Who doesn’t want flexibility in life? Everyone wants to enjoy flexibility in job life. That’s why a freelance lawyer has become a popular profession.
So you may be curious to know how to be a freelance lawyer. You will be glad to know that it is easy to be a freelance lawyer if you follow the right tricks.
In this article, we will share tips, tricks, and a step-by-step guide to being a successful freelance lawyer. Being a freelance lawyer not only gives flexibility but also lets you leverage your experience, skill, and degree effectively.
So Let’s start the guide to being a freelance lawyer and making money at home.
How to be a freelance lawyer
It is a big decision to be a freelance lawyer that affects personal, financial, and professional life. Typically lawyers love information.
Working as a freelance attorney helps to broaden your knowledge. Lawyers need more practice than any other type of job.
Based on my experience here, I am going to share an ultimate guide to being a freelance lawyer. Before that, first, let me explain about freelance Lawyers.
What is a freelance lawyer?
A freelance lawyer is a special type of lawyer who is hired by another attorney or lawyer or law firm as assistance to complete legal projects.
Here the freelance lawyer has the freedom to work flexibly. So they can contract with multiple clients to give legal services at a time.
A freelance lawyer can choose their own schedules and declare availability and deadline according to their preference.
But if you are a direct legal lawyer or work in a law firm, you need to maintain office hours, rules, and other schedules.
The only issue is you need to manage your own finance and income. As it is contract-based work, you have no fixed salary or income sources.
You can work as a full-time freelance lawyer or part-time according to your need. The earnings depend on how many projects you have completed.
So you may think about how many cases you will get as a freelance lawyer, right? Actually, it depends on your skill, stage of career, previous work record, and many more things.
Some freelance lawyers also work as professors, while some start freelance lawyers’ journeys after their retirement. There is no fixed age or rule for this profession.
The best thing about a freelance lawyer’s occupation is it allows flexibility and freedom. You can complete a project from anywhere you want. You just need a proper license to handle any cases.
You can also choose your preferable field so that you can enjoy the work. So there is no doubt that a freelance lawyer has several benefits.
Is freelance work legal?
Freelance work is legal. But you need to manage legal licenses in your jurisdiction before offering freelance work as a lawyer.
If you have a legal license, then there is no problem working as a freelance lawyer.
How to do freelance legal work?
Basically, a freelance lawyer does the legal work as an assistant lawyer. They are hired by a law firm on behalf of another lawyer or other company to do legal work remotely.
Sometimes they need to go to court for doing the project. But the maximum time you can collect information and solve the project and deliver it to the client.
They also do substantive work such as research, document review, discovery, and drafting. Information Collection, thinking, gathering logic, writing briefs, and more.
Even sometimes, they write law firm marketing blogs. Actually, depending on the contract or project details, the working process or type varies.
How to be a good contract lawyer
If you want to avoid stressful life at a law firm, then a freelance or contract lawyer can be the best choice. To be a good contract lawyer, follow the below 11 steps.
- Manage legal judiciary licenses
- Determine your Legal services
- Registration
- Administrative works
- Networking
- Build a website
- Start blogging
- Marketing
- Fixed Service cost
- Build Relationship
- Keep patient
Now, let’s dig deeper to be a freelance lawyer to earn quick money.
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Manage legal judiciary licenses
When you are planning to work as a freelance lawyer, you must pass the judiciary exam, right? It is mandatory to get a judiciary license to practice or offer any legal services.
So the first step is managing your licenses.
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Determine your legal services
Now you should decide what type of legal services you want to offer. Different type of projects is available in a law firm. It is better to focus on a single area to practice.
Do some research on your preferred area. It helps you to decide whether it will be suitable for you or not.
However, it is wise to pick an uncommon field to get a better response. It is the key to getting clients quickly.
Also, it is important to pick a legal field that has market demand. Otherwise, it will be tough to get clients.
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Registration
Before offering any legal services Registration is a must. You must register your services to avoid legal problems.
If you want to work as a sole proprietor, company or Corporation, register your services accordingly. So first, decide which type of organization you want to start for offering freelance services. Then apply for registration.
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Administrative works
As you are completed the registration now, you need to organize administration tasks and responsibilities. Open a separate bank account for billing and handling taxes.
You can use lawyer accounting software to manage your administrative work. Besides that, this software will help you to do the below tasks:
- Manage documents
- Create invoice
- Billing
- Calendering
- Track progress
- Payroll
Different types of accounting software for lawyers are available. You can choose any software that you like.
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Networking
Now your freelance journey is almost started. It is time to share your service details with your network.
You can target individuals or other businesses to promote your freelance work. Also, contact with other popular lawyers and law firms. So when they need assistance, they can contact you.
