A solo lawyer's first hire is usually the hardest: you don't have the time to train someone, and you're not sure there's enough work. A part-time virtual legal assistant is a lower-risk way to start.
What to hand off in the first ten hours a week
- Phones during your court and client time. Even two hours a day of live answering stops new clients going to voicemail.
- Scheduling. Consultations, reminders, rescheduling.
- Document chasing. Requests, follow-ups, filing incoming documents to the matter.
- Billing admin. Invoices and payment reminders.
- Inbox triage. Sort, label, draft routine replies for your approval.
What it costs part-time
| Hours/week | HireParalegals / VLA at $8 | Wishup | Zirtual (US) | Back Office Betties (US) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 (about 22 hrs/month) | $173 | $999 (half-day plan) | $2,049 (40-hour bundle) | $1,661–$1,950 (40-hour plan) |
| 10 (about 43 hrs/month) | $347 | $999 | $3,999 (80-hour bundle) | $2,325–$2,860 (60-hour plan) |
| 20 (about 87 hrs/month) | $693 | $999 | above the largest bundle; custom | above the largest plan; custom |
Bundle providers price by hours per month: Zirtual's smallest legal-assistant bundle is 10 hours a month for $549, which suits a few hours of help a week rather than a regular seat.
Only some providers allow part-time. Full-time-only providers (Legal Soft, Get Staffed Up, VirtualStaffing.com) aren't designed for this.
Week one plan
- Day 1: accounts and access; walk through your intake script.
- Days 2–3: shadow-answer calls (assistant listens, you answer, then swap).
- Days 4–5: assistant runs scheduling and reminders.
- Week 2: add document chasing and billing.
Signs it's working
You stop returning calls in the evening, consultations stop slipping through voicemail, and invoices go out on time. If after a month you're still doing all of those yourself, the task list or access is the problem, not the person.
When to go full-time
When the assistant is consistently busy for the full part-time hours and you have a backlog of work you'd hand them, move to full-time. At $8/hour that's about $1,387/month.
Our top picks
- HireParalegals — From $8/hour
- Virtual Legal Assistants — From $8/hour
- VirtualStaffing.com — From $2,227/month