A Virtual Law Office: is it for you?

Virtual law offices are all the rage these days. Every law firm partner and attorney should consider the merits of this seemingly futuristic means of working. Virtual law offices empower attorneys to work from a remote location instead of the traditional law office setting. Here is a look at the merits and potential drawbacks of this high-tech means of working.

Work From Home at Your Virtual Law Office

Take a moment to think about how nice it would be to work from home, a coffee shop, hotel or anywhere else with a web connection. Take the virtual route and you will not be limited to getting work done while in the conventional law office setting. Everything can be organized online while you work from the comfort of home or on-the-go.

Reduce Your Overhead Costs

Working in a virtual manner will cut overhead costs. You won’t have to burn through time and costly gasoline driving to and from a traditional office each day. Nor will you have to pay to lease or own an office space. Some attorneys opt to share a virtual office network with other attorneys or business professionals. Rather than having a designated office, this approach provides a network to access rooms for client meetings.

All of the work remains virtual while a physical space outside of the home is provided for interactions with clients, colleagues and others. Such shared virtual offices often have several locations, allowing for work to be completed while traveling. There is no sense paying through the nose for a traditional law office if you can work just as effectively from home and meet with clients in a shared space when necessary.

Enhanced Flexibility

There is something to be said for having the freedom to work as desired. Those who take the virtual route can handle parenting responsibilities, pet care and other aspects of life better when working from home. Furthermore, working in a virtual manner is ideal for attorneys who are constantly-on-the-go for court hearings, trials etc. Such transient attorneys will find the virtual office makes it that much easier to connect with prospective clients throughout the area. Above all, work is more enjoyable when you can complete it from home, a hotel or another location outside of a drab office.

Virtual Office Drawbacks

The advantages of virtual offices outnumber the disadvantages yet there are some noteworthy problems with the virtual approach to legal work. Some law firms find the virtual office will no longer suffice after expanding to a certain point. Large law firms typically need traditional brick-and-mortar facilities simply due to their sheer size.

Aside from the potential to outgrow the virtual office, there is also a chance working from home or on-the-go will prove challenging. Virtual offices do not have the traditional feel of regular offices so it is easy to fall into the trap of digressions unrelated to work.  From kids to pets, the web, TV and so on, the home is rife with distractions. There are also some security concerns when working in shared spaces or from home. Those who work from home will have to provide clients with their home address