I am a paralegal located in Nashville, Tennessee.  I currently work for a small firm, but I am considering the possibility of opening a freelance paralegal business providing legal support for attorneys on a freelance basis.  I have a bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in writing.  I have a paralegal certificate from an ABA approved school.  I am a very logical thinker with a knack for legal research and writing.  I am attempting to develop a line of services I can offer attorneys that would focus on these skills.

 

The attorneys I currently work for frequently delegate legal research and writing tasks to me, particularly in cases that involve difficult, labor intensive research regarding issues that we don't normally address in our area of law.  I would like to be able to perform legal research and writing as a freelance paralegal on a full time basis.  However, I am aware that many attorneys prefer to hire other attorneys to perform legal research and writing tasks.  How widespread is this sentiment?  Do you know whether attorneys hire qualified paralegals to perform freelance legal research and writing on a freelance basis?  If not, why? How much would attorneys be willing to pay freelance paralegals for their services? 

 

I have developed a list of possible services and I would love to have as many opinions as possible about whether a substantial number of attorneys would be willing to hire a paralegal to provide such services, what tips you have, and how much you would be willing to pay a freelance paralegal.  Here are the potential services:

 

Drafting legal pleadings, briefs, and contracts.

 

Performing legal research, summarizing the research, and putting it into a format easily digestible for an attorney.

 

Drafting deposition summaries, interrogatories, requests for production of documents, requests for admission, and responses to interrogatories.

 

Assisting attorneys with creating forms for daily use such as letters, simple pleadings, form contracts, MDAs, etc.

 

I am additionally interested in helping attorneys promote themselves as experts in their area of law.  Therefore, I may additionally decide to offer services performing the following tasks:

 

Assist attorneys in performing research and drafting articles for publication in trade magazines and bar journals.

 

Assist attorneys in developing content for teaching continuing legal education classes.

 

Posting blogs to an attorney's website with content intended to promote an attorney's expertise in a particular field.

 

I would love to have as many opinions as possible on these questions.  Additionally, if you don't think an attorney would be willing to pay a freelance paralegal to perform any of these tasks, what would he/she willing to pay a freelance paralegal to do?  What can I do to better assist attorneys on a freelance basis?

I would love to discuss this with you off list. Feel free to email me
direct at patti@billhour.net. I started a business similar to this. I no
longer focus on the paralegal duties, with the exception of TM paralegal
duties, but have some ideas for you.

There are several groups out there that network for contract paralegals.

Patti

On Mon, Mar 1, 2010 at 3:02 PM, <General@paralegalcity.com> wrote:

> *Type your reply above this line. Please do NOT change the subject line.*
>
> *m.ryan1082* <http://www.paralegalcity.com/Parale...5.aspx>
> Posted:01 Mar 2010 03:02 PM *Subject:* Freelance Opportunities
>
> I am a paralegal located in Nashville, Tennessee. I currently work for a
> small firm, but I am considering the possibility of opening a freelance
> paralegal business providing legal support for attorneys on a freelance
> basis. I have a bachelor's degree in English with an emphasis in writing.
> I have a paralegal certificate from an ABA approved school. I am a very
> logical thinker with a knack for legal research and writing. I am
> attempting to develop a line of services I can offer attorneys that would
> focus on these skills.
>
>
>
> The attorneys I currently work for frequently delegate legal research and
> writing tasks to me, particularly in cases that involve difficult, labor
> intensive research regarding issues that we don't normally address in our
> area of law. I would like to be able to perform legal research and
> writing as a freelance paralegal on a full time basis. However, I am
> aware that many attorneys prefer to hire other attorneys to perform legal
> research and writing tasks. How widespread is this sentiment? Do you
> know whether attorneys hire qualified paralegals to perform freelance
> legal research and writing on a freelance basis? If not, why? How much
> would attorneys be willing to pay freelance paralegals for their services?
>
>
>
>
> I have developed a list of possible services and I would love to have as
> many opinions as possible about whether a substantial number of attorneys
> would be willing to hire a paralegal to provide such services, what tips you
> have, and how much you would be willing to pay a freelance paralegal. Here
> are the potential services:
>
>
>
> Drafting legal pleadings, briefs, and contracts.
>
>
>
> Performing legal research, summarizing the research, and putting it into a
> format easily digestible for an attorney.
>
>
>
> Drafting deposition summaries, interrogatories, requests for production of
> documents, requests for admission, and responses to interrogatories.
>
>
>
> Assisting attorneys with creating forms for daily use such as letters,
> simple pleadings, form contracts, MDAs, etc.
>
>
>
> I am additionally interested in helping attorneys promote themselves as
> experts in their area of law. Therefore, I may additionally decide to
> offer services performing the following tasks:
>
>
>
> Assist attorneys in performing research and drafting articles for
> publication in trade magazines and bar journals.
>
>
>
> Assist attorneys in developing content for teaching continuing legal
> education classes.
>
>
>
> Posting blogs to an attorney's website with content intended to promote an
> attorney's expertise in a particular field.
>
>
>
> I would love to have as many opinions as possible on these questions. Additionally,
> if you don't think an attorney would be willing to pay a freelance paralegal
> to perform any of these tasks, what would he/she willing to pay a freelance
> paralegal to do? What can I do to better assist attorneys on a freelance
> basis?
> *Go to
> http://www.paralegalcity.com/tabid/...ult.aspxto view the complete thread and reply
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