A contract attorney is a lawyer who works on legal cases on a contract basis. A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law as an attorney, Counsel or Solicitor; a person A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law Such work is generally of a temporary nature, often with no guaranteed employment term.
A contract attorney is
An attorney temporarily hired by the law office for a specific job or period. When the job or period is finished, the relationship is over.
—Brent D. Roper
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Civil litigation
In the beginning, the work of contract attorneys often entailed such activities as document review in response to a document subpoena or a request for production of documents. A subpoena (səˈpiːnə is commonly defined as a written command to a person to Testify before a Court or be punished A request for production is a legal request for documents electronically stored information or other tangible items In such projects, contract attorneys were called upon to review tens of thousands, if not millions, of pages of documents and mark them as responsive to a particular request, or protected as attorney work product or under the attorney-client privilege. In American Civil procedure, the work-product doctrine protects materials prepared in anticipation of Litigation from discovery by opposing counsel Attorney-client privilege is a legal concept that protects communications between a client and his or her Attorney and keeps those communications confidential Large firms quickly learned that contract attorneys could perform this work much more cost effectively than high-priced associates.
The role of the contract attorney has evolved, and now many contract, or freelance, attorneys perform legal research, draft legal briefs, and provide a full range of other services to law firms of all sizes. Legal research, according to one source is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making A brief (Latin " brevis " short or factum (Latin for "act" or "deed" is a written legal document used in various legal These attorneys typically work for themselves, rather than for temporary agencies, and provide their services to other law firms on an as-needed basis. [2]
Some people who hold juris doctor degrees, but who are awaiting bar admission, work as temporary professionals in law firms doing the same type of work as contract attorneys. Juris Doctor (abbreviated JD or JD, from the Latin, Teacher of Law) is a first professional graduate degree and Professional This article is about requirements for admission to practice law not just terminology In addition, a law firm may, due to a conflict of interest, be required to hire a Cumis counsel in certain cases. A Cumis counsel is "an attorney employed by a Defendant in a lawsuit when there is an Insurance policy supposedly covering the claim but there is a Conflict
Contract attorneys typically work on a project by project basis and are not full-time law firm employees. However, an increasing trend in contract law is to develop long-lasting relationships with firms that regularly or semi-regularly send work to the contract attorney. Many small firms find that the use of contract attorneys provides them the flexibility to grow their business without hiring salaried employees.
According to the American Bar Association, law firms can add a surcharge to the fees of their contract attorneys so long as the final fee charged to the client is reasonable. The American Bar Association ( ABA) founded August 21 1878 is a voluntary Bar association of Lawyers and law students which is not specific [3] Particularly in a slowing economy, the use of contract attorneys gives firms a competitive edge in the marketplace, helping them to control costs while increasing profitability. [4]
Assigned counsel work in criminal defense
In counties without a public defender, or without a alternate defender, a contract attorney may be hired to do assigned counsel work. In the United States, a public defender is an Attorney whose duty is to provide legal representation to people who are charged with a crime or other offense A conflict of interest is a situation in which someone in a position of trust such as a Lawyer, Insurance adjuster, a Politician, executive or director Of counsel is often the Title of an Attorney who is employed by a Law firm or an organization but is not an associate or a partner A legal aid group may be hired to do such work as if a temporary work agency, such as the Legal Aid Society of New York City. Most liberal democracies consider that it is necessary to provide some level of legal aid to persons otherwise unable to afford legal representation Temporary work or temporary employment refers to a situation where the employee is expected to leave the employer within a certain period of time The Legal Aid Society in New York City is the United States ' oldest and largest provider of legal services to the indigent. The City of New York Other states or counties may have a panel of lawyers who act as contract attorneys. Some critics of this system have accused the method of leading to ineffective assistance of counsel in criminal cases. Ineffective assistance of counsel is an issue raised in Legal malpractice suits and in appeals in criminal cases where a criminal Defendant asserts that their criminal The term criminal law, sometimes called penal law, refers to any of various bodies of rules in different Jurisdictions whose common characteristic is the potential
Contract legal assistant
A law firm may, under certain circumstances, hire a freelance paralegal, commonly known as a Contract legal assistant, to perform many of the tasks that a Contract attorney might perform. A paralegal is a person with legal training and/or knowledge who works under the direct supervision of a Lawyer. A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer A paralegal is a person with legal training and/or knowledge who works under the direct supervision of a Lawyer. [5]
See also
References
- ^ Brent D. An attorney of record is a Lawyer or Barrister who has appeared in court or signed Pleadings. A paralegal is a person with legal training and/or knowledge who works under the direct supervision of a Lawyer. Of counsel is often the Title of an Attorney who is employed by a Law firm or an organization but is not an associate or a partner Roper, Practical Law Office Management, 3rd ed. , pp. 5 (2007 Thomson Learning).
- ^ Full Service Freelance Litigation Support Information.
- ^ Summary of American Bar Association Formal Opinion 00-420: Surcharge to Client for Use of a Contract Lawyer.
- ^ The Myth of Associate Profitability: Why Freelance Legal Services Preserve Profit Margins in an Uncertain Economic Climate.
- ^ Brent D. Roper, Practical Law Office Management, 3rd ed. , pp. 8-9, 147 (2007 Thomson Learning).
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