All it takes is letting go of the traditional model. ~ Tara Vasdani
Tara Vasdani (@taravasdani) is a litigator, legal tech enthusiast and employment lawyer. She is also the founder of Remote Law Canada.
After only a few years of call to the bar, she has amassed a ton of experience in big law and boutique firms. She has also attracted a lot of recognition for her innovative approaches to law and legal practice.
She is a regular speaker and writer on law and technology. She is also regularly featured in legal publications and more because of her expertise on practicing law from a distance. But she doesn’t just talk and write about this ultra-modern approach to practice – she is living it!
In this conversation, we hear about Tara’s path into law and the strategies she used to gain a lot of experience in a short period of time. She also explains the problems and the opportunities that drove her to create her own law firm focused on providing legal services from a distance.
Tara shares some of her top tools and tips for practicing remotely. You’ll hear about the full potential for lawyers and lifestyle, and why clients might help to drive the profession in this direction even when it’s no longer forced on us by a pandemic.
If you’re new to remote legal practice, you’ll find some valuable takeaways from this conversation with Tara. Just hearing about her “typical day” as a remote lawyer could drive you to start thinking about making it a bigger part of your own practice.
Topics Covered
- Serving documents via social media
- Lawyering skills for articled students and young associates
- Client relationships
- Legal technology
- Practice Management
- Remote practice of law
- Small law firm management
Listen to “22 Tara Vasdani – How to Do Law Remotely” on Spreaker.
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Show Notes
4:30 Service via Instagram
11:30 How Tara describes her work to people
16:30 Deciding to become a lawyer
20:55 What Tara would say in an email to herself back on the first day of law school
22:00 Earning 2 law degrees in 3 years
23:30 Preparing for the challenges of law school
26:00 The value of getting training from lawyers and experience working with clients
27:30 Being intentional about what to learn in a law firm
32:00 AI and litigation
33:00 Digital nomads vs remote lawyers
37:00 Tara in Forbes
37:30 Deciding to branch off on her own
38:00 Assessing and managing risks
39:00 Remote Law Canada
39:30 Main differences between a remote law firm and other firms
42:29 Clio for practice management
44:30 Using pre-existing tech tools
47:00 Client expectations and post-pandemic legal industry changes
53:20 A typical workday for a remote lawyer
1:02:00 Bad advice for remote lawyers
1:06:10 Advice for people thinking about doing more remote work
1:09:35 How Tara defines success for herself
1:09:53 Toughest choice or sacrifice that she made to get where she is today
1:13:13 Doing a week’s worth of work in 3 hours
1:13:50 Special things Tara does to look after herself
1:15:23 The quickest way to learn more about Tara and her work for people in a hurry: Tara Vasdani on Choosing Remote Work as the Center of Her Law Practice: It’s Avant-Garde
1:15:55 “Before my work in the law is done, I want to….
1:16:40 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Hoarari
1:19:00 The articles section of Remotelawcanada.com
1:19:26 Asks or calls to action for listeners