Virtual Assistant vs. Virtual Paralegal vs. Online Business Manager

Holly A. Sheriff MSLS • Feb 12, 2022

Narration is provided by a professional voiceover actor & is not that of the author.

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What is the differences are between a Virtual Assistant (VA), Virtual Paralegal (VP), and Online Business Manager (OBM). Learn more here! At Best Virtual Paralegal, we love answering this question! COVID has undoubtedly changed the legal industry a bit. The world has finally caught up to Best Virtual Paralegal! We have worked remotely for decades. You're in luck because we are highly skilled virtual assistants, virtual paralegals, and online business managers every day!

First, let's define the three roles!



Because there is some overlap between what these three roles do, virtual assistants, virtual paralegals, and online business managers may be defined similarly depending on the source. This overlap causes most people to confuse the three roles.


Virtual Assistants are defined by sources like Fiverr, Upwork, and Time Doctor as an "independent contractor who provides administrative, technical, and creative support to other professionals (2022)."


The ABA, the State Bar Association of Texas, and Best Virtual Paralegal define a virtual paralegal "an independent contractor who works outside the traditional law firm or corporate setting (2022)."



Indeed, Upwork and Time Doctor describe an online business manager as "a self-employed independent contractor working remotely to manage a business by providing administrative, technical, and creative support (2022)."


Let’s discuss the differences

The definitions of these roles seem similar, as you can see. In this section, we will examine how these three roles can support firms in diverse ways. The differences between these three roles may vary from company to company. In other words, what Best Virtual Paralegal believes is a virtual assistant role or task might be listed by another source such as Upwork under a virtual paralegal role/task. These roles are subjective, based on the company providing the service.

Virtual assistants are the doers. Generally, they are task-oriented professionals who assist clients in achieving their goals. Often, this means virtual assistants perform tasks that an attorney cannot bill the client or pass through to the client such as legal secretary duties.

Our article has discussed virtual assistants, virtual paralegals, and online business managers in this particular order. In this section, however, we're going to skip virtual paralegal for a minute and jump straight to an online business manager. We will discuss virtual paralegals after online business managers.

Business managers are the people who can help clients manage their online businesses in a wide range of ways. In many ways, the online business manager takes care of the responsibilities of the business owner, as well as those of consultant, coach, strategist, and marketer. In most cases, the business owner remains the conductor, while the online business manager becomes their right-hand person.

Let's go back around and talk about virtual paralegals.

In many cases, virtual paralegals who have owned their own businesses for a while or who have received extensive education and experience help their clients as both business managers and paralegals. However, this is not always the case - it depends on the virtual paralegal's skillset and mindset. Previously, we discussed this topic in the article titled "Paralegal Entrepreneurs are more." A firm is more likely to find a business manager & paralegal in one person or one company if the virtual paralegal is more experienced.



Let's explore some of the tasks one may delegate now that we know how the roles differ. This is not all-inclusive. And not all VAs, VPs, OBMs offer all the tasks listed below. With that said, this list below will be semi cohesive of the services firms can find here at Best Virtual Paralegal.


Due to time restraints, we have omitted the obvious paralegal duties and tasks from the list below. 

Virtual Assistants, Virtual (legal) Assistant Virtual Paralegals Online Business Manager
Looking for ways to improve processes &automations Looking for ways to improve processes &automations
Inbox and Calendar Management Supporting your wider team supporting your wider team
Don't let your inbox get out of control (again)! You can have the support of a dedicated VA who can look after your inbox and calendar for you. Tracking business metrics and taking care of the important day-to-day admin tasks. tracking business metrics and taking care of the important day-to-day admin tasks.
Social Media & Podcast Support Strategic growth of your business and therefore we can be your sounding board for any ideas you have. strategic growth of your business and therefore we can be your sounding board for any ideas you have.
Managing the projects that you need completed, hopefully within budget!
Maintaining and/or strategically enhancing your online presence through social media and podcasts. Managing the projects that you need completed, hopefully within budget!
Delivering high-quality customer service to all your clients and stakeholders (where applicable).
Data Entry Delivering high-quality customer service to all your clients and stakeholders (where applicable).
Social Media & Podcast Support
Data entry can be such a time-consuming task, so let us do it for you! Social Media & Podcast Support
Maintaining and/or enhancing your online presence through social media and podcasts.
Nonlegal Document Creation Maintaining and/or enhancing your online presence through social media and podcasts.
Webinar Support
We can create those important business documents for you such as proposal templates, populating tender documents, creating marketing collateral and training materials, etc. Webinar Support
It's all about Zoom and webinars these days so me and my team are experienced in offering technical support during your webinar. From break out rooms to curating questions, we have your back.
Copywriting blog copy, advertisements, social captions & more. It's all about Zoom and webinars these days so me and my team are experienced in offering technical support during your webinar. From break out rooms to curating questions, we have your back.
Document Management
Online Research: Let us find the information you need. Does your spouse need a gym? Do you want a list of all the gyms within a 50-mile radius of your office? Best Virtual Paralegal's Virtual Assistants staff can help. Document Management
Creating and maintaining your business documents such as policies and procedures, proposal templates, populating tender documents, creating marketing collateral and training materials, etc.
Managing calendars and schedules, & dockets. Creating and maintaining your business documents such as policies and procedures, proposal templates, populating tender documents, creating marketing collateral and training materials, etc.
Project Management System - generates Gantt charts, progress reports, and executive summaries, and provides the client with electronic updates on the status of the case as well as actual costs versus projected costs and task completion, etc.
Building or managing databases (of contacts, for example) Project Management System - generates Gantt charts, progress reports, and executive summaries, and provides the client with electronic updates on the status of the case as well as actual costs versus projected costs and task completion, etc.
Booking appointments and calls

As you can see, a virtual paralegal and an online business manager here at Best Virtual Paralegal are often the same. But, again, as we discussed earlier, that is not the case with every company.

Join us again for an upcoming article that will dive deeper into Best Virtual Paralegal's marketing services! They are the most phenomenal digital marketing services; you will ever find!


We are looking forward to seeing you again soon - if you have any suggestions, please let us know! If this article has helped you decide what you can delegate - let's work together to achieve your goals! Let's meet today! Thanks for visiting Best Virtual Paralegal's blog, otherwise known as The Paralegal View, in print.

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