This article is written by Akshaya Chintala from Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad. The article analyses the role of a freelancer in the legal industry.
Table of Contents
Introduction – The Rise of the Freelance Lawyer
Freelance attorneys also referred to as legal consultants, have seen an increase in demand in recent years. As a result, it becomes a more attractive option to work as a consultant in your own time, rather than being more constrained in a law firm environment. It is partially due to the increasing popularity of self-employment as a way of having more control over your working life. To several professional lawyers, freelance work is a way to work more flexibly or grow their specialism. Ultimately it has all the benefits of becoming a self-employed individual. Various schemes and IT systems have been used by several major city law firms to enable their consultant lawyers to work with their permanent legal personnel.
Becoming a freelance lawyer is an excellent way to continue earning an income while developing another venture, pursuing your hobbies, or spending more time with your family. Aside from the advantages of a better work-life balance, solicitor lawyers will also benefit from a wider variety of jobs and a wider range of clients as you can decide what job you take on and with whom. The enormous benefit of working on law firms’ consulting programs is, in particular, that the firm pays very expensive professional compensation insurance. This takes away a huge cost that would otherwise have to be borne personally by the consultant.
All about Freelance Work in the Legal Industry
Freelancers are independent contractors who work from home or remote locations. The emergence of the internet, smartphones, computer-based legal analysis databases, sophisticated telecommunications networks, and mobile technology has made it possible to operate from a “virtual” office rather than in a traditional law firm. Freelancers go by various names, such as consultant, solo worker, virtual employee, independent contractor, virtual worker and self-employed. As a general rule, legal freelancers are not tied to one employer. They serve several clients across the globe, working with flexible hours on projects they choose. In the millennium, emerging technology, budget-conscious customers, and new ways of doing business have opened the door to a whole new breed of legal professionals: the freelancer or virtual labourer.
As legal professionals find new ways to do business, an increasing number of law firms and legal employers outsource legal work to freelancers to manage job surplus, bring in new skills, and serve clients more cost-efficiently. Many jobs in the legal industry lend themselves to freelance work, including attorneys, paralegals, court reporters, legal assistants, litigation support workers, legal nurse consultants, and even law students who are not yet working in a firm. Budget-conscious clients, mobile technology, globalization, and changing business models of law firms have fuelled the rise of legal outsourcing.
Lawyers can, in principle, become consultants, but young law students should not see consultancy work as something that you can do immediately after qualifying. As with any sort of self-employment, to market yourself, you have to be able to provide knowledge or unique experience. Consequently, several years of working in a traditional legal career to acquire experience and connections is a prerequisite. The good news is that if you’re talking of taking this path, the costs of maintaining a freelance workforce are often substantially lower, at least in part, than the costs of workers in-house.
Simple steps to become a Freelance Lawyer
When you’re looking for a change in your career in law that allows you more independence and versatility, it may be to become a freelance lawyer. Life is easy not for everybody at a law firm. The working hours are long, the caseloads are stressful and your ideals may not be met by the working environments. Becoming a freelance lawyer allows you to pick which client projects you want to work on and who your colleagues are. There’s no doubt there are benefits to being a freelance lawyer. If this is the direction that you want to take in your legal career, keep reading, and learn a few simple steps to get started.
Step 01: Decide Your Legal Services
- The first thing independent lawyers will do is determine what legal services their clients should get. Associates and fellow lawyers at a law firm must choose a specific area to concentrate their work. There is a little more versatility to a freelance lawyer.
- It is best to do some research before taking the plunge when shifting your legal career toward a freelance. When you want to offer legal services in an unusual place in your country, you should expect to get out of business pretty quickly. Choosing the right region with a steady demand will hold you in business longer and provide you with stimulating workplace events.
Step 02: Register Your Services
- You have full power over the destiny of the legal career according to personal goals. If you have an idea of what you want to do, the next step is to initiate legal registration of your service.
- Are you going to be a sole proprietor? A limited liability firm? And, a Company?
Considering the differences between the three that help decide whether you want to operate your legal services on a freelance basis.
Step 03: Administrative Tasks
- For your legal services registered, you may need other essential elements to keep your administrative duties coordinated and preserved. You may need a separate bank account for purposes relating to billing and taxes.
- If you intend to work completely on your own and without the help of any legal assistants, consider using accounting software for lawyers. Not only do these program help automate repetitive administrative tasks, but they can also be used for the following:
- Calendaring
- Document management
- Invoicing
- Billing
- Payroll
- Time tracking
Step 04: Network
- If you have laid the groundwork for your freelance legal services, you can share your new service with your network.
- Traditional lawyers working in a law firm prefer to pursue people and other companies for work. Customers you will meet as a professional lawyer will normally come from other attorneys and law firms. If you have a wide list of contacts, this is the best place to start searching for a company.
