I've been looking at adding Virtual Bankruptcy Assistance to my services, and have started reviewing training courses.
I know this has been asked before, but it's been awhile, so I'm looking for some recent recommendations (if there are some).

I plan on buying Victoria Ring's book "How to Start a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Service".

Once I get that and read through it, I'm wondering where the best place to get training would be.
I've read mixed reviews (but they are about 1-2 yrs old) on here about 713training and My Bankruptcy school.

I would love to hear others thoughts.
I did join the VBA group on here, but can't seem to access it from my phone

Originally Posted by lavonjs

I've been looking at adding Virtual Bankruptcy Assistance to my services, and have started reviewing training courses. I know this has been asked before, but it's been awhile, so I'm looking for some recent recommendations (if there are some). I plan on buying Victoria Ring's book "How to Start a Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant Service". Once I get that and read through it, I'm wondering where the best place to get training would be. I've read mixed reviews (but they are about 1-2 yrs old) on here about 713training and My Bankruptcy school. I would love to hear others thoughts. I did join the VBA group on here, but can't seem to access it from my phone

Are you aware that Victoria Ring passed away approx. nine months ago?

If you do a search on my posts, you'll see that I have been trying to give everyone a heads-up on the legal industry. It is dying. The need for legal support professionals is declining at an alarming rate. Many, many of my acquaintances/coworkers have been laid off - and most with years of experience. My suggestion is to research this thoroughly before you input money and-or time into the legal industry. The multitude of sites like LegalZoom are just one reason why fewer and fewer legal support professionals are needed. In order to reduce overhead, many lawyers are just doing this stuff themselves. Also, today's attorneys are "computer savvy" and just don't have a need for assistance.

I have been in the legal industry for twenty years now, and I have never seen it this bad. I really wish that when I was choosing which niche to go in that I would have gone into the health industry. My prediction> Considering our aging population, that is where future job growth is going to be.

Anne

I realize that the post, to which I am replying was made in 2012, but the legal profession (industry) in my area is not dying. It is flourishing. A few years ago, there was a spate of law firm mergers. That has not occurred recently. Admiralty law, corporate law, taxes and estate law, and personal injury law are doing very well here. Of course, bankruptcy law is, as well.

I did know she had passed, yes. But her books are still available.
I will still do research as planned and will go from there. I do think I will still consider adding it to my services.

Thanks!

Hi lavonjs. I feel I must add a dash of optimism to this depressing thread. Yes, the legal field is changing. It is not dying. While it is true many firms are not hiring, as a VA you are in business, not looking for a job. The fact that firms are not hiring employees is an opportunity for people with the savvy to work independently. While it may be hard to find a job paying $40k per year, it is not hard to find 4 attorneys who will each pay $10k or more on an as-needed basis. When it is slow, they don't need employees, they need contractors who can step in as needed. I have been doing this for many years. I am busy all day, everyday working my business.

__________________
Virtual Bankruptcy Paralegal
www.bkprep4u.com

Originally Posted by katekindred

Hi lavonjs. I feel I must add a dash of optimism to this depressing thread. Yes, the legal field is changing. It is not dying. While it is true many firms are not hiring, as a VA you are in business, not looking for a job. The fact that firms are not hiring employees is an opportunity for people with the savvy to work independently. While it may be hard to find a job paying $40k per year, it is not hard to find 4 attorneys who will each pay $10k or more on an as-needed basis. When it is slow, they don't need employees, they need contractors who can step in as needed. I have been doing this for many years. I am busy all day, everyday working my business.

Yes, the legal field IS dying - at least, as it has been for years and years and years. The foundation of the problem is the economy - of course. Clients of attorneys just can no longer pay for legal services. For example, people just aren't getting divorced because they cannot afford it. For example, the number of bankruptcies is way down, because people just cannot afford to pay the high attorney fees.

