How to Draw Up a Contract for Freelance Paralegal Work
Many lawyers would like to ease their workloads, but do not want to hire additional full-time support staff. These lawyers are likely to hire talented, freelance paralegals to work on an as-needed basis. If you have paralegal skills but do not wish to work as a full-time employee in a law firm, learning to negotiate and draw up contracts with lawyers may be your ticket to lucrative freelance work.
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Instructions
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Decide what your time is worth. Your contract will specify your hourly rate. For example, you may decide to bill yourself out as a freelance paralegal for $30 per hour.
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Know what your paralegal skills are. Before you can negotiate with a client, you must be secure in what you are good at and what you are willing to do as a paralegal. For example, your skills most likely include legal research, legal writing and familiarity with Nexis and Westlaw. If you are willing to perform administrative tasks as well, your freelance paralegal contract will include things like word processing and filing documents with the court.
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State in your contract whether or not you will have access to your client's office to do your work. Some clients will allow you to use their office space, while others may require it. Know the limits of your own home office and what you have access to in the local legal library.
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Interview your potential client to ascertain exactly what she needs you to do, and what date she needs the work completed by. If you are confident you can meet your client's requirements, write or type on a piece of paper the details of the job. Include the due date and where the work will be performed.
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Include a clause stating that, should the need for additional work arise, you and your client can negotiate this. Alternatively, you may write an ongoing contract for freelance paralegal services, including everything except an end date.
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In the last paragraph, clarify that you will perform these duties for your rate of $30 per hour, and that you will keep track of your time and how you use it. Include a mention that any expenses--such as postage stamps and court filing fees--will be reimbursed to you by your client once you have submitted appropriate receipts.
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Draw up two copies of your contract for paralegal services. You and your client each sign and date both of them, and you each keep one for your records.
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