Support Teams for Law Firms

Legal work is billed by the hour, which makes every non-billable hour a direct cost. iFOVS places trained non-lawyer support staff with firms in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

Our staff are not lawyers and do not practise law. They prepare, organise, chase and document. Legal advice, legal judgement and anything that constitutes the practice of law stays with your admitted professionals — and any provider suggesting otherwise is offering you an unauthorised-practice problem.

The non-billable hours worth removing

• New client intake, conflict-check data gathering and file opening
• Document preparation from your templates and precedents
• E-filing preparation and court deadline calendaring
• Case file organisation, indexing and document management
• Records and discovery request administration
• Client status updates from your instructions
• Time entry chasing, invoicing and accounts receivable follow-up
• Scheduling depositions, hearings and client meetings

Roles we place in legal

Role	What they take off your plate
Executive assistant	Calendar, correspondence, travel and follow-through for partners
Data entry and back office	File indexing, document management and discovery administration
Appointment setter	Intake calls, consultation booking and follow-up sequences
Live chat and intake support	Website enquiries answered and qualified before they go cold
Bookkeeper	Billing, trust account reporting support and receivables
Virtual receptionist	Covers intake calls and diary requests without interrupting billable work

Where the boundary sits, precisely

Your assistant may: gather information, prepare documents from your templates, organise files, calendar deadlines, communicate scheduling and status on your instruction, and chase what you have asked them to chase.

Your assistant may not: give legal advice, exercise legal judgement, select which document applies, sign or file on their own authority, or communicate anything substantive without your review.

On trust accounts: your assistant may prepare reports and support reconciliation. They do not move client money. This should be true of every support arrangement in a law firm, offshore or not.

Confidentiality

Legal privilege makes this stricter than most industries, and it is worth confirming with any provider:

• NDA before access; individual named logins; access logging
• Office-based work with controlled screens
• Minimum-necessary permissions in your practice management system
• Conflict-check discipline documented before a matter is touched

Frequently asked questions

Does using offshore support waive privilege?

Privilege generally extends to agents assisting a lawyer, provided confidentiality is properly maintained — which is exactly why access controls and NDAs are not paperwork here. Your jurisdiction’s rules govern, and your bar association is the authority. We will support whatever your obligations require; we will not tell you what they are.

Can they use our case management system?

Yes, with a named login. We recruit against systems including Clio, MyCase, PracticePanther, Smokeball and Actionstep.

Do you have paralegals?

We place support staff who assist with paralegal tasks. If you need a certified paralegal in your jurisdiction, say so at the brief stage and we will tell you honestly whether we can meet it.

How do you handle deadlines?

Calendaring is a documented process with double-entry and reminders, never memory. Missed deadlines are the failure mode with the largest consequences in legal support, so the system is the point.