Often when businesses are confronted with a legal question or problem, their first instinct is to contact a lawyer. However, in most cases, they would be just as fine – or even better off – hiring a (freelance) legal consultant.

This article will explain the pros and cons of hiring a freelance legal consultant vs. a lawyer, what you should look out for and what factors you need to consider before making a decision. 

Do you like quick communication? 

When deciding between hiring a freelance legal consultant and a lawyer, the kind of approach you want can be an essential factor. In many cases, a lawyer is part of a larger firm. Some firms divide the issues and only have one person working on them; others work on the case as a team. 

While the latter approach brings the perspective of many people, the phenomenon of too many cooks in the kitchen happens in legal matters too. Getting a relevant response can take quite a while as nobody is fully involved. 

If you choose to go with a freelance legal consultant, you can rest assured that your legal problem will have a personal approach. Freelancers personally work on your assignment and are always up-to-date and easily approachable in case you have questions. 

Do you want to go to court?

The amount of legal problems that go to court is relatively small and is in a relative decline. The reason is that going to court isn’t just costly and time-consuming. If you want a legal problem solved by going to court, you will have to wait months, if not years, before getting a verdict. In addition, if you want to go to court, you need to be represented by a lawyer and won’t be able to hire a freelance legal consultant to represent you. 

Mediation and arbitrage are two prevalent alternatives to going to court. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but they are generally much cheaper and quicker than having a judge decide the case. For both mediation and arbitrage, you can hire a qualified legal consultant. Due to the lower amount of fixed costs and the much shorter time in which you get a verdict, you can often have your legal matter solved for a significantly lower cost.

What about the costs?

When a law firm handles your legal problem or question, you aren’t just paying for the lawyer assigned to you. The average medium to a large law firm has a significant overhead. Not only do the lawyers and partners working there need to be paid, but there are often secretaries, a building, and many other costs to keep the lights on. So, naturally, those costs are passed to the client.

A freelance legal consultant often works alone and does not need a building or supporting staff. Those savings are often passed to the client without the freelancer taking a hit. Costs are even lower when the freelance legal consultant has to pay a low fee to contact their clients. 

When comparing the rates of a freelancer legal consultant and a lawyer, there often is a significant difference. That difference becomes more apparent if you need someone with extensive experience or a niche specialty. But, almost always, the freelance legal consultant is much more affordable than a lawyer.

Do you want to know precisely who is assisting you?

Some just want to solve their legal problems; others want to work with someone they know and trust. If you hire a freelance legal consultant, you always know precisely who is assisting you and their experience regarding your legal issue.

If you hire a law firm, you run the risk of having your legal issue be passed down to a junior who does not have the necessary experience or knowledge to work out all the details. While a more senior lawyer will be as good as always, also look at the work; you might feel more at ease knowing who is working on your legal issue and their experience.

Freelance legal consultant VS lawyer: conclusion

Generally speaking, you are better off hiring a freelance legal consultant to solve your legal problems and questions. While there is no doubt that the average lawyer is competent and can be just as much of an expert as a consultant, a few key factors make a freelance legal consultant a better option. These are the costs, personal touch, and communication. The one exception when lawyers are a better choice – and the only choice – is when you want to defend your case in front of a judge in court. 

Interested in hiring a freelance legal consultant for your business? Then Limine is the perfect place to start your search! Make an account for free and find the ideal match for your legal issue in no time at an attractive price! 

You might be a lawyer looking for a change of pace, or you have been working as an employee in a company, and you desire to carve your own path in law. Whatever your reasons, starting to offer your services – and getting clients – as a freelance legal consultant can be daunting. 

This article will discuss how you can start offering your service as a freelance legal consultant and have a better chance of landing clients. 

What do you want to do, and what can you do? 

What you want to do and what you can do might not always align. The things you can do are not just a matter of skills and knowledge, but also of market saturation. If you are offering your freelance legal services in a market with plenty of freelancers and few clients, you might not be able to keep the lights on for long. On the other hand, if you are an expert in a specific niche but don’t enjoy doing it, you might not want to freelance for a long time.

Finding the right balance between what you want to do and can do is essential. Ask yourself questions like:

• How does my profile compare to others offering similar services?
• How saturated is the market that I want to enter?
• Am I willing to work in this niche for an extended period?
• Can I ask for a high enough rate and attract enough clients?
• Do I have the skills and persistence to thrive as a freelance legal consultant?

Less is often more in terms of offering legal services

Perhaps the most frequent mistake people make when they start to offer freelance legal services is wanting to do anything for everyone. You might think offering all things under the sun regarding legal services will get you more clients and avoid losing leads. However, this is not true at all. 

