Los Angeles Legal Staffing and Recruiting

Why Hire a Legal Staffing and Recruiting Company for Temporary Lawyers?

Whether you're a mom-and-pop small business, a high-tech startup, or international corporation, Los Angeles, California is a good place to be. According to Biz2Credit's annual "Best Small Business Cities in America" 2017 rankings, Los Angeles came in fifth in the nation. According to LA Tech Watch, startup funding in L.A. was up 20 percent in 2016 despite a 25 percent drop in funding nationwide. Overall, Los Angeles boasts the third-largest metropolitan economy on the planet.

You can bet that any place where businesses are appearing and thriving to such an extent has a diverse array of legal needs, likely growing at a faster pace than many businesses can handle. This is where a legal staffing and recruiting company for temporary lawyers can help a new, small, or growing business or law firm stay on track.

Instead of taking on expenses, liability, and obligations by hiring permanent in-house staff, your company or law firm can hire a temp attorney to address only the tasks at hand. You get the work you need done by an experienced professional in the field without any long-term costs or commitment.

What Can a Temporary Lawyer Do for an In-House Legal Department or Law Firm?

Even mid-size and large companies and law firms experience surges in workflow. For example, maybe your Los Angeles business has about 300 employees and you have one attorney on staff full-time. But you're about to partner with several suppliers which means your company is about to get flooded with contracts to review. Your in-house attorney already has a full plate and maybe doesn't have that much experience in transactional law. Going to a legal staffing and recruiting company for temporary lawyers allows you to get the temporary, specialized help you need without having to take on more employees.

That's just one example of the myriad tasks a temp attorney can do for your law firm or business. Temporary lawyers come from diverse legal backgrounds and can help with any type of legal matter, including:

• Due diligence for mergers and acquisitions
• Contract drafting and review
• Securing IP rights and licensing
• Labor and employment compliance
• IP litigation
• General lawsuit support for plaintiffs and defendants
• Real estate transactions
• Corporate transactions
• Organizing or restructuring a corporation
• Contract administration
• Selecting and establishing a business entity (e.g., limited liability company or general partnership)

How to Interview and Hire a Temporary Lawyer?

Another perk of using a legal staffing and recruiting company is that you spare your firm or business the hassle of advertising the position, corresponding with applicants, and combing through resumes. Your temp firm culls the best candidates from the applicant pool, finding you the best attorneys with the most relevant backgrounds and experience for your particular legal task. The only thing left for you to do is to interview the candidates you feel have the most potential.

When you sit down to interview your prospective temp attorney, you may want to ask the following questions:

• Will you be handling outside work while you work for our firm/company?
• Tell us about your most recent experience handling this type of work (i.e., what company was it for, what field was it in, what was your role, what was the outcome, etc.).
• How long do you expect to commit to this temporary role?
• Have you ever done legal work for a client or company in our industry? Make sure the attorney hasn't worked with a direct competitor, but relevant experience is good.
• What kind of hours are you willing to put in per week?
• What is your hourly rate?
• Are you a member in good standing with the California Bar Association?