to him or her in PDF format for printing and filing at their office. In states that are set up to accept electronic filings, I can even file the petition over the internet with the bankruptcy court, once the attorney has approved the final bankruptcy petition and okayed it for filing.
A few of the attorneys also provide me with access to their main servers. Utilizing the “My Network Places” function on the desktop of my Windows computer, a password and user name was set up and I was able to access the law firm’s server, just like if I were sitting in their office 3,000 miles away. This enabled me to upload PDF files and/or Chapter 13 Plans and other bankruptcy documents directly into the client file. After I uploaded the documents, I emailed the attorney or paralegal, provided them with the names of the files and the documents were printed and ready for use from their office.
As you can see, there are many opportunities, both financially and mentally rewarding for attorneys and paralegals who may be consideringtaking advantage of the technology now available to all of us through the internet. My hope is that this article helps you to start thinking about ways in which your law firm could benefit if some of the paralegals worked from their home, even on a part-time “test” basis. While this article concentrates on the steps for processing bankruptcy petitions at home, the same concept could easily be applied to other areas of law such as creditor bankruptcy, divorce, immigration, real estate, corporate and even litigation. This is true because a large majority of a paralegal’s time in these areas of law is spent working at his or her computer. There is no difference if a paralegal or attorney uses the computer in the office, the one at home, or a laptop computer when he or she is traveling. A computer is a computer. The data can be saved and transferred to the main client file upon return to the main office. Therefore, this enables attorneys and paralegals alike to work in the environment they feel more comfortable and productive in. It is up to each one of us to consider these options, test the concept of telecommuting and enable telecommuting in the law firm to become the “norm” within our industry.
Copyright © Victoria Ring. Victoria has worked in the legal industry since 1979. She received her paralegal certificate from CERF and Associate’s Degree in Paralegal Studies from Ashworth College. Victoria is also the President and founder of The Lawyer Assistant, an online company dedicated to the needs of bankruptcy attorneys across the United States. Reprinted with permission.
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