San Francisco Legal Staffing and Recruiting

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

According to Fortune magazine, San Francisco is the fourth-hottest city in the nation for startup activity, with a 0.46 percent rate of new entrepreneurs. The city is also home to the world-famous Silicon Valley, regarded as the tech hub of the U.S. That translates into a lot of companies with tight budgets, critical legal work to be done, and limited to no in-house counsel. In these situations, companies also rarely have the time and resources necessary to devote to a thorough search and vetting of temporary legal help. This is where hiring a legal staffing and recruiting company for temporary attorneys can help you find the right candidate for your specific legal need. By doing so, you outsource the entire selection process, sparing your company the time and cost of sorting through lawyer after lawyer with no guarantee that you'll find the best one for the job.

A legal staffing company will have a talent pool of the best attorneys at the ready in whatever field you require. They'll refer candidates to you who have already been vetted, who already have the experience you're looking for, and who have already proven themselves in their area.

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

A San Francisco company might bring in a temp attorney for any number of reasons. A tech startup in Silicon Valley, for example, may want to secure its rights to its intellectual property (IP) without squandering precious capital on hiring in-house counsel. Turning to a legal staffing and recruiting company to find the most qualified IP temp attorney in that particular field makes the most sense in that case.

Of course, that's not all a temp lawyer can do for your company or existing in-house counsel. Here are just a few things a temporary attorney can do:

• Quickly handle increases in workload
• Supplement subject matter knowledge, such as real estate law, where in-house counsel is lacking
• Offering litigation support if you're sued or facing a lawsuit
• Lower your overhead by allowing you to reduce full-time staff
• Review and draft contracts
• Assist with corporate governance and restructuring
• Oversee labor and employment compliance and regulation
• Help with IP licensing
• Ensure M&A due diligence
• Initiate or defend against patent and trademark prosecution
• Minimize your employment liability and payroll costs
• Enable you to take on large-scale projects without taking on additional staff

Even if your business has an in-house legal team, it's sometimes necessary to hire a temporary lawyer to get the big jobs done quickly and effectively. Relying on a legal staffing and recruiting company takes the guesswork out of having to find the best talent, allowing you to focus on the most important thing — running your business.

How to Interview and Hire a Temporary Lawyer?

Your legal staffing and recruiting company will do all the legwork in finding you the best candidates for your particular assignment. You will be in charge of the actual interview, however, to ensure that the temp attorney is a good fit for your culture and your firm or company's needs. You might start by asking the attorney why he or she is interested in the temporary opportunity in the first place. Did they just relocate? Are they working another job part-time? You might also ask if they've ever worked as a temp lawyer before.

Also, make sure you ask about the candidate's experience not just in the specific area of law you need help in, but also in your field. For example, if you're looking for a temp attorney to secure a copyright on your mobile app, you'll want to ask not just about candidates' IP experience but their experience in software application copyrights specifically. You might also want to ask about potential conflicts of interest. For example, ask if the temp attorney has ever done any contract work for one of your direct competitors. Basic questions about expected hourly rates, what law school they attended, and whether they're in good standing with the California State Bar are always a good idea, as well.