- Additionally, you can set up accounts on social networking websites to start expanding your network. If you don’t already have one, LinkedIn is one of the leading social networking networks for all professionals.
Step 05: Get a Website
- Freelance lawyers with a website can offer a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Lawyer websites are a perfect way to advertise your expertise and let potential clients find out what you’re doing.
- Your website can feature some of your past legal projects and highlight your area of expertise.
- When you decide to get a website, it is also important to understand how to use it in a way that benefits your company. When you have a small budget, implementing these local SEO strategies will help more people find your services.
Step 06: Be Patient
- Becoming a professional freelance lawyer does not happen overnight When you want to take this direction in your legal career, note that it will require strategic planning, effort, commitment, and, most importantly, patience.
- Bear in mind that the legal services are like a company and that, like any company, there is a risk of failure. The beginning will be some of the hardest moments before the momentum builds and your credibility spreads through your culture.
How Freelancers are Changing the Legal Industry
Freelance work is currently reaching every field of the economy. There has been a strong overall surge in self-employed individuals, with an annual rise of 31 per cent. However, though major trades, such as IT support and consulting, remain dependent on freelance support, there may be significant growth in this field in the legal sector over the next few years. Until this point in time, there has been development in the creative industries and the media. This indicates that more people are trying to turn their interests and passions into a business. The legal profession is undergoing significant change – the way that people work; their priorities and other factors have meant that more lawyers are looking to work on a freelance basis, a business model which has been prevalent in other sectors is now increasingly becoming a real and better alternative to private practice in a traditional law firm.
Best Resources for Becoming a Freelance Lawyer
- Freelance Lawyer: Area of Service
At a law firm, lawyers typically work on a particular area of practice. With freelance, there is more room for flexibility. It’s best to think about the practice areas that are most sought after in your industry, otherwise, you may expect to get out of business fairly quickly.
- Administrative tasks
It may sound like a lot of work, but it’s not supposed to be if you take the right attitude. The market is filled with applications that help you handle your administrative problems from time to time to invoice to paper management.
- Legal Apps: Freelance Lawyer
Don’t forget that the market is full of legal apps specifically designed for lawyers. You will find something like client contact, legal analysis, take note of apps that will save you time and make you more productive.
- Networking
You need to build a strong network with other lawyers to get clients. If you’re looking for a bit, you’ll find a lot of attorney networking services, but we’re suggesting one program that is used by thousands of attorneys in 10 different states.
- Spaces for coworking
You should learn about coworking spaces. These are communal workspaces that provide office-like facilities such as hot desks, private conference rooms, kitchens, coffee, and more. If you want to avoid the loneliness of a home or just have an important meeting with a client, these spaces are ideal and accessible.
- Event of Solicitor Referrals
You can be astounded at how much work you can do with a lawyer’s case referrals if you have the right approach. And don’t depend on advice from friends or agencies. Time has changed and legal practice has also changed.
Conclusion
All this does not mean that there exist no disadvantages. One downside to hiring a freelance lawyer is that this person does not know your business. It takes time for others to understand the procedures and processes. You are going to have to spend time giving the person information about the project and your business. When you’re in a time rush, it might take more time than you have. The other downside is the reverse. You don’t know if the lawyer is going to be correct about this job. There are a lot of fantastic freelancers out there, and you don’t know until you hire a person to work out. Be sure to check the job references carefully and resume them. Perhaps the biggest downside is the lack of financial certainty. Many consultants set up a private personal service company, through which they contract with law firms for a pre-approved fee.
Therefore, to establish yourself as a consultant, to begin with, you can do more work and spend more hours than if you were a lawyer in a law firm. You are going to need to build your brand image and customer connections. Not only is a financial cushion needed to help you through the start-up period, but a significant amount of time must also be spent building relationships with firms and actively seeking work. Besides, consultants are responsible for ensuring that they have the funds to support them with some time off or on vacation because they no longer enjoy the benefits of sick leave or holiday pay. Career development is also even vaguer because there are no established positions to be pursued, and the only real aim is to increase the consulting business and make it a success. But To conclude, Freelancing is a very good option to consider in the legal field, Flexible hours, long vacations, and the ability to choose and choose your assignments. Yeah, it’s a possibility for lawyers if you become a legal freelancer, an opportunity that appeals to more lawyers every year. Lawyer Exchange, Montage Legal Group, LegalBee, Aggregate Law, Hire an Esquire, and several other companies have been set up to directly connect independent lawyers to law firms.
References
- https://jobs.legal500.com/article/how-freelancers-are-changing-the-legal-industry/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeJdUmDecV
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