When people are looking for a freelance legal consultant, they are often looking for an expert in a specific niche. This person can be an expert in GDPR, intellectual property law, real estate law, etc. If you offer all of those services, you aren’t just marketing yourself as someone without expertise, but you can land yourself in heaps of trouble if you don’t offer the quality expected from someone offering legal services. 

Pick a niche and sub-niche you are passionate about and have the skills and knowledge to be a cut above the rest. That way, you can make a name for yourself more easily and enjoy your work a lot more. 

Find the right platform to get clients

Just making a LinkedIn post saying that you are now offering your legal services as a freelancer is not enough. You will need to register on a few platforms to get the ball rolling. Platforms like Limine take out many hours you would spend looking for clients by using intelligent and innovative algorithms that match clients and freelancers fast and easily.

Clients also love to use platforms as they save a lot of time researching the freelance legal consultant they need and often get a couple of options to choose from. 

If you want to give Limine a go, you can register for free and start getting clients automatically! 

Get your name out there

While platforms like Limine are great for getting clients, getting your name out there is also a good idea. Here are a couple of strategies you can use to establish yourself as an expert and inform people that you offer legal services as a freelance consultant:

• Make posts on social media about current events in your niche
• Make blogs and social media posts about a project you are working on
• Ask for and share reviews people who you work(ed) with gave you
• Answer people’s questions on public fora like LinkedIn, FB
• Write blog posts on a topic where you show your expertise and help your target audience

You won’t just land more clients if you are considered an expert. Generally, you will also be able to ask for higher rates for your work. 

Getting known as an expert won’t just help you when you directly contact clients (or them contacting you); it will also aid you in getting more clients to pick you on a platform. 

Offering freelance legal consultant services: final thoughts

Taking the leap and starting to offer legal services as a freelance consultant can be complicated and stressful. However, if you stick to what you can, what you like, and use the tools available, you will land clients sooner or later. 

If you haven’t made an account on Limine yet, ensure you do so now, so you can start landing clients automatically. It’s also a good idea to bookmark our blog, so you don’t miss our helpful blogs for offering freelance legal consultant services. 

Your business is growing, and you need some extra (legal) help to ensure the growth remains consistent and sustainable. Often the choice comes down to either hiring an employee or using a freelancer to assist you and your business. Let’s look at the advantages and drawbacks of hiring a freelance legal consultant compared to a full-time employee. 

Advantages of freelance legal consultant

Flexible

Freelancers are often very flexible regarding the work they do and when they will do it. Numerous freelancers do not mind helping you out on weekends or holidays. 

This flexibility is excellent for businesses with an unexpected increase in workload and doesn’t have the luxury of going through a month-long hiring process to find a new employee. 

Businesses with more work during specific periods (e.g., the holidays) also greatly benefit from hiring a freelancer that can start working the same day or week you contact them. 

Extensive experience

An experienced freelancer likely has worked for tens, or more, of different clients on various projects of different scales. Thanks to that extensive experience, they often bring a different approach and set of skills to the table. 

This experience can often be leveraged immediately, without the need for a time-consuming training process. In addition, unlike most employees, freelance legal consultants have probably dealt with comparable situations for other companies, often giving them the knowledge to handle the assignment quickly and effectively. 

Easy to hire and fire

Freelance legal consultants and freelancers generally are extremely easy to hire and let go. However, hiring an employee is often a multiple month’s long process, and letting them go is just as challenging. 

If you need work done as soon as possible, a freelancer is a perfect solution to ensure deadlines are met. 

If the work is not up to standard, or there is a (un)expected downturn in position, letting go of a freelancer is much easier than letting go of an employee. Depending on the contract, a freelancer can often be let go with minimal or no cost. On the other hand, firing an employee with or without serious cause will usually result in a long and expensive process. 

Drawbacks of freelance legal consultant

Not always available 

The ease of hiring a freelancer can also be a drawback. You need to act fast if you have found just the right freelance legal consultant to help you out. A freelancer can pick their working hours and choose who they work with. So if a more exciting or profitable assignment comes along, the freelancer has no obligation to turn these down. 

Employees have a fixed period where they are obligated to be available. They cannot turn down projects (in most cases) simply because they don’t feel like doing them. Many employers consider relying on freelancers too much risk and too stressful because of that fact. An employee is much more consistent and reliable in this regard.

No fixed cost

A freelance legal consultant can be more expensive than a regular employee. A freelancer’s flexibility comes at a higher hourly or daily rate than an employee’s. Relying on freelancers too much or not tracking the number of billable hours you have assigned can lead to you going over budget. 

Relying on employees generally means you can keep track of costs more efficiently. But, of course, these costs are much more difficult to cut when business takes a downturn.

Are you interested in hiring the best possible freelance legal consultant for your needs? Limine gives your business the tools you need to hire the best legal talent out there. 

