Reasons Why You Should Hire a Freelance Paralegal

 

 

❖ There may be periods when your workload increases dramatically, but not enough to warrant taking on the expense and responsibility of hiring a full-time paralegal.

 

❖ No need to pay a full time employee – you only pay for work done

 

❖ No benefits to pay

 

❖ No long term commitment

 

❖ Available for as little as a few hours, on a project by project basis, or as a fill-in for absent employees

 

❖ Can work from my office or yours

 

❖ Available 24/7 with short notice

 

❖ As a sole practitioner, you may not have the financial resources or workload necessary to hire a full time paralegal.

 

❖ As a large firm, you may have overflow work beyond the capabilities of your current staff.

 

❖ You can save time and money by allowing a litigation paralegal to draft your legal documents, and free up your time to focus on higher-value work.

 

Why Attorney's should hire a freelance

 

❖ As the legal profession evolves over time, there seems to be less and less time to do more and more work. There are many products and services available to help, some of which attorneys know well, others which might not be so well recognized. One that may be less recognized at this point in time is the availability of paralegal services on a freelance or contract basis.

 

❖ What exactly is a "freelance" or "contract" paralegal? A freelance paralegal is one that is essentially self-employed. They are available to take on short-term or long-term projects ranging from assisting with litigation preparation to covering employee absences to coming into an attorney’s office on a daily basis to pick up overflow work that one may need assistance with.

 

❖ A freelance paralegal, also known as a contract paralegal, is no different than a traditional paralegal except to the extent that s/he is not employed by an attorney in a traditional setting such as a law firm, governmental entity or corporation. Rather, a freelance paralegal is retained on an as-needed basis by many supervising attorneys in these settings. 

 

❖ Freelance paralegals are educated and qualified to perform paralegal work just the same as traditionally-employed paralegals.

 

❖ A paralegal is a non-attorney who works under the supervision of a lawyer. Paralegals have many job duties. Paralegals have traditionally dealt more with procedural law than with substantive law. Related jobs that share synonymous titles are legal secretary and legal assistant. 

 

❖ A freelance paralegal may be retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation or other entity for the purpose of performing specifically delegated substantive legal work on an as-needed, per-assignment basis.

 

❖ Employee absences can often result in challenges. Another way contract or freelance paralegals can assist is by providing temporary coverage when a support staff person goes on vacation or maternity. The quality of temporary help coming out of agencies can be disappointing to attorneys. They can be expensive, and more often than not the attorney just gets a "legal secretary" (if they are lucky) when what they really need is a "paralegal". By contacting a contract or freelance paralegal, one can be more in control of getting someone who has experience, someone who knows how to get the job done, and someone who most likely has the skills that an attorney (who is otherwise short-handed) needs. There is an opportunity to develop a relationship with a professional whose skill level is familiar and who can cover whenever the need arises.

The words of one freelance paralegal describes the profession perfectly. "Those of us who freelance have usually had years of experience within the legal profession and understand there is far more to being a legal secretary than answering phones and transcription and that paralegals are capable of much more than reviewing files and documents. We did not become freelancers on a wing and a prayer; we have to do what any service business must do -- present with credibility and experience. We also know the limits of our skills and what a job really entails."