If you have a large connection on LinkedIn, don’t forget to let them know about your freelance services.
However, you can also create a social page to promote your freelance services. It helps to expand your personal network and grow your contractual business.
So create a business page on Facebook and Linkedin and start social networking.
Share some informative posts about legal topics to attract different people. Give people suggestions about different topics to grow your follower.
Besides social sites, you can also use the below platforms to promote your services:
If you want our recommendations, then Foxwordy will be a great choice for networking. You can reach out and connect with a huge number of people in Foxwordy.
It is the best platform to reach out legal projects. Also, it is important to attend legal workshops or events that are arranged by the local bar association.
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Build a website
In this competitive online market, a website is a must. When you create a website about your legal service, it helps to trust you more conveniently.
Also, it is a great way to promote your service details. You can showcase your legal service, client’s feedback, or necessary info on the lawyer’s websites.
Besides, you can feature some old project history to highlight your expertise area. If you have any older working experiences, don’t forget to attach that.
After building a website, it is also essential to do SEO so that it can rank in the top search bar. Google will rank your sites when you optimize them.
You need to post informative content and necessary info to make the website valuable to Google. If your content or service helps the users, then Google will give you the priority and show your site’s top of the list.
However, you can also use Google ads or Facebook ads to promote your freelance services. This type of paid advertising helps to gain engagement and potential clients. If you want a faster result, then paid ads are a good choice.
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Start blogging
As you are starting your freelance lawyer journey, you must have knowledge about the law. So you can share your knowledge with others on your blog.
It helps to rank your sites as well as increase the traffic. You can reach more potential clients through an informative blog post.
Blogging is a smart approach to making new connections with potential clients. Here is a list of benefits you can gain from blogging:
- Service promotion
- Improve website’s rank
- Make connections with potential clients
- Increase reputation and create credibility
But blogging takes some time to get user response. So you should maintain a schedule and regular posting to be a successful blogger.
However, don’t forget to share helpful tips for lawyers or general people to beat the competition. Your content is the key to changing your engagement. So try to write user-friendly and SEO-optimized content.
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Marketing
Day by day, online service competition is increasing rapidly. You need to do proper marketing to grab the online marketplace.
You will be glad to know you can quickly grab the business of law compared to other professions. Yet a little bit of marketing is very helpful to grow your freelance career.
So plan a proper marketing strategy for your freelance business. You can do social media marketing or grab Google ads, Facebook ads, Television advertisements, or campaigns in different law firms.
Try to reach as many people as you can. The first thing you need to do is let others know about your new legal services. So start from your home and focus on potential clients.
Besides social platforms, don’t forget to promote your service on different law sites such as lawclerk.
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Fixed service cost
It is also important to fix your service fee. You can offer a flat fee or an hourly rate according to your preference.
Fixed cost means you are transparent with your services. So it helps clients to trust your agency. You can consider the below factors while fixing your cost.
Determine fees according to your experience. In legal service, experience matters a lot. So if you are an experienced Lawyer, then your rate will be high, while newbies should keep an affordable rate.
Your favourite field and expertise area also decide your fees. If you specialize in civil litigation, you can set high fees. But general field specialization has low demand. So, in that case, you need to set a lower charge.
The place where you are living also affects the cost. The legal service cost is not fixed worldwide. In rural areas, this type of service requires minimal cost.
But in town, you can maximize income by handling a few projects only. So workplace matters. You can choose the work zone according to your need.
Don’t forget to keep a written fees agreement between you and the client to avoid further hassle. It is a best practice for a freelance lawyer. So that the clients can’t dispute later.
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Build relationship
You should try to maintain a strong relationship between clients and colleagues. Building a healthy relationship is like open marketing.
You will wonder to know mouth marketing is a magical thing. Your name can spread over within a few weeks if the clients and colleagues enjoy your work.
They will willingly let others know about your excellent service. This is known as mouth marketing. Also, it helps you to gain repeated clients.
Here are some tips for creating a strong relationship with clients:
- Try to improve your skills and expertise to meet the client’s requirements.
- Broaden your knowledge to cope with new technology and law.
- Strictly maintain deadlines to satisfy the clients. It is better to finish all the work before your promise is scheduled.
- Give priority to the client’s demands. Focus on their requirement to ensure 100% satisfaction.
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Keep Patient
It is not possible to be a successful contractual lawyer overnight. It takes time. So if you decide to start your career as a freelance lawyer, you need to keep patient. First, set your plan and time frame for marketing, and then stay focused.
Freelance legal service is a kind of a business. It has a risk of being unsuccessful. Your dedication, patience, and planning can help you to be successful.
Starting is always tough, but once you establish your freelance business, it will grow rapidly.