Setting the price for your services as a freelancer can be difficult. There are many factors at play that might influence the price you should or can demand your work as a freelance legal consultant. In this article, we will give you some tips and advice on determining what should come into play when trying to figure out how much compensation you should ask your client an hour or per project.

What are your costs?

First and foremost, to stay active as a freelancer, you need to know how much you should earn at a bare minimum to keep the lights on. These costs do not only include your business expenses but also what you take home. Ideally, you should also add in some extra as an emergency fund when you have an unexpected cost or a decline in revenue. 

The great thing about being a freelance legal consultant is that you do not have a significant overhead. How much non-business expenses you are willing to incur is up to you. However, it is essential to calculate a realistic minimum.

Who is your target audience?

Knowing your target audience is vital to setting realistic rates for your services. To determine your target audience and how you can leverage that knowledge is vital to know how to ask the best possible rate for your assistance. 

The first question you should ask yourself is, what is the potential client looking for? For example, is the client looking for the best possible price, or are the results the most important aspect?

Beginning freelancers often make the mistake of competing on price and not on service. By lowering their cost, they expect to attract more clients. While this often attracts clients on a budget, those looking for experts are left wondering why the freelancer is forced to compete on price. 

How valuable is your skillset? 

It is no secret that some skills are more in demand than others. Even if we niche down to just the legal profession, we can see what skills are needed more than others. If you are a legal consultant in a niche with a lot of competition, you will likely not get your preferred rate all the time. The client knows he can easily replace what you bring to the table if the price is too high. 

If you have a niche skill set in high demand, your negotiation position to set your prices is often much better. You are not easy to replace, and you don’t have a lot of other consultants to compete with. Depending on your client’s budget, you can ask for the rates you have in mind with little to no negotiation.

Compare your rates – but not too much

Setting your price as a freelance legal consultant can be difficult. A great way to gauge the going market rate is by asking around. You can ask other freelancers in your niche what their rates are or what their rates were when they were at a similar point in their careers. 

Do keep in mind that comparing your rates can lead to you overthinking things. There are many things to be considered, and following the competition can lead to unpleasant results, like not attracting enough clients or being unable to cover your costs. 

The assignment: length and urgency

The circumstances surrounding the assignment also significantly influence the rate you should or can ask. For example, if the client has a project that needs to be done urgently, you can often ask for a premium rate. After all, if you accept the assignment, you will have to prioritize doing this task and might have to turn down other clients. 

Another aspect you might want to consider is how long an assignment will take. Giving a (slight) discount to get long-term jobs can be more profitable than chasing short-term high-paying work. Long-term projects give you a steady income and save time by not having to look for and negotiate with clients. 

By using Limine as your go-to platform for finding work as a freelance legal consultant, you can easily find more high-paying clients at a great rate.  

It’s no secret that the legal industry has a severe issue regarding burnout and low job satisfaction. For legal firms and companies looking to expand their legal department, effectively recruiting and talent retention often comes down to avoiding your employees burnout. 

Avoiding burnouts does not just aid in boosting employee satisfaction, it also improves productivity and increases talent retention. 

Get help during crunch time

Some periods are just a lot busier than others. If you don’t adjust the size of your workforce to the increased workload, people will get burned out. The effects of this added stress won’t just be apparent during ‘crunch time’ but will often remain long after. 

A freelance legal consultant can help you out when the stress levels are high when your workforce is confronted with tight deadlines and a significantly increased crunch time. 

The main benefit of a freelancer is that they can plug in the gaps for a set amount of time with particular niche expertise. This allows you to get the help you need, exactly where and when you need it. 

Plan for (long-term) absentees

A long-term absentee can throw a wrench into your workflow. Having the resources available to cover for (long-term) absentees quickly and effectively helps you avoid burning out the rest of the employees.

There are multiple exciting options to fill in the gaps the absentee leaves. You can implement a flexible working space where people have many roles and can quickly get up to speed with new tasks. 

Another option is to always have some leeway in your deadlines and work allocation, which avoids burnout during times with more work. Another viable option is to foster excellent relations with competent legal interims who can help you out on short notice when there is an absentee. 

Allow flexibility on the employees terms

As an employer, you likely expect a certain degree of flexibility from your employees. The same goes for your employees. Your workforce expects you to be flexible when certain events (the loss of a loved one, burnout, a medical emergency) come up. 

A great way to go above and beyond in providing flexibility to your employees is by allowing them to work at home. Working from home does not just give them the ability to work in an environment where they feel comfortable; they avoid one of the main stress factors: commuting. 

Note: Make sure that you do not disturb the work-life balance of your employees when they are working at home—making your employees feel like they are on call 24/7 while at home can also induce a significant amount of stress. 

