The Estrin Report

Nonlawyer Contract Experts: New Wave for Paralegals?

A boutique business law firm for life sciences companies is luring clients with a lower-rate structure that relies on nonlawyer contract experts for template contract work.

Waltham, Mass.-based Faber Daeufer & Rosenberg has attracted more than 200 clients since its October 2003 launch.

According to an article from law.com, the firm began with two lawyers from Cambridge, Mass.-based drug maker Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc., and was joined shortly by another Millennium lawyer and contract specialist and one law firm attorney. It currently has 12 lawyers, five contract specialists and two paralegals.

The contract specialists, who each has more than a decade of industry experience, handle "day-to-day contracts," like clinical trial agreements and material transfer agreements.

Legal consultant Marci Krufka, a principal with Altman Weil Inc., said she hasn't heard of firms using contract specialists, but firms are increasingly hiring nonlawyer professionals to complement their services. "Anytime firms can implement strategies that are innovative and can save their clients money, I know general counsel really appreciate it," Krufka said.

Contract Administrators are also paralegals who have learned a highly specialized niche area.  It is not unusual to find Contract Specialists in corporate law departments who were previously paralegals.  The Faber firm clients learned the firm's contract specialists bill at $220 to $280 per hour compared with $290 to $510 for the firm's attorneys.  Saving fees is always good news to the client.

It's good to hear that law firms attitudes towards utilizing nonlawyer professionals for routine work is expanding to new areas. 

Secondments: Everything Old is New Again

A brand new term, secondments, the transfer of employees from one organization to another on a temporary basis has sprung up in the corporate world.  The reality is, this lending of employees from law firms to in-house legal departments is not anything that's brand new.  It's been going on for years.

However, recently, secondments are gaining popularity with U.S. firms, as described in this National Law Journal article, Firms Lend Associates to Clients.  Historically used by London firms and their U.K. clients, U.S. firms are fast realizing that secondments offer a way to cement relationships between law firms and their clients, and to give associates a better understanding of the clients' needs.

Paralegals have worked as secondments for years now.  It is not unusual to have a law firm paralegal go to work either on a full-time, part-time or project basis at the client's location, particularly when working on discovery, document productions, corporate minute books or other document intensive projects. 

According to the National Law Journal, many of the firms that have instituted secondments have a global practice.  By sending attorneys to the offices of overseas clients, firms can reinforce an otherwise long-distance relationship.  And for associates, spending time in another country working essentially as an in-house counsel, offers a break from traditional law firm practice.  Working in-house also teaches associates about how to be more responsive to clients' needs.  Sherry Scott, an associate quoted in the article, learned from her secondment experience about the importance of giving clients enough lead time to respond to discovery requests because the information gathering process takes longer than she had imagined.

With all the noise about recent layoffs in response to the real estate crisis, this seems to be a good plan to hold law firm employees in place until the economy comes back up.  As law.com noted, the downside is that people may prefer the client to the firm.  In that case, surely a tighter bond with the firm is established.

"Elevator Rides at Law Firms Call for Delicacy, Tact"

Good advice from The Snark, of Fulton County Daily Report fame...reprinted in Large Law Firm [note: links added to excerpt]:

"The random assortment of people joined together in a small box moving at rapid speed puts you in the close personal space of your co-workers in ways that would otherwise be unacceptable. The unique nature of elevator interaction requires the observation of certain 'good elevator practices.' After all, the elevator ride up to the office may be the only time you ever brush elbows with the firm's Legendary Litigator, Merger Master or Terrifying Tax Partner.

"With that in mind, I offer a few tips for surviving this delicate social experiment without leaving the impression that you are a Completely Clueless Cog.

"Some common elevator faux pas that require immediate discussion follow."

Not only funny, this is a must-read article for everyone who works in a law firm, large OR small. Well, if your office building has no elevators, never mind....

"Job satisfaction is high in the paralegal field"

Another gem of an article from LawCrossing which reports very good news for paralegals:

"Many paralegals entering the workforce these days have high expectations. Steady salary increases, expanded workplace challenges, and broad benefits packages all contribute to robust paralegal employment opportunities and job satisfaction.

"The paralegal profession is hailed as being one of the fastest-growing industries of the 2000s, and according to an NFPA compensation and benefits survey, paralegals seem to enjoy their work. Nearly half of those surveyed rated their job satisfaction as high or very high. Only a small number (10%) of paralegals rated their job satisfaction as being low, and an even smaller number (3%) deemed it very low. There are fewer experienced paralegals switching jobs, supporting the notion that most seem to be happy with their current employment situations."

