Other common terms that are sometimes used to describe a freelance lawyer are contract lawyer, local attorneys online, and remote attorney. A freelance lawyer will be described for this text as an independent attorney doing legal work on a piece-by-piece basis for other lawyers full or part-time. The terms can be used interchangeably to mean the same thing.
A freelancer may work solo, be part of a small firm, work with larger firms, or even legal departments. A freelance lawyer can do much varied work and work physically with the client or remotely based on the nature of the work and the needs of the client. Another important thing to note is that a client of an independent contractor attorney may be another attorney or any other firm.
The nature of the work freelancers are allocated with usually involves all forms of writing work. This is so time-consuming that most solo attorneys along with law firms outsource this to accomplished contract attorneys experienced in this kind of work. The actual work which a freelance lawyer may come across ranges from document drafting, document review, legal research, to project-based litigation support. This will therefore be beneficial for small law firms or in-house counsels’ legal departments that might not have the resources to hire another lawyer in-house and full time. It will save time and be cost-effective in order to allow law firms and companies to be able to accept more work or simply add expertise to the team.? Normally, freelance lawyers enjoy greater flexibility in working on projects, thereby allowing clients in the legal service to access these services only when needed and at an affordable rate.
Freelance attorneys may also be involved in a great many areas of practice to greater or lesser degrees. For instance, in relation to transactional, there is always a great demand for support needed in real estate transactions, business law, intellectual property, employment law, and even mergers and acquisitions. Admittedly, many litigation-focused law offices often find themselves in need and reach out for talented freelance litigation attorneys with expertise in highly specialized areas of the law.