Insights from General Counsel Institute 2024

December 19, 2024/in Articles GCI2024, General Counsel Institute/by Kristen Poor

The National Association of Women Lawyers (“NAWL”), a non-partisan organization founded 125 years ago by women lawyers who advocated for democracy, held its annual 2024 General Counsel Institute (“GCI”) the day after the 2024 presidential election on November 6-8 at the Conrad Hotel in downtown New York City.

NAWL is committed to providing programming that aligns with its mission and addresses important, current, and challenging issues. Rather than shy away from topics that intersect with political themes, NAWL works to foster meaningful discussions and solutions in the legal community.

GCI is a multi-day program of networking, education, and inspiration designed for senior in-house women counsel. With in-house counsel comprising over 70% of the approximately 300-person audience, GCI creates a unique and relatively intimate conference environment to connect with other counsel, share the highs and lows of in-house life, and build legal and leadership skills.

What I looked forward to…

Like many of the other attendees, I looked forward to connecting with peers, processing the election results and learning from leading legal experts and thought leaders on how they would predict the impact of the election and trends on our jobs and the world at large in 2025 and beyond.

A special bonus was that Paragon CEO Trista Engel hosted a Paragon pre-conference happy hour nearby that gave current and future Paragon clients, attorneys and staff a chance to meet and catch up.

Attendees often lament not having long enough time to network, but we made the best of it over lunches and during the special evening outing to see the Broadway musical “Suffs” (highlighting the historic fight by U.S. suffragists for women to win the right to vote) as well as during the closing day cocktail hour.

What I learned…

Throughout GCI, the keynote fireside conversations were meaty, substantive and inspiring. Each highlighted current or former General Counsels/CLOs, Senior Counsels and law firm partners. The plenaries ran the gamut of emphasizing the importance of building your professional brand, developing an innovative pro bono program to support journalists, handling crises effectively, and proactively preparing for the future. The workshops offerings were wide ranging and led by leaders of brand name companies and law firms who addressed many top of mind topics such as: DEI, AI, Right sourcing, Debt Instruments, ESG, Personal Branding and Reproductive Rights.

Of particular interest was the theme that there are some post-election uncertainties especially globally due to the change of leadership, sanctions, tariffs and how to communicate values. Due to an increased politicization of regulations and differing views in the public and amongst employees about social issues, panelists shared an evolving direction of needing to be more careful about public statements.

The opening plenary featured the dynamic April Miller Boise, Chief Legal Officer of Intel. Among many illuminating perspectives, she emphasized the importance of preparing not only our women leaders but also our organizations for women leaders.

Our very own CEO, Trista Engel, VP, Shannon Murphy and BDM, Angela Ventro hosted a workshop on “Full Time Hire vs Outside Counsel vs Flex Talent: How to Rightsource your Legal Team for Success.” It was a well-attended and well received workshop with attendees commenting that they really enjoyed the roundtable style that facilitated peer to peer engagement and the opportunity to learn more about sourcing options. In that session, GCs shared how they’ve leveraged flex talent to access specialized expertise, the challenge of managing law firm lawyers doing in-house work, and used tools like playbooks and time audits to effectively manage in-house and flex talent teams.

The final mainstage keynote conversation was “Perspectives on Leadership from the General Counsel’s Office” featuring the very candid, accomplished and inspirational Michele Coleman Mayes. Michele held many high-level groundbreaking roles and most recently was the GC of the NY Public Library. The takeaways were to become experts in our fields, prioritize connecting with others, and to always complete the job at hand.

Closing Memorable Advice…

It was heartening and inspirational to hear panelists encourage attendees to:

be courageous,
make a positive difference,
be collaborative,
take risks and step outside your comfort zone to develop more expertise,
hire and seek out people who are smarter than you,
foster connections, and
know your worth and that we each bring something special that deserves access to opportunities.

They emphasized the importance of connecting with and providing constructive feedback to other women that would enable their continued growth and success. The more that everyone sees women in leadership roles, the more likely it will be the norm.

In her closing, Michele Coleman Mayes quoted Roxane Gay:

“I am not trying to be perfect. I am not trying to say I have all the answers. I am not trying to say I’m right. I am just trying—trying to support what I believe in, trying to do some good in this world, trying to make some noise with my writing while also being myself.”