Be sure to check out the hepful links at the end of this article...

"Law firms looking for help"

Good news for job-hunting paralegals in this Philadelphia news article which cites a Robert Half Legal survey:

"Despite the old joke asking what 1 million lawyers at the bottom of the ocean represent (answer: a good start), a recent national survey found that law firms and corporate legal departments actually need more attorneys.

"California-based staffing service Robert Half Legal recently found 94 percent of the 300 U.S. and Canadian lawyers they surveyed said the size of their companies will stay the same or increase in the next 12 months. Almost half plan to hire additional lawyers, paralegals or other professionals.

"The biggest needs are in the fields of corporate governance, intellectual property and litigation, said Maura Mann, manager of training and development for Robert Half Legal's northeast region."

Former paralegal now director of law firm recruiting

Do you have good staff recruiting skills? Ever thought about a job in legal recruiting? This NJ Courier News article might provide inspiration:

"Norris McLaughlin & Marcus P.A. has announced that Victoria A. Martignetti has joined the firm as director of recruiting.

"A resident of Warren, Martignetti has more than 10 years experience working in large New Jersey law firms, most recently as recruitment coordinator at Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP. She has extensive experience directing summer associate programs, conducting interviews and managing lateral hiring processes. Before serving as recruitment coordinator, she was a litigation paralegal for a New Jersey law firm."

I like this upward career path!

Cary Grant’s daughter former paralegal, now actor

Ah, getting career advice from your parents can be tricky, as described in this Ottawa Citizen article:

"As a child growing up in Hollywood, Jennifer Grant received plenty of career advice from her movie-star parents.

"Ms. Grant, daughter of Cary Grant and Dyan Cannon, graduated from Stanford University with a degree in history and political science and worked as a paralegal and a chef before settling on acting as a profession. She said her father wanted her to be a composer, while her mother preferred that she become a lawyer."

What kinds of careers did your parents suggest?

"Some Job Hunters Are What They Post"

But you already know this, right? If not, I recommend reading this article from LawJobs.com very closely (particularly if you're looking for a new job):

"Plug a prospective employee's name into Google or any other Internet search engine, and you might be surprised at what you find. Web pages may tell hiring attorneys that the person they just interviewed wrote for an undergraduate newspaper or belonged to a specific sorority, but the Web may also reveal the recent interviewee's drink of choice and dating status.

"The advent of social networking Web sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Friendster have added a wealth of previously personal information to the Internet, some of which job seekers may prefer to keep private and out of an employer's hands.

[snip]

"No more is an interviewer's information about a job seeker limited to a résumé, cover letter and professional references. Now, it seems that Google [& other search engines] can produce more information about a person than his or her FBI file. And therein lies the rub."

BTW, a perfect example of how easy it is to find information on the web is the answer to this detail: "Author Michael D. Mann is a litigation associate in the New York office of a major law firm that asked not to be disclosed."

"Nearly Half of Law Offices Plan Staff Additions in Next 12 Months"

Great news! Particularly for "Litigation, Corporate Governance Experiencing Most Growth":

"Law firms and corporate legal departments will be adding to their teams in the year ahead, a new survey [by Robert Half Legal] shows. Forty-seven percent of attorneys polled said they plan to hire personnel in the next 12 months; just 2 percent of respondents anticipate staff reductions. Litigation, corporate governance and intellectual property were identified as the areas of law expected to experience the most growth.

[snip]

"Lawyers were asked, "Do you expect the number of lawyers employed with your law firm/corporate legal department to increase, stay the same or decrease in the next 12 months?" Their responses:
    Increase                             47%
    Stay the same                     47%
    Decrease                              2%
    Don't know                            4%
                                            100%"

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day

So, what do you do for this big day? Take your kids to work? Does your firm or company participate? 

"Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day has grown from a modest scope in its pilot year to include businesses large and small, unions, hospitals, manufacturing plants, arts groups, social agencies, schools and government offices. The latter list has included NASA, the CIA, the courts and legislative bodies.

"This year, the U.S. Senate expects 300 participants. That body now has 16 female senators. Fifteen years ago, it had two.

"Some workplaces simply invite employees to have their children, or someone else's, shadow them for the day. Others hold organized activities.

[snip]

"The law firm Cohen & Grigsby, which has held events on and off over the years, will introduce about 50 children to a range of careers, including paralegal, accountant and technology expert. They'll also visit the courtroom of Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Christine Ward."