The ultimate guide to legal outsourcing. This is the short version; the full guide, with cost breakdowns, a worked ROI example, and ten onboarding best practices, is a click away.
Flexibility and innovation are the keys to the future of legal hiring. By combining full-time hires, part-time hires, and outsourced remote associates, firms of every size overcome traditional hiring bottlenecks and unlock new growth. The goal is the mix that maximizes your firm's productivity and profitability.
✓
Days, not months
Get help in place in days rather than the months a traditional associate hire takes. Stand the team up fast, stand it down when the matter wraps.
✓
A deep talent pool
Verified attorneys across all 50 states, in virtually every practice area, ready to match the exact expertise a case requires.
✓
More billable hours
Produce more work and more billable hours. Bill a remote associate's work at market rate the way you would an in-office associate, so outsourcing is a revenue center, not an expense.
app.lawclerk.legal
Speed to help
Matter posted
Candidates surfaced within 48 hours
First deliverable inside a week
Days, not months. Stand the team up fast, down when the matter wraps.
S
Sarah
Litigation · NY · CA · $150–185/hr
98% match
J
James
Estate Planning · TX · $125–160/hr
95% match
P
Priya
Immigration · IL · $140–175/hr
93% match
Verified counsel. All 50 states, virtually every practice area.
Bill rateMarket
FeesBack end
Return$3:$1
Bill a remote associate's work at your firm's rates
A revenue center. More billable hours, not just another expense.
What's inside
The full guide, section by section
Seven chapters walk through the whole case for remote associates, from the economics to onboarding. Here is the shape of it; the PDF has the data, the worked example, and the checklists in full.
1
Multi-pronged hiring is a gamechanger
Why the firm of the future blends full-time, part-time, and outsourced talent.
2
Traditional hiring is slow and expensive
The months it takes and the salary-plus-overhead price that keeps climbing.
3
How to grow with remote associates
Staffing flexibility, higher profits, and specialized expertise on demand.
4
Common concerns, answered
Confidentiality, quality control, and building rapport with a remote hire.
5
Remote work by the numbers
The data on how remote and hybrid work reshaped who you can hire.
6
The ROI: a worked example
A real firm's numbers, from hours worked to profit booked in a single month.
7
Ten best practices for integrating remote associates
An onboarding checklist that makes the working relationship stick.
Every chapter in full lives in the downloadable PDF, along with the worked ROI example and the complete ten-point onboarding checklist.
By the numbers
The case for outsourcing, in brief
A few figures from the guide. The PDF shows the full data and the math behind them.
$200,000
Median first-year salary
NALP, as of Jan 1, 2023, up 21% from 2021
83%
Want remote flexibility
Among lawyers under 40 (ABA Practice Forward)
$3
Revenue per $1 invested
Every dollar paid can become $3 or more billed
What outsourcing removes
40%
overhead a traditional hire can add on top of salary
$0
office, equipment, and benefits cost on a remote associate
95%
of work meets or exceeds hiring attorneys' expectations
50
states of verified attorneys in nearly every practice area
"
Every dollar invested with a talented remote associate can become $3 or more of revenue, billed to your client at a reasonable market rate.
MR
Model Rule 1.5 · ABA Formal Opinion 00-420
Billing contract lawyers at prevailing market rates
What Is Legal Process Outsourcing
Legal process outsourcing (LPO) is delegating defined legal tasks to outside providers, so a firm adds capacity without adding overhead. LAWCLERK is one of these providers. The usual scope:
Document reviewContract administrationLegal researchPatent servicesLitigation support
What Types of Work Can I Effectively Outsource?
Virtually anything you draft, review, or prepare, provided you stay competent in the matter (Model Rule 1.1) and supervise the work (Model Rules 5.1 to 5.3). Discovery is where most firms start:
Discovery plansInitial disclosuresRequests for documentsInterrogatoriesRequests for admissionObjections & responses to discoverySubpoenasDocument reviewMotions to compel & responsesMotions to quash & responsesDeposition preparationDeposition summaries
Get the guide
Get the full legal outsourcing guide
The full guide has the cost breakdowns, the worked ROI example, the remote-work data, and ten best practices for integrating remote associates. Whether you need occasional help from a freelance lawyer or an ongoing hourly remote associate, thousands of law firms rely on LAWCLERK to bill more hours and reduce overhead.