The next GCI will be held at the Intercontinental Hotel in New York on October 15-17, 2025. I hope to see you there.

When GCs and Legal Ops Join Forces, Everyone Wins

November 25, 2024/in Articles in-house coun, general counsel, legal operations/by Kristen Poor

Key Takeaways

Legal ops can free General Counsel from administrative and operational tasks, empowering them to focus on high-impact strategic priorities.

Clear communication enables General Counsel and legal ops to work together more effectively.

A legal ops professional can pay for themselves many times over.

Introduction

Paragon Legal’s Legal Operations Manager, Yesenia Santiago, recently discussed the synergy between General Counsel and Legal Operations with Eric D. Greenberg and Letitia Haynes-Frasier. Eric serves as Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for Cox Media Group (CMG), and Letitia is the Manager of Legal Operations & Employment Practices at the same organization.

The discussion centered on how General Counsel and Legal Operations can work together to advance the work of the legal department. Although these roles sometimes operate fairly independently, by working together, they can accomplish much greater things.

Meeting of Minds: First Impressions and Initial Collaboration

Letitia’s Approach

Letitia and Eric have worked together for around three years. Letitia was at CMG prior to Eric’s arrival, and she prepared a variety of materials showing important metrics and data at the company.

She quickly discovered, however, that Eric was not the sort of General Counsel who gave orders for his Legal Ops Manager to follow. Instead, he was looking for a much more collaborative relationship. Letitia’s neatly-ordered, data-driven, hierarchical approach was unlikely to resonate with Eric.

Eric’s Strategy

Eric quickly recognized that his weaknesses were Letitia’s strengths, and encouraged strengths-based interactions with her. He understood that while he had the legal knowledge, Letitia knew the inner workings of the legal department. By trusting her insight, he was able to get up to speed much faster.

Key Projects and Collaborative Successes

Developing Outside Counsel Guidelines

Letitia and Eric first worked together on creating Outside Counsel Guidelines for CMG. Up to that point, they had been relying on guidelines created for a previous iteration of the company.

The project required a lot of give and take between Eric and Letitia. At first, she took a very structured approach, but Eric encouraged her to consider the importance of relationship building. Eric says, “That project really illustrated our different perspectives. Letitia’s pragmatic approach combined with my desire for a collaborative relationship with outside counsel resulted in a balanced document.”

Overhauling the Contract Management System

The next project involved moving contracts from procurement to legal. This was not a simple task; it required creative solutions. While Eric was unsure about taking on the project, Letitia’s vision never wavered, and she provided the structure necessary to implement a change of this magnitude. Ultimately, the project resulted in increased efficiency, as well as strengthening Eric and Letitia’s working relationship.

Daily Workflow and Communication Dynamics

Interaction Patterns

After three years, Eric and Letitia have established a communication pattern that includes planned weekly meetings with a lot of day-to-day communication. Letitia says “he can just send me an email with one sentence and I know instinctively what he wants, what he needs and how it needs to be carried out.” Eric calls their relationship a partnership, where both can serve as sounding boards for the other.

Problem-Solving and Efficiency

This partnership leans on their individual strengths, with Eric sharing his overarching vision and Letitia filling in the blanks to bring the idea to life. This back and forth between them allows each to do what they’re best at, driving departmental efficiency while leaning into the creativity that leads to innovation.

Elevating Legal Ops within the Organization

Building Visibility

Eric was surprised when Letitia initially mentioned that she was held in higher regard in the company because of his emphasis on legal ops. He realized that the collaborative relationship between the two of them was not the norm in legal departments. Eric champions the legal ops team within his department because he sees the relationship between the GC and legal ops as “foundational.”

Collaboration as an Engine of Innovation

Resources are not unlimited, and legal departments are constantly being pushed to handle more and more. In order to keep from falling behind, it’s valuable to investigate new areas that can improve efficiency and lower costs. However, this sort of exploration can often get lost in the day-to-day of running a legal department.

Eric leverages Letitia to help in this area. He will identify an emerging concept or technology that could be useful and mention it to Letitia. She then investigates and determines if and how it could work in their department, along with the next steps to take. Eric then has substantially more information to determine whether (and how) to implement that idea.

