A legal temp agency specializes in finding your company the legal help you need on a part-time or temporary basis. They work with professionals who are experienced in every aspect of the law. Most legal temporary agencies can provide your company with people who specialize in every type of practice, but you will need to know exactly what your company needs to ensure you hire the right person. To do this, it is important for you to be aware of basic temp agencies for the legal profession key terms.

Business executives who are in need of the services of a legal temporary agency can get the help they are seeking from a variety of sources. Before calling to make an inquiry, there are a few terms you should become familiar with. Some of the concepts to investigate include:

1. What paralegal temp jobs involve;

2. The different types of attorneys that are available;

3. Which type of legal temp work staffer handles document review compliance.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn about the litigation work a legal temp manages

Litigation is the process of handling a lawsuit from start to finish. Two key terms that are involved in this process are document review and contract attorneys. The attorney is the person you hire for a particular lawsuit your company is dealing with. During this time, the attorney will have to review a large number of legal documents and sort them by relevancy. This is one of the most important tasks to be done for any case.

I recommend: Read a definition of "contract attorneys" from AdamsGrayson or "document review" from Compliance.

Understand the legal temp jobs of paralegals and legal assistants

Business owners who contact temp agencies for the legal profession may need basic legal services. They can get the help they need from either a paralegal or legal assistant, but these workers can not legally give out advice. Hire them when you need personnel to work for a corporate attorney on specific projects that are too large to be handled in house. Paralegals and legal assistants are well trained and have the experience to help your company get the job done.

I recommend: Learn more about paralegals and legal assistants from The National Association of Legal Assistants and the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Check out temporary paralegal jobs for litigation attorneys and onsite contract attorneys

Two of the most important legal temping positions are litigation attorneys and onsite contract attorneys. Contract attorneys work on a temporary basis in your office. They help with a variety of legal matters and cost far less than hiring a full-time person. Litigation attorneys help prepare for any impending court cases. They are the people that help you prepare for a court case. You can find people who specialize in the type of trial you are facing and rely on their expertise.

I recommend: Read more about onsite contract attorneys from Lawwave. Get help hiring a litigation attorney from iLawyer

Work with a paralegal temp agency

Once you understand important terminology that legal temp agencies use, you are better prepared to find and hire the professional your company requires. Speak to representatives from various agencies to find one that will work well with you. Investigate their history, fees and how much success they have achieved during their time in business.

I recommend: Hire professionals from Black Letter Discovery or Update Legal.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Hire legal temps to test them out when you are considering filling a full-time position.
• •  Check out any paralegal temp agencies with the Better Business Bureau before working with them.
• •  Don't allow temp agencies for the legal profession key terms to overwhelm you. While it is important to understand the basics, the people working at the agency are knowledgeable and will help you find the right person for the job.

All businesses have situations arise when it is necessary to engage temp agencies. Legal temp agencies are the best bet when a law firm has an unexpected emergency or a temporary work overload. Due to the nature of the profession, legal temp jobs demand a high level of professionalism and special expertise that a legal temp agency can better address.

Whether a lawyer needs a paralegal temp agency to find him help researching a big case or a law firm needs a legal temp to fill in as a secretary due to a vacation, you want a legal temp agency that can provide you with high-caliber professionals. Considerations when looking at legal temporary agencies are:

1. Legal temporary agencies that can fill your specific job requirements
2. A legal temp who has a high ethical standard and meshes with your firm
3. Salary

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Invest time in researching legal temp agencies

The best way to locate professional legal temps is to find a good legal temp agency.

I recommend: Start with JuriStaff. Attorneys own this legal staffing firm, and they fill legal temp jobs throughout the US for lawyers and support staff. Leading national temp agency Robert Half also fills legal temp jobs. For a directory of temp agencies for the legal profession, see LawGuru. Use a checklist from Business Owner's Toolkit to evaluate paralegal temp agencies.

Interview legal temps yourself

After the agency has narrowed down the candidates, request to interview them yourself. You are the best judge of how a person will fit into your firm.

I recommend: Review Work.com’s Guide to Pre-Employment Testing or Robert Half Legal’s tips.

Learn what the high and low salaries are for legal temps

Of course, this will depend to a large degree on what part of the country you are in and what the duties are. And a paralegal will cost more than other legal temps due to their level of their education.

I recommend: Get the free legal salary guide from Robert Half Legal. You can also check online at Salary.com.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Temp agencies for the legal profession are a booming business because of the advantages for both employer and employee. The employer often pays less because they don't have to pay out benefits or taxes. The employee still gets those benefits through the legal temporary agencies and can sometimes find permanent work through temporary assignments. This means you can take advantage of the cost competitiveness in this market by doing some comparisons.
• •  Attorneys must adhere to a code of ethics not found in many other professions. Specifically, confidentiality is not an option with your personnel. Find an agency that performs background checks on its temps.