Posted by Interested Paralegal on 3/01/10

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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?
Would you hire a qualified paralegal to perform freelance
legal research and writing? If not, why? If so, what are
your limitations? How much would you be willing to pay
them for the service?

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 the opinion of as many attorneys as
possible on these questions. Additionally, if you would
not be willing to pay a freelance paralegal to perform any
of these tasks, what would you be willing to pay a
freelance paralegal to do? What can I do to better assist
attorneys?

What kind of support do attorneys need?, 3/01/10, by Interested Paralegal.

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