Why Limit Yourself? Hiring Out-of-State Lawyers for Behind-the-Scenes Drafting

I don’t know if you know this, but sometimes lawyers have strong personalities.

That’s my little lawyer joke.

I get it. We’re lawyers. We are cautious, justifiably so. That is our one job – to protect our clients.

At the same time, we can’t do it alone. It is simply impossible to do legal work and also handle administrative functions (or develop business, or go on vacation, or generally engage in human activities) simultaneously.

Freelance attorneys are absolutely a solution to this issue, but so often lawyers arbitrarily limit their potential pool of helpful options. I know lawyers, and I know we have preferences. But I also have the benefit of 17 years in this business and have seen countless firms utilize out-of-state attorneys for behind the scenes drafting extremely successfully. Sometimes your exact dream candidate is unavailable, but maybe there’s someone beyond your imagination who is even better, and is sitting right there, happy to help you.

You might be worried about avoiding aiding and abetting the unauthorized practice of law. Don’t be. As long as the freelance lawyer stays behind-the-scenes and is simply drafting, that is well within the rules. Think about it this way – national counsel with institutional knowledge is licensed solely in California. She drafts all of the discovery motions in every jurisdiction despite not having a license. Local counsel reviews, conforms to local rules, signs, and files with the court. Has the local firm violated any ethical rules? Absolutely not. Most of the time, those documents are ready to file despite lacking a law license in Florida/Kansas/Alabama/Oregon/New York.

Some firms worry about how to bill their clients for the freelance attorney’s time. The firm can call it what it is. California attorney. New York attorney. Outside Legal Consultant. Freelance contractor. All of these designations are permissible. Simply avoid calling them what they’re not.

Some hiring attorneys mistakenly believe that in-depth, state-specific, procedural knowledge is required in order to draft documents. This is rarely the case. All attorneys must consult local rules when drafting. Limiting to only local attorneys rarely saves time, and it dramatically reduces options. Maybe they know the local rules, and the local local rules. Maybe they don’t. Either way, those rules change so frequently, they’ll have to consult them regardless.

Bottom Line

You’re busy. You need help. Why limit your options when the best option might not be licensed in your state? Out-of-state lawyers are very often fully capable of meeting your needs. Give it a try.