Freelance Attorney Network
Step into the most talented freelance attorney network can be a path changer for a contractual lawyer.
So you can join the Lawclerk network to spread your service.
What makes attorney network standout from others
The freelance attorney networking platform is different from other marketplaces because it gives you the best opportunity to manage a new project.
It is the most effective platform for freelance attorneys. Lawclerk has the largest attorney network that changes the game.
It is a talent pool where you have more chances to find potential clients. Lawclerk maintains the security of the sites, and they take strong action against any illegal activity. It only allows Lawyers who have legal licenses.
Even this marketplace offers worldwide services. So you can access a legal talent attorney from anywhere you want. So you are not limited to a particular region.
As it offers the best lawyers, people believe in Lawclerk. That’s the reason day-by-day networking is rapidly increasing.
However, it maintains payment security which makes it more reliable. Lawclerk has the best law Professor all over the country to help you in times of trouble.
When a project is posted, lawyers can apply to the project. Lawclerk has an expert team to monitor the experience level and qualification of the candidate before approving their response. As a result, clients only get responses from the best lawyer.
So Lawclerk helps to reach a talented freelance lawyer who can give success in every project. It is the main reason that makes this platform the leading one for a freelance lawyers.
Benefits of being freelance Lawyers
Despite enjoying flexible work hours, freelance lawyers have some more benefits. You can set your working hours, location, or project type according to your preferences.
If you are new parents and want to spend time with the kids, freelance will be a great pick. Also, it helps to avoid office politics. Let’s know details about the benefits of going freelance.
Set work schedule
You can customize your work schedule when you turn into a freelance career. So you don’t need to be stuck on fixed-hour jobs like 9-5. It is a great option for people who are taking care of sick relatives.
Limit capacity
When you are doing the job at a law firm, you can’t fix your capacity. They will assign work according to their needs. But when you work as a freelance lawyer, you have the option to limit your capacity.
You can decide how many projects you should accept at a time. So you can work in a relaxed environment instead of feeling stressed or awful.
Freedom
The best thing is that you have the freedom to choose projects as well as clients. If you don’t like the client, you can decline the project.
So here, you only handle those projects that you are passionate about. It refreshes your mind and boosts your working energy. Working on different types of projects is also a great way to enrich knowledge.
Global connection
As you are working as a freelance lawyer, you have no place boundaries. You can handle global projects. Suppose you are living in Canada, but you can handle clients from the US.
So it broadens the opportunity. You can deal with clients from any corner of the globe.
The challenge you will face as a freelancer.
Despite robust benefits, you also need to face a few challenges as a freelance lawyer. It is tough to balance work life and personal life as there are no rules or restrictions.
Let’s know some common problems that can arise while you work as freelance lawyers.
Lack of financial stability
You have no idea how many projects you will get per month. Even there is a chance of getting no project or lots of projects in a single month.
This work is uncertain, and there is no guarantee of earning money. So often, you fail to get new projects and suffer financially.
Also, it won’t allow any retirement bonuses or festive incentives. You need to balance your accounts personally. When you have no projects, use your savings. So this job won’t give you a guarantee of financial stability.
However, you won’t get any insurance coverage such as health, malpractice, or other like traditional jobs. Contractual workers won’t get any insurance coverage.
Inconsistent earning
As the projects come randomly, you earn an inconsistent amount of money. When you get a huge project, you can waste money.
So it is essential to start saving from the first month. Otherwise, you will suffer later.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I hire a freelance lawyer to work online?
Yes, you can hire a freelance lawyer to work online. Technology gives this opportunity to handle projects remotely. Just check whether the lawyer has a proper legal license or not.
- How are freelance lawyers different from law firm lawyers?
Law firm lawyers do a full-time job where they get a fixed salary and maintain a 9-5 working work. But freelance lawyers choose projects according to their preference, and they have no fixed working hours.
They work from home and get project-based fees. So two roles are not the same.
- When should I hire a freelance lawyer?
If you need any type of legal work, you can hire a freelance lawyer. It is easy to reach them and complete the work without the hassle of visiting firm to firm.
- How much do freelance lawyers cost?
Generally, freelance lawyers charge on an hourly basis. But some lawyers also apply a flat rate per project. Depending on experience and expertise, the cost varies.
Bottom Line
The long working hours, stressful life, and bitter environment at law firms force lawyers to switch jobs. So they are looking for an alternative to enjoy their work.
Becoming a freelance lawyer can solve all these issues. So everyone wants to know, How to be a freelance lawyer.
In this article, we share an ultimate guide with the pros and cons of being a freelance lawyer. There is no doubt the freelance lawyer profession gives you flexibility, freedom, and mental peace. Follow our tips to become a successful freelance lawyer.
