The Law Portal is a “virtual” law firm that offers our members the support of a firm, but the freedom and flexibility of working for yourself. Like LinkedIn or Facebook, all of the members in the Law Portal’s community have profiles and can search for each other. In addition to helping our members connect, The Law Portal provides all of the tools necessary for our lawyers and support staff to remotely collaborate on their files.
Our head office is located at 600 – 777 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC. We have support staff on site who can receive and forward mail or couriered documents. Business mailing addresses can also be arranged in Richmond, Surrey, Langley, Maple Ridge, Burnaby, Port Moody, Victoria, and Kelowna.
Our central fax number is 604-648-8411 and our main phone number is 778-328-2828. A receptionist is currently available to answer phone calls from Monday – Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Senior support staff are provided with an email account @thelawportal.ca, Microsoft Office, and a free RingCentral (VoIP) account, which includes a dedicated business phone number that can be used to make calls, send text messages, and e-faxes (fax through email) through a free mobile or computer application. Other RingCentral features include: call forwarding; call recording; video conferencing (up to 100 participants and up to 24-hour meeting duration); professional voicemail and greeting; transcribed voicemail; auto-receptionist; audio conferencing; and unlimited calls and text messaging in the US and Canada.
There’s no risk in becoming a member and creating a profile as a Guest. Guests of The Law Portal have no billing obligations or commitments.
The Law Portal cannot offer guarantees about the amount of work that will be available for new members, so an additional source of income may be necessary in the beginning. Opportunities for support staff will grow as more lawyers become members.
The Law Portal is specifically looking for support staff with the following experience, skills, qualities, and abilities:
After your membership application is approved, you will receive a link via email to access your portal, where you can create a profile and start connecting and communicating with other legal professionals.
Support staff may be employees or independent contractors. Legal assistants are typically employees, but paralegals are often independent contractors.
Yes, provided your other law firm consents to this arrangement and you are not a partner at either firm.
Members can post questions and provide answers to other members in the Members Only Forum. The purpose of the Members Only Forum is to offer mentorship and support to our members, most of whom are practicing from their homes and may feel isolated from other legal professionals. When you join The Law Portal, you’re joining a community of legal professionals who are committed to supporting each other and providing exceptional service to our clients.
Members can subscribe to specific topics or discussions to receive notifications when a new post is added. Although the Members Only Forum is private and only accessible to members of The Law Portal, members are asked not to disclose confidential information in the forum that would be likely to identify his or her clients.
The purpose of the Public Forum is to assist the public with their legal questions and to attract clients to The Law Portal. Members are encouraged to provide legal information to the public, but it is important that members refrain from providing legal advice on the Public Forum.
The Law Portal’s administrative staff are responsible for most tasks that are non-billable, such as:
Hourly wages and bonuses vary for support staff depending on their level of experience and the amount of billable work collected.
Legal assistants’ hourly wages start at $30.00 per hour and they receive a minimum bonus of 10% of their collected fees each month. For example: A legal assistant who bills 15 (billable) hours in one month at an hourly rate of $150 would receive a bonus of $225 that month, assuming all fees are collected.
Paralegals’ hourly wages start at $90 per hour and may increase significantly based on experience.
Examples of tasks that you may be assigned include:
1. Drafting, proofreading, and revising documents, correspondence, or pleadings specific to a client matter.
2. Receipt, review, and revision of lengthy documents, correspondence, or pleadings.
3. Emails, telephone calls, videoconferences, and meetings in person with clients and other third parties.
4. Assistance preparing for meetings, mediation, arbitration, examinations for discovery, court proceedings, etc.
5. Conducting research for a specific client matter under the direction and supervision of a lawyer.
6. Filing court documents online.
7. Preparing notes or memorandums to file.
Support staff can enter their time and expenses in Clio or by logging into their portals. Detailed instructions are included in our Member Handbook, which will be provided to you when you become a member.
Clio is the most trusted legal practice management software in the world. Through your computer or mobile app, support staff can:
Priority support team is available 24/5 every weekday (from Monday at 12:00 a.m. PST until Friday at 11:59 p.m. PST)
The quickest way to get help is to click on the (?) Help icon on the bottom right corner of the screen when logged into Clio. There are also numerous resources available online to guide users through Clio’s interface.
You can also contact The Law Portal’s Support Team via email at support@thelawportal.ca. We guarantee a response within 24 hours from Monday to Friday. We use our best efforts to respond during weekends and holidays. Please flag your email as “High Priority” or include “Urgent” in the subject line if an immediate response is required.
If you’re in Vancouver, you can reach Clio’s support team at 604-210-2944, or toll-free from anywhere in North America at 1-888-858-2546.