Achievements and Challenges

Success Stories

In their three years working together, Letitia and Eric have accomplished the following:

Created comprehensive guidelines for working with outside counsel.
Implemented a new document management system, which improved document handling and correspondence management.
Transferred contract management responsibilities from finance to legal, leading to cost savings and better operational efficiency.
Negotiated better rates and volume discounts with outside counsel.
Improved in-house efficiencies by implementing weekly meetings where the GC and the Legal Ops Manager could discuss efficiency opportunities.

Challenges and Solutions

There have also been some challenges, including:

Initial misunderstandings of roles and expectations. It took Eric and Letitia some time to learn how to best communicate with one another and lean into each other’s strengths.
Navigating budget constraints. Letitia negotiates better rates with outside counsel, and she and Eric work together to determine ways to control costs.
Internal team buy-in for new tools and processes. Departmental change is always difficult for some employees. However, Eric’s faith in Letitia and her abilities paved the way for other team members to respect her ideas, leading to smoother implementation.

Q&A Highlights

Reducing Legal Spend

Question: What is the biggest step you’ve taken to reduce legal spend?

Letitia responds that the biggest step has been negotiating discounts with outside firms, including volume discounts. Internal law firm evaluations have provided insight into the different types of cases individual law firms handle, allowing Letitia to consolidate who they’re working with. This, in turn, makes them more attractive to top-quality outside firms, who might not want to take on a small one-time project but might be interested in more ongoing work.

Adding Headcount for Legal Ops

Question: What would be your biggest selling point in seeking headcount to add a legal ops professional to a legal team?

Eric says “it pays for itself multiple times over, period.” He mentioned that lawyers often do not like negotiating rates with outside counsel, and Letitia can often handle that for those in the CBG legal department. It’s easier to get buy-in if the attorneys on staff understand exactly how a legal ops professional can support them.

Conclusion

It’s clear from listening to Eric and Letitia that their collaboration has truly created something that’s bigger than the sum of its parts. Their interaction with one another simplifies Eric’s role as General Counsel both through having a brainstorming partner and by clearing away a lot of the day-to-day duties that distract from legal work.

For those looking to emulate this successful collaboration, finding the right legal expertise is crucial. Paragon Legal specializes in providing experienced attorneys who can seamlessly integrate into your legal team, offering the flexibility and specialized knowledge needed to drive significant improvements.

Whether you require support for specific projects or ongoing legal assistance, Paragon’s attorneys can help. Contact Paragon Legal today to learn how we can elevate your legal operations to new heights.

Empowering the Next Generation: Daphne Manilla’s Journey in Leading Paragon Legal’s Career Connect Program

November 20, 2024/in Articles legal students, law students, in-house counsel, career connect/by Kristen Poor

Tracy Scanlan, Paragon’s VP of Client Development and Legal Affairs and co-creator of the Career Connect program, reflects: “When I graduated from law school in 2007, there was a strong push for graduates to pursue careers in big law firms. Despite some progress, the legal field still faces persistent challenges in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, especially for first-generation lawyers. My own non-traditional career path, including time in-house, showed me the need for programs that expose law students to in-house opportunities early on. This inspired the creation of Paragon’s Career Connect program, which we launched in partnership with my alma mater, UC Law SF, in 2020. Seeing this program grow, especially with my colleague Daphne Manilla at the helm, has been one of the highlights of my career.”

Leadership and Transition

What were your initial thoughts on taking over the Career Connect program?

Daphne shares: “This opportunity arrived at just the right time. I was eager to create something meaningful but uncertain about where to begin. My passion for recruiting and helping others meant that Career Connect was an ideal fit. Though I felt intimidated stepping into a leadership role, my team’s incredible support made the journey rewarding and impactful.”

How did you approach leading a new program?

Daphne notes, “Building Career Connect from the ground up was exciting because it offered endless growth opportunities. Paragon’s established model made it easy to see how Career Connect could provide valuable in-house experience for students, aligning with Paragon’s mission to support diversity and equity in the legal industry.”

What key leadership strategies have been effective in this role?

“Career Connect has been a team-driven success. My role has been to organize and tap into everyone’s strengths to keep the program moving forward. Each team member’s passion helped bring this vision to life,” she explains.

Learning and Adaptation

Given your non-attorney background, how did you navigate the law school experience and students’ needs?