Have the right people on speed dial

Having a reliable legal interim on speed dial is one of the best ways to prevent your permanent workforce from burning out. So often, when specific issues are not clear-cut and significant resources have to be dedicated to solving problems, people experience an unhealthy amount of stress. 

A freelance legal consultant can help you when your current workforce needs extra help or breathing room. Getting competent external help quickly is one of the best ways to ensure your firm or business remains productive, and your employees don’t suffer from burnout.  

Limine allows you to find component freelance legal interims which suit your needs in record time. Then, when you make an account on Limine and post the assignment you need external help for, our algorithm gets to work and recommends the three most suitable freelancers for your needs. 

We use our own mind in the same way as our ancestors did. 

The power of habit in the legal practice

Over the last decade, however, science has gained many new insights into how we can use our mind optimally and how we can efficiently deal with the stress inherent in today’s legal practice. 

John Bargh is a professor at Yale University and studies the human mind and behavioral science. He describes in his book ‘Before You Know It – The Unconscious Reasons We Do What We Do’ what he discovered during his long career. As he explains in this most interesting talk to Yale students, his most important insight is that the most effective control over yourself is not obtained through willpower, but through the efficient use of the unconscious forces of the mind. Professor Bargh concludes that there is a much greater power available within us than willpower. He literally writes: 

“As it happens, people who are better able to self-control – who get better grades, are healthier and exercise more, are less overweight, don’t smoke, make more money, have happier personal relationships – are not the ones who exert willpower more than the rest of us do. It is just the opposite.” (p. 264) 

What your conscious mind can automate through the power and speed of your unconscious mind, soon becomes a good habit and therefore happens automatically. In this way, you can save an enormous amount of energy, which can be put to more useful use elsewhere.

Learning how to control your mind

The question is how long you can still function efficiently in this fast-paced world without such modern control of your mind. If we use our mind the way our ancestors did for centuries, we are missing out on a lot. We don’t use an old typewriter in the office, do we? No, in the office we are using high speed computers and even algorithms and artificial intelligence… 

How to use and control your mind most efficiently can easily be learned. This way you can help prevent stress and its consequences, and use your mind optimally for great projects. Understanding the optimal interaction between your conscious and subconscious mind and learning a number of exercises gives a boost to your personal skills. 

More energy and focus in the legal practice 

You get more energy, comfort, confidence and focus. Even if you think (rightly) that you are doing quite well today! The question is: Do you want to stay ahead and use the most modern techniques that are perfectly applicable in the legal profession?

LIMINE offers you the opportunity to become the best version of yourself thanks to its privileged collaboration with SERVO and Jeff Keustermans!

Running a business can be a stressful endeavour. Many firms consider regulations and laws some of the most daunting obstacles a company has to take into account every step of the way. Getting some extra-legal help is often necessary to keep your company (and yourself) out of trouble with the law. So why would you pick a freelance legal consultant over a law firm or hire an in-house counsel?

If you have already decided on hiring a freelance legal consultant, check out our blog post to find the very best talents out there. 

Attractive pricing for top talent

Hiring a law firm or a full-time in-house legal expert as an employee is often an expensive way to get the legal help you need. However, a freelance legal consultant can offer a quick solution at an attractive rate.  

Freelancers have a lot less overhead than a full-fledged law firm. Law firms have staff to pay, an office to rent, and many extra expenses that are all included in the rate they charge. For that reason, it is not unusual to pay a premium of almost 50% when hiring a firm instead of a freelancing individual. However, when it comes to the quality of legal talent you are getting, freelancers are often as good, if not better. If you choose a freelance legal consultant specializing in the niche you need, you often get top talent at a much better rate. 

A flexible way of working

The significant advantage that a freelancer offers over a full-time employee is your company’s flexibility. If you need to have some surface-level advice, you can make a quick call and know exactly what you need to do. Hiring a legal expert as an employee outright often results in them having little to do when the project ends or if you have overestimated the amount of work at hand. 

A freelance legal consultant can help you out whenever you want and for as long as possible. Then, when the assignment is done, you can quickly stop the cooperation and contact them again when their expertise is required. 

Plenty of freelancers to choose from

No matter what legal part of your business you need assistance with, there is bound to be a freelance legal consultant who has just the experience you need. By relying on a law firm or your in-house legal counsel, you often run into the problem that the people working on your case are competent, but no real niche experts in the subject. 

Choosing a different expert no matter what legal problem your firm is dealing with is only possible if you either go to a giant law firm or have a talent pool of freelancers to choose from. The latter option is more attractive due to the cost and closer relationships with those working on your projects. 

Limine makes finding the best legal talents for your needs quick and easy. When you create an account on our platform and post an assignment, we match you with the three relevant freelance legal consultants. This way, you can always find top talent that fits your needs!