5 Reasons to Hire a Litigation Support Specialist

Litigation Support Specialists are known by many names: freelance attorney, ghostwriter, flex-time attorney, contract attorney, outsource attorney, law clerk, etc.

Here at Eximius we prefer the term Legal Research and Writing Specialist (yes it’s a mouthful but it’s the name that captures the essence of what we do better than anyone else). For short, let’s call us Legal Specialists or, simply, Specialists.

If you’ve never worked with a Legal Specialist, here are five reasons why you are missing out.

1.     Legal Specialists provide partner quality work at associate prices.

When you find a great Legal Specialist, you will realize that their craft is their passion. Nothing is more important to them than to be the best, most clever, and persuasive legal argument. And to win of course! This is why a great Legal Specialist will not only complete the task assigned, but they will also take the time to make suggestions (based on their knowledge and experience) to help you get the best results. In other words, with an experienced Lega Specialist, you are getting partner quality work for associate prices. This goes hand-in-hand with the next reason why you should hire a Specialist. 

2.     Legal Specialists will help you increase your reputation.

This is one of the least mentioned, yet incredibly powerful benefits of hiring a Specialist. Reputation is one of the most valuable assets of a litigator. When you show up to court you want to make sure that the judge knows you’re prepared and respects your arguments, and that opposing counsel is shaking in his boots. With a Legal Specialist as your secret weapon you written products will show your level of diligence, attention to detail, creativity of argument and commitment to the case.

In a perfect world you would have time to thoroughly research, write, and prepare for all of your cases. But, let’s face it, everyday you’re pulled in a million directions as you struggle to balance of the hats you wear in your business. When you hire a Specialist, you can ensure that your court filings are top rate.

Specialists are experts in their craft. They spend all of their time researching, reviewing different arguments across almost all areas of law, and honing their persuasive writing skills. So, while you may not have the time to deep dive into every case, your Legal Specialists does and will surface with the best case law and written product. The ability to do this consistently can quickly position you as a top rate lawyer in your community and in your field.

3.     Legal Specialist save you time and free you up for more important (or enjoyable) projects.

This one is obvious right? Running a small law firm or a solo law firm is like running up a rocky hill in the snow while your shirt is on fire and you're being chased by a panther. There are always so many things going on and if you stop running you'll be eaten. Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic but I’m sure you can relate. As a business owner, you are absolutely not free to just be a lawyer. You must also do all of the little (and big) things it takes to run a business and stay in business. For many lawyers, that means that some of your cases fall through the cracks. In some instances, this can spell disaster if you miss important deadlines. In other situations, the offense seems harmless – like letting a case sit for six months. But this can also cause damage to your reputation, lead to negative reviews, and is keeping you from expanding and making more money.

Hiring a Legal Specialist will help you meet your deadline, proactively move your cases, and give you the freedom and space to do the things that no one but you can do in your business.

The time it takes to outsource a project to a Specialist is so much less than you might think. In most cases, a project is outsourced via email by providing the relevant documents, a quick description of the task, and a rundown of the relevant facts that are not found in the court documents. That's it! In 10 minutes (or less) you can save yourself HOURS of work and free yourself up for the more important, or enjoyable, tasks on your to do list.

4.     Legal Specialists help you make more money.

Although a Specialist is not your employee you can still profit from their work as if they were! In other words, for purposes of billing your clients, a Specialist is treated like any other associate in your firm: you pay your associate less than what you charge your client. Here’s an example for all you visual learners.

You charge $300/hour. In a two-day period you produce 10 billable hours for a total of $3000.

Not bad! But here's what happens when you hire a Specialist.

1.     You spend 10 minutes spending an email with the project instruction and relevant documents.

2.     You then go work on another project (maybe something you actually like doing rather than research and writing.)

3.     Your Specialist spends 10 hours at $150/hour.

4.     When the work is done, you spend about 30 minutes reviewing it for a total of 8.5 billable hours.

5.     You bill those 10.5 hours at your rate ($3,150) and after paying your Specialist ($1,150) you make $2,000. That’s with you working a total of 40 minutes!

Point made!

But BEST OF ALL, the project got done without the normal hassle, stress, or frustration that comes along with having a full time associate in-office. This leads to the last, yet very important reason why hiring a Specialist will change the way you do business.

 5.     Legal Specialists don’t come with extra overhead and don’t create HR nightmares.

Working with a Specialist is an all-around breeze. Not only are they awesome at what they do, but you ONLY pay them for what they do. While some may consider the expense of a Specialist higher that that of an associate, you also get so much more from a Specialist. Besides all the benefits already listed here, you also won’t have worry about providing health insurance, dealing with taxes, days off, providing equipment and software, paying for down time, or even having to purchase your own legal research platform. Your Specialist has this all covered. Here at Eximius, you don’t even have to worry about payroll as we have a simple, smooth, and automatic process that is designed to save busy attorneys time. Seriously, we have you covered from all angles.

 So if you’ve ever considered working with a Legal Specialist but have hesitated to do so, I invite you to try our service. You won’t regret it and you’ll wonder where we have been all your life.