Contract Paralegals
by Lee Davis
Being a paralegal today can offer many opportunities outside of the traditional law firm. While I started my paralegal career in a traditional law firm and continued in this traditional role for 10 years, I frequently entertained the idea of working as a contract paralegal. I was finally able to take that initial idea and turn it into a lucrative contract paralegal firm in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
With the downturn in the economy and advance in computer technology, the trend for many law firms is to hire professional staff on a contract basis. Today it is even more feasible to work in the contract arena.
Until recently, the words "independent" and "contract" have been used synonymously. The trend now seems to attach "independent" with working directly for the public. There is much talk in the paralegal community about expanding the role of the paralegal thereby assisting the legal community in providing affordable legal services to the public. This is causing the movers and shakers in our profession to think outside the box to try to define what we mean when we use the word "expansion," but more importantly, decide how we can have an impact on providing affordable services.
Today, Lee Davis and Associates, Inc., keeps very busy specializing in the management of large document cases. We are not the typical temporary placement agency, but gear ourselves more on a project-by-project basis. Working with complex litigation cases has afforded me the opportunity to hone my paralegal skills in developing procedures for off-site large document collections, managing outside vendors, staffing contract paralegals and attorneys, and developing and managing document coding processes.
Another twist to the services we provide and the skills we have developed is in the area of computerized litigation support. I became a certified trainer in legal specific software and now provide multimedia trial presentation services.
While our skills are very technical and highly specialized, we are still contributing to the affordability of legal services. It is much more affordable for a client to hire the services of a law firm that utilizes the services of a paralegal. Now, even law firms that do not have a budget for a full time paralegal can hire contract paralegals on a project basis and pass the savings on to the client.
All of this came from that initial dream of wanting to be in business for myself. It takes a lot of initiative to give up the comforts and security of working full time for a law firm, but the benefits are great. If you are thinking about venturing out as a contract paralegal, you may want to consider doing the following:
Be an active member of your profession, both local and national,
Increase your networking opportunities whenever possible,
Obtain a good education, and
Obtain solid experience in the traditional setting first or work with other experienced contract paralegals.
With a little preparation and imagination and a lot of energy, a career as a contract paralegal can bring many financial and professional rewards. Just think about it. You may be in a position to be on the cutting edge of expanding the role of the paralegal.
Lee Davis is President of the National Federation of Paralegal Associations. She has been a litigation paralegal since 1979 and owns and manages Lee Davis and Associates, Inc., a contract paralegal firm. She attended the paralegal program at Phoenix Community College and obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree in Management from Arizona State University. She has been active in local paralegal associations since the beginning of her career and is a founding member of the Arizona Association of Professional Paralegals, Inc. An active participant in paralegal education, she teaches in the paralegal program at Phoenix Community College.