“As a recruiter without a legal background, I initially felt unsure about how to connect with law students. But I leaned on my skills in understanding people and building relationships. The ability to connect with candidates, learn about their motivations and concerns, and guide them toward a great fit has proven invaluable,” Daphne shares.

How did you adapt to the unique needs of students compared to attorneys?

Daphne highlights, “With law students, I often delve into their academic and practical experiences to help them communicate their strengths. These students may not have in-house experience, so we focus on uncovering their unique talents and aligning them with client needs.”

Building the Program

What have been crucial steps in developing and refining Career Connect?

“Getting feedback from our clients and participants has been crucial in ensuring that we’re giving both constituents what they need and want from the program. It’s been helpful to know what clients have found particularly successful so we can help guide and advise the candidates as well as our other clients.”

How have you ensured that Career Connect stays innovative and competitive?

“Career Connect is unique in offering in-house legal experience right out of law school,” Daphne notes. “Thanks to Paragon’s reputation and partnerships with top clients, we can provide this invaluable opportunity to new law graduates. We are constantly exploring growth opportunities with new client partners and law schools to make sure the opportunities we’re offering to both the students and clients are exciting!”

What role has collaboration played in the program’s success?

“Collaboration has been vital! Each team—Client Development, Business Development, recruiting, and marketing—brings unique strengths to the program, ensuring its continuous growth and success,” Daphne emphasizes. “In addition, we get so much great feedback from our clients, which we’ve been able to leverage to refine our recruitment process.”

Successes and Challenges

What are some key successes the program has achieved?

“We’re thrilled that two Career Connect participants transitioned into full-time roles post-program,” Daphne shares. “This outcome, while not guaranteed, highlights the value and impact of the program.”

What challenges have you faced, and how did you handle them?

Daphne acknowledges, “In the current market, securing client participation can be challenging. But by partnering with clients who share our vision, we’ve maintained strong relationships and sustained program success.”

Can you recall a particularly rewarding placement?

“Each placement has been inspiring. Seeing law students who resonate with Paragon’s mission and bring fresh perspectives to in-house roles is incredibly rewarding,” says Daphne.

Looking Ahead

What are your future goals for Career Connect?

“We’re focused on achieving consistent client participation each year and hope to offer diverse industry placements for students. Our vision is to maintain this annual opportunity for 3L students,” Daphne explains.

What advice would you give to someone stepping into a similar role?

Daphne encourages, “Lean on your team’s strengths. Building something meaningful requires collaboration.”

What motivates you in your role?

Daphne concludes, “I’m deeply motivated by the opportunity to support new law grads who are passionate about diversity. Each interview reveals these students’ dedication and vision to our profession.”

Daphne’s leadership of Career Connect exemplifies Paragon’s dedication to nurturing new legal talent and fostering an inclusive profession. For more information about the program and how to get involved, reach out to Paragon Legal today.

Onsite or Remote: What Makes the Most Sense For Your Business?

October 22, 2024/in Articles/by Kristen Poor

Five years ago, remote hiring was a niche practice that often involved professionals in the creative and marketing fields. This changed when entire industries were required to go remote almost literally overnight. People at jobs where in-person work was considered necessary discovered ways to remain productive and efficient while working remotely. It was a crash-course in how to manage a workforce that was not all in the same place.

This paradigm shift remained, to some extent, even after lockdowns were over and many workers returned to the office. The legal field saw some of its biggest players allow employees to remain remote. Although many firms and legal departments moved back to onsite work for most of their employees, the idea of remote work is no longer as foreign as it was in 2019.

There are definite bonuses to hiring remotely, but sometimes, you need an employee onsite. How can you weigh these needs to determine the best choice for you and your department?

The Benefits of Hiring Remote Lawyers

Remote hiring offers distinct advantages, including:

Increased flexibility attracts top legal talent. If you want the best people on your team, you’ll need to ensure that you’re offering a situation that meets their needs. The flexibility of remote work can be a big draw for those at the top of the field.
The ability to work with qualified talent outside your hiring range. The best hire for your company might live across the country. If you’re hiring onsite, that candidate likely won’t consider your position. However, if you’re hiring a remote employee, you have access to legal talent all over the country (and possibly the world). Your chances of finding a candidate who is particularly suited for your position skyrocket.
Cost savings. When compared to hiring a full-time, onsite attorney, the price tag for a remote employee is typically much lower. Since expenses relating to office space, utilities, and infrastructure are limited to remote employees, you get a lot more bang for your buck.
Productivity and enhanced performance. Remote employees will be working in a space that they custom-designed. Since they’re not required to adapt to how things are done in the office, this can make them more productive, ensuring that every dollar spent provides an excellent return on investment.

