What is Freelance Legal Writing?
Freelance legal writing involves writing about the law for people or organizations on a contract or freelance basis. It is an alternative practice model to a full-time in-house job, a contract attorney position or a traditional law firm position. Freelance legal writing can take the form of articles for online and offline publications, blogs, newsletters, market analysis, books, web content and analysis of complex legal issues. Freelance legal writers also run podcasts and webinars on legal content and emerging technologies.
Legal information companies, book publishers, web content developers and other writers for hire seek out freelance legal writers to write on a variety of topics. These companies look for freelance legal writers to go beyond basic legal research and develop more sophisticated legal content on newsworthy issues , market trends and emerging technologies.
Smaller companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs also look for freelance legal writers to help them read the fine print on the ever-changing legal landscape. Many of these companies and start-ups do not have a legal staff/capacity to hire in-house counsel or staff. Therefore, they use freelancers as the need arises.
Freelance legal writers also assist attorneys who are overworked and need an extra hand to produce content on estate planning, healthcare, debt collection, consumer law and others. Freelancers aid these companies and attorneys through collaboration and research that goes beyond typical paralegal work.
How to Build a Career in Freelance Legal Writing
If you’re a law student or practicing attorney considering the ever expanding possibility of freelance legal writing, here’s what you’ll need to know to get started. First off, there are no specific qualifications, requirements or certifications necessary to become a legal writer. The most important asset is a quality law school education. Literary and writing skills are also helpful but they can be learned as you go.
If you’re looking to jump-start your freelance writing career, find an editor who can mentor and motivate you. While your English degree and J.D. may qualify you to write about business, law and politics, it is solid editing that takes uninspired writing and crafts it into a powerful message.
There are many ways to prove your writing ability. To give freelance editors a glimpse of your competencies, start a blog. Maintain a record of posts so potential clients can review samples of your work. It’s also important to research the online publications you intend to pitch with writing samples. Editors rarely accept unsolicited pieces but keep in mind that your research skills should be consistent with both your types of writing and your audience. As such, keep a record of these as well.
To gain experience and enhance your portfolio, consider content mills and other low-paying marketplaces. Contract jobs will give you a few clips for your portfolio but more importantly, they will help you develop a routine and discipline in your writing. Freelance jobs will also provide access to the tools, working styles and systems that many media outlets currently use. This is particularly helpful if you are considering self-publishing.
Attracting high-paying clientele is a numbers game. According to the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), an industry-wide guideline is to bid on three jobs for every legitimate job posting. Some freelance writers even submit up to ten pitches daily.
Key Skills of a Legal Writer
The world of freelance legal writing presents unique opportunities and challenges that require specific skill sets to navigate. While the fundamentals of any writing position remain constant, the nature of legal writing and the expectations of its consumers demand additional areas of focus for individuals considering this career pathway. Legal research is the backbone of a good legal writer. Regardless of the subject matter, an attorney will need to have legal documents prepared to address a specific issue and those documents must be correct. A legal writer tasked with drafting a pleading or other document is required to have a deep understanding of not only the law but also the procedural requirements of that particular matter. It is essential for freelance legal writers to know how to conduct legal research and what to look for while conducting their research. Written legal sources – such as cases, statutes, and regulations – are often difficult to locate and understand without experience. Writing proficiency is, of course, the most obvious skill necessary for a successful career as a freelance writer. Writers must be able to create material quickly and to a high standard, regardless of the type of material necessary. Deep familiarity with the legal system helps prepare writers to produce high-quality documents in a short time frame. It helps to have a passion for the subject matter at hand, but a background in a relevant field also carries a great deal of weight. Legal writers who hold or recently earned a law degree are often better prepared than those without a background in law or legal writing because they are familiar with case law, statutes, and other important sources. Attention to detail is what separates great writers from good writers. A legal writer is not just concerned with providing general information – they must know the exact sources that will assist the attorney on the case and provide precise and accurate representations of the information contained in them. Their work must also improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the legal process. A successful legal writer must understand how to write briefs, motions, discovery materials, correspondence, memos, and pleadings, and be able to do so in a logical, fluid, and organized manner. These skills and the abilities to complete these tasks quickly and devotedly are the keys to a successful career as a freelance legal writer.
How Freelance Legal Writers Get New Clients
When you freelance, finding clients is one of the trickiest things you’ll do. You need to carve out a niche for yourself and let potential clients know about it. If your interest and experience is in legal writing, you’re in luck as more businesses than ever before are looking for high-quality legal writers to create readable, usable legal content that increases their visibility online. Businesses hire legal writers to develop articles, blog posts, press releases, newsletters and many other types of content to drive traffic to their website and keep existing customers engaged. The first step is to find out where your potential clients are located on the internet. Most likely, they are on large job boards, and sites such as twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Sign up for all of these platforms, including a few large job boards, and begin developing relationships with companies that interest you. Increasing your exposure this way will make the eventual approach to inquire about contract work easier. Do not be spammy or try to sell them on your services immediately — simply engage with them and build rapport. This can be through liking their posts, commenting, sharing their pages, connecting with them on LinkedIn and directly messaging them just to say "hello" and find out more about their company. Once you’ve built a relationship, it will be easy to suggest they use your legal writing services to fill a need they have. Once you are making connections that could turn into paying clients, get the word out to all your personal connections that you are providing freelance legal writing services. Share your resume and any other relevant qualifications you have with them, and express what a big difference your legal writing services could make to their business. If you don’t yet have a website, you can go a long way towards attracting clients by having an active social media presence on the platforms listed above, and contributing to online forums related to your field of expertise. List yourself in freelance job directories such as LawLancers, Martial Law, Hire a Writer, ProBlogger, Mediabistro, and Behance. Create a professional profile on LinkedIn, and upload samples of your work to create an online portfolio. If applicable to your area of legal writing, include a description of your service in a personal classified ad, such as those in Craigslist or the yellow pages.
How Much to Charge as a Freelance Legal Writer (& How to Get Paid)
Determining your freelance legal writing rates will often be one of the more difficult aspects of your legal writing business. The possibility that you may be perceived as "price gouging" someone with a legal to be done is a concern for many in the industry, and did you know that there are also ethical implications for setting your rates? You may want to check with your state bar rules on what you can charge and when. Again, I will emphasize checking with your state bar rules regularly as this area is rapidly changing in response to new technologies coming into the marketplace. Make sure that you have the most up-to-date information available.
Unlike lawyers, there is no generally accepted billing rate for legal writers. You should feel free to set your rate as you see fit for your particular type of legal writing and your experience. Things to keep in mind: You may find your rates change over time as your experience level and your skills increase. You might also find your rates change over time because the going rate for legal writers in your area changes or the economy changes. Whether you raise your fees on a set schedule (quarterly, annually, etc.) or only after getting a specific sign off from your client is a matter of personal preference. A best practice is to place a statement in your retainer contract or your client engagement letter outlining your policy on raising your rates and how you will notify your client of those increases. Generally, the flexibility built into the legal profession for lawyers does not translate into the same kind of flexibility with regards to freelance legal writers, so sometimes you may find you do not have the option of negotiating with your clients over your fees. This is especially true if you are working for a government office. Likewise, even private firms may have strict policies dictating how much they will pay for legal writing services. If the client you are working for cannot budge over your fees, then you will have to decide whether it is worth it for you to do the work.
Getting paid by your clients is often the most challenging part of building a freelance legal writing business. Some attorneys are used to paying their freelance writers on a net-30 basis or longer. Do you want to take your chances and extend credit where credit may not be warranted? Your options are to extend credit to the client , at a minimum charging them interest on the outstanding balance, proceed and litigating them when they default on the payment terms, or contacting a collection agency to handle the matter on your behalf. As I said before, you contact a collection agency. Guess who is going to be paying that agency’s expense? You are. And guess who is the odd man out when a collection agency is involved? You are. Proceed at your peril on this point,. It is really best to be firm with clients before you do any legal writing for them regarding payment terms.
Most freelance legal writers also need to worry about three other financial considerations for their writing businesses, which are invoicing the client for your work, paying taxes on your freelance income, and managing your expenses. I will briefly touch on all of these issues.
Invoicing can be problematic for a freelance writer, mainly because of the variety of methods and formats which requires that each freelance legal writer come up with their own method of invoicing clients. Luckily, there are several good sources which will help a freelance legal writer figure out how to do the one thing they hate doing the most, invoicing.
Paying taxes on your freelance income is pretty simple, but you are going to need to be very careful to keep complete and accurate records of your income and expenses. I suggest you pick up TurboTax one year and use that to prepare your taxes. There are other tax preparation services available online, but I am very happy with the service and price of TurboTax.
Tracking your business expenses will be critical to keeping the cost of overhead down so you can continue to make enough money to live. Every freelance legal writer can find a reason to take a client to lunch or to buy a new laptop for work and expense it. It is a smart way to keep your income high, but understand that you are legally required to keep records of every expense you track back to your business.
Finally, we should talk about your labor as a freelance legal writer. Lawyer’s do not have to worry about whether or not their time is billable, but freelance legal writers do because we really work by the hour. Most freelance legal writers have two or three large clients that keep them busy most of their time, but often freelancers have down time in between projects as well. Dealing with down time will be one of your larger challenges as a freelance legal writer.
Pros & Cons of Freelance Legal Writing
While there are certainly many benefits to working independently, as a freelance legal writer you also need to be prepared for the downside – which includes work-life balance issues, difficult clients, and creative burnout.
Regaining Work-Life Balance
If you struggle with work-life balance as it is (most lawyers do), transitioning to freelance writing could make it harder; your clients will always want you to drop everything to handle their project, and unfortunately, they’re not the only ones competing for your attention. As a freelance legal writing for hire, you’ll have other deadlines to juggle on top of the ones set by your clients. Work assignments can pile up when you begin to take on too many projects, and before you know it, you’re working each night and all weekend long just to meet your deadlines – which really defeats the freedom and flexibility that attracted you to this work in the first place. What you need to remember, however, is that you are in charge, and you don’t have to say yes to every single project. Take on as much work as you can reasonably afford to accept, but don’t let greed push you into taking on more than your fair share. Because it’s highly unlikely that you’ll work for just one client at a time, you will need to learn how to manage your time so that you can finish each project on time and still have time to devote to your personal life.
Difficult Clients
No matter how much benefit freelance legal writing may provide, the simple truth is that some clients are going to be simply awful to deal with. Not every client is cut out for this way of getting your work done, and you sometimes need to choose between eating a loss you might incur by bowing out gracefully and potentially damaging your professional reputation by accepting a bad client and struggling to satisfy them. You might find that you get so busy with poorly-behaved clients that you don’t have time to take on the projects of the clients you actually like. Well, you’re a professional now – you can’t just tell the bad clients to go jump in a lake. But you can spend some time each week to write to the bad clients, personally apologizing for having to prioritize other clients’ projects and setting a timeline for their projects. This accomplishes two goals: it shows the bad clients that you have other clients, and that you’re not going to be bullied into deprioritizing your other work to accommodate them; and it gives you the luxury of time to set your own pace in a new client’s project in order to get it up to your typically high standards.
Creative Burnout
The most rewarding part of freelance legal writing is that it’s a creative endeavor, but it does come with the downside of potential burnout. Writing on your own time allows you the freedom to sketch out the outline of each piece you’re working on in order to give yourself a break, but sometimes you may feel a little burned out on writing. When that happens, you need to take the time to focus on other interests outside of your legal work in order to keep your career from becoming stagnant and dull. You need to remember to give yourself credit for the hard work you’ve put in, and the progress you make each day – there’s always room for improvement in any career, but don’t let yourself focus solely on your shortcomings.
Emerging Legal Writing Trends
The future of legal writing looks bright, with the skills of talented freelance writers continuing to be in high demand. With the continued rise of technology in the legal field, the demand for writers that are familiar with legal concepts and procedures will only keep increasing.
Legal technology has become a reality in most law firms. Law firms are investing heavily in cutting-edge technology to streamline document preparation, case management, and billing. In addition, legal research has also moved to online platforms. Litigators and appeal attorneys now use specialized legal software to search cases. Because of these advances , freelance writers that have worked in the legal field and understand court filing procedures are a great asset to law firms and solo practitioners.
Attorneys and legal professionals often don’t have the time to write articles for their own blogs. As a result, many firms hire freelance writers to identify current legal issues and write insightful articles for their blogs. Many law firms gained clients by providing informative blog articles that ranked high in internet search results.
Legal writing is an in-demand freelance service that continues to grow. By offering writing services in addition to your core practice, you can help your practice gain a competitive edge.