The majority of lawyers simply just do not want to change. They want things to continue on as they have - which is charging by the hour (which just simply encourages inefficiency). They want to be able to continue on charging high fees. In order to prosper, attorneys are going to have to react proactively to the changing demands of the legal market. Attorneys need to reduce their fees and overhead in order to survive. But the majority of lawyers (especially in the US) just do not want to change. LegalZoom is another reason we do not need so many attorneys.

Depressing? Yeah, but realistic. If I can help someone choose a field that has future prospects rather than a field with a flood of cutthroat competitors, I think I am leading them down a better path for their future. I AM TRYING TO HELP!

There are many, many mistaken ideas about the legal field - TV just continues to add to them. Most attorneys do not make a lot of money because of their high overhead costs. (Paying off their massive law school debt is just one of the contributing factors.)

Education in the legal field is EXPENSIVE!! Today it costs an attorney $150,000+ to get to the point where they can take the Bar Exam. I know we are not talking about becoming lawyers here, but I am trying to make a point. Reminder: student loans are not dischargable in bankruptcy. (And law schools today do not teach lawyers how to practice law - instead law schools are just money factories for the law school administrators and professors.)

See:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bunch-...195616601.html
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/08/11/38921.htm
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stori...-suing-schools
http://abovethelaw.com/2011/10/fifte...loyment-rates/
http://www.businessweek.com/articles...ue-law-schools

We have too many law schools (if you notice, there is one on every corner - and this includes paralegal schools) that are graduating too many legal professionals for too few employment positions. I have lost count at how many of my legal secretary/assistant friends have been laid off after years of service because law office after law office is closing.

Please, please, please research this. It takes anyone who works in the legal field YEARS to build up a client base (lawyers OR virtual assistants). Please, please, please research this.

Education in the legal field is EXPENSIVE!! I am not going to mislead someone and cause them to spend thousands of dollars. I have said it before, and I'll say it again, if I knew in the beginning what I know now, considering our aging population, the field to invest (thousands of dollars for education - and all that time) in is Health. We are soon going to have a crisis in the USA because of the lack of doctors.

Anne

MORE "food for thought":

See: http://www.aldap.org/runcap.htm

Anne

Anne makes a lot of very valid points. The law schools and colleges churn out thousands of attorneys and paralegals every year but there's really nowhere for them to go. The market is saturated and newly qualified attorneys are taking jobs as paralegals as they can't find work. As the first consideration for today's consumer is the price, companies like LegalZoom are taking off, although horror stories abound over the reliability of such services.

Law firms have always operated in a traditional manner "because that's how we've always done it" but, from reading various forums and online comment for a number of years, it's apparent that traditional law firms must change with the times or ultimately perish. With advances in technology law firms are gradually rethinking operations and increasingly opting to outsource which drastically reduces their overhead.

There are a lot of paralegal VAs in the US who entered the field with many years of law firm experience behind them, have been operating for a number of years and are well known. In looking at your website nowhere is it mentioned that you have any legal experience at all.

In your best interests, I would strongly recommend that you not spend time and money obtaining paralegal certification as, without 2-5 years law firm experience, no-one is hiring, let alone outsourcing.

Lynne

Originally Posted by katekindred

Hi lavonjs. I feel I must add a dash of optimism to this depressing thread. Yes, the legal field is changing. It is not dying. While it is true many firms are not hiring, as a VA you are in business, not looking for a job. The fact that firms are not hiring employees is an opportunity for people with the savvy to work independently. While it may be hard to find a job paying $40k per year, it is not hard to find 4 attorneys who will each pay $10k or more on an as-needed basis. When it is slow, they don't need employees, they need contractors who can step in as needed. I have been doing this for many years. I am busy all day, everyday working my business.

I have to bump this quote from Kate - AJ

__________________
Andrea Jackson
http://www.connecthim.com

Thanks Katekindred for your words of optimism!
Any feedback is always appreciated, and hearing from people who do the work currently is very helpful to get their take on things.