The Benefits of Onsite Legal Teams

There can be benefits to bringing lawyers onsite, as well. They include:

More informal collaboration opportunities. As employees go through their day, they’re in close contact with their colleagues. This sets them up for impromptu or spontaneous meetings that can help develop new ideas. Decision-making can also happen faster, as everyone involved can sit down at the same time rather than trying to coordinate virtual meetings.
Potential for improved team culture and mentorship opportunities. Junior attorneys often benefit from learning on the job. There are more opportunities for this sort of learning when all attorneys are present in the same office.
Increasing client and stakeholder trust. Onsite legal departments have been the norm for many years. Some executives may prefer to meet with legal departments in person, especially for high-stakes or sensitive matters.

Paragon Legal has nearly 20 years of experience answering the question of remote or onsite hiring. Here’s the general framework we use to inform our decisions.

Step 1: Evaluate Your True Onsite Needs

The first step is to consider the work that your new hire will be performing. Are there tasks that must be done in the office? Meetings that the legal department is expected to attend? Databases that can only be accessed onsite?

Consider, as well, security and privacy issues. It’s easier to control data security when employees are on-site and using standardized equipment and programs. However, with a robust remote data security protocol, many of these issues can be addressed when it comes to offsite work.

Collaboration is another aspect to consider. While technology makes it possible for remote employees to participate in meetings, it can also introduce a feeling of distance between current staff and your new hire. Does your team engage in a lot of brainstorming sessions where everyone yells out their thoughts and builds on what others have said? You might lean towards hiring someone in person. But if your team communicates via Slack even when they’re all in the same room, a remote hire could be a better fit.

Step 2: Explore Remote Work Options

Even if you suspect you need someone onsite, it can be useful to consider how many of your needs could be met with a remote or hybrid employee. The potential cost savings and access to a wider talent pool can make a remote or partially remote position the right decision. It’s worth putting some thought into what parts of your needed position don’t have to be done onsite.

Perform a workload audit to determine where current staff is spending time. Could some of those tasks be assigned to a remote worker, leaving current onsite staff available for work that must be done in the office?

Consider creating a formal communication policy that will be followed both by onsite employees and remote workers. Invest in collaboration tools that will allow teams to feel connected, even if they’re physically distant. The rewards of building a cohesive team identity will be worth it.

Step 3: If Hiring Remotely, Navigate Leadership Mandates and Build a Case for Flexibility

Sometimes, the largest roadblocks to creative staffing options come from higher up. If leadership doesn’t understand the advantages or benefits of hiring remote staff, it can be a hard sell. New ways of hiring involve new processes. Human Resources might push back against what they see as insurmountable issues with reconciling current policies with remote work.

Arm yourself with appropriate data before you make your case. Show what an average hiring timeline looks like, including projections on how long it might take to find a suitable employee within your geographical area. Could remote hiring speed up that process by opening up the talent pool?

Hiring a contractor to test out remote work can be a low-risk way to evaluate whether it can work for you and your department. Contractors often work without long-term contracts or commitments, giving you the chance to evaluate and refine how remote work might look in your department.

Step 4: Avoid the Pressure to Compromise

Staffing needs can lead to urgency, and that can cause you to hire someone who isn’t the best fit for your company. When there’s work that needs to be done now, sometimes it’s easier to focus on “right now” than it is to focus on “right.”

This can be a major mistake. Employees who aren’t good fits for your company are not likely to make your life easier. Instead, you might be faced with new problems (including having to hire for the position again when the employee leaves for a job for which they’re better suited).

Whether you’re hiring onsite or remote, take the time to find someone who will fit in with your team. Patience in the hiring process will be a sound investment when you find the perfect candidate for you.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the decision to hire remote or onsite lawyers depends on the specific needs and values of the legