In small law firms there is an inherent pickle when it comes to growth. If you hire employees too soon, there may not be enough work to go around. If you fail to build capacity, you lose profitable business that could have been yours. What to do? An increasing number of law firms are solving this problem by outsourcing labor either temporarily or permanently. Outsourcing to contractors or specialty businesses instead of hiring employees can allow you to expand – that is, to “scale” – your practice. At the same time, this strategy allows you to mitigate the risk that comes with hiring employees or taking on additional tasks in house. Use of on-demand contractors means that they help is there when you need it, and costs you nothing when you don't. Join us for a conversation to explore whether outsourcing could help you scale your law practice, increase profitability, and restore some much-needed work/life balance

1. Using contract attorneys to scale
your practice
December 14, 2016
Andy Buckland
Emerald City Attorney Network, PLLC

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America’s web-based
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3. Greg McLawsen
Managing Attorney
Sound Immigration
@mclawsen
greg@soundimmigration.com
www.soundimmigration.com

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www.soundimmigration.com/events
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www.soundimmigration.com/lawyers
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#SoundTalk, Periscope @gmclawsen
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lawyerist.com  Ep. 97 with Lisa Solomon
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8. Andy Backlund
• Attorney
• Business Owner
• Entrepreneur
• Baseball Coach
www.EmeraldCityAttorneyNetwork.com
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9. What is outsourcing?
Definitions:
• From Merriam-Webster: To procure (as
some goods or services needed by a
business or organization) under contract
with an outside supplier.
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10. What is outsourcing?
Definitions:
• From BusinessDictionary.com:
[C]ontracting or subcontracting… to free
up cash, personnel, time, and facilities… to
concentrate on what they do best and thus
reduce average unit cost.
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11. What is outsourcing for a law firm?
Common forms of outsourcing for law firms:
• Accounting/Payroll
• IT services
• Legal Process Servers
• Messengers
• Cleaning Services
• Library services
• Research search engines
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12. Newer Forms of outsourcing:
• Contract Attorneys
• Contract Paralegals
• Contract LLLT’s
• Contract Legal Assistants
• Jury consulting
• Litigation & trial consulting
• Answering services
• Intake services
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13. Outsourcing is becoming more popular
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15. From Law Practice Magazine,
K. William Gibson
• A Time magazine headline screams “Call My Lawyer ... In India.” Legal
Affairs asks “Are Your Lawyers in New York or New Delhi?” A recent New
York conference offers “Effective Strategies for Managing Offshore
Outsourced Relationships.”
• …[I]t appears that the “trend” has morphed into a full-blown
phenomenon.
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16. From Law Practice Magazine,
K. William Gibson
• Why is all this work going overseas? Clients are tightening their belts and
want their law firms, regardless of their size, to look for cost-saving
strategies as well. Whether you want to get in the outsourcing game or
not, understanding how the game is played will help you navigate in the
times ahead.
• …revenue from legal services outsourcing in India alone is slated to grow
by almost a half-billion dollars by the decade’s close.
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17. Global Market Insights – March 2016 – Report ID: GMI179
Legal process outsourcing (LPO) market size was valued at USD 1.89 billion in 2014 and is
anticipated to arrive at USD 13.44 billion till 2022, growing at 27.8% over the forecast period..
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18. Clients are demanding cost saving measures
• Many clients are demanding cost saving measures.
• In house counsel, insurance companies and individuals.
• Fixed fees, reduced rates, virtual law firms and
outsourcing.
• Clients will appreciate giving consent to outsourcing
when told about savings.
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19. Why Outsource?
Three most simple answers?
Money
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20. Your Additional Revenue Projections
Use contract attorneys for 20 hours a week.
• Cost: $100 per hour
• Billed to client: $200 per hour
Profit of $104,000 per year.
Consider additional costs of associates:
– Salary
– Benefits
– Overhead
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21. Why Outsource?
Ebbs and Flows of workload
Why pay an associate you can’t keep
busy when you can hire a contract
attorney and pay as needed?
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22. Why Outsource?
Keep anxious clients happy
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23. Why Outsource?
Expand
Your
Business
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24. Why Outsource?
Few attorneys are so experienced in:
① every area of practice,
② every type of research and
③ every type of writing, to be as effective and efficient as
an attorney who does that type of work on a more
frequent basis.
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25. Why Outsource?
Hiring someone who does one or a few tasks extremely often
and extremely well will result in:
① better,
② faster and
③ less expensive work product than someone in house who
is only occasionally faced with those same tasks.
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26. Sa sfied Clients
Other
Areas of
Prac ce
Excess
Business
New
Business
Profit12/14/2016 26

27. Why Outsource?
Restore Your Work/Life Balance
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28. Challenges to Outsourcing
• Trust
• Getting the right information to the
independent contactor.
• Going beyond the scope of the project.
• Deadlines
• Ethical considerations?
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29. Ethical Considerations
ABA Formal Opinion 08-451 offers guidelines for outsourcing
including:
• Law Firms may add a surcharge provided that the total charge
is reasonable.
• The firm is not obligated to inform the client about rates.
• Similar to a firm billing an associate out at a profit.
• Bill as a fee, not as a disbursement.
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30. www.EmeraldCityAttorneyNetwork.com
Questions or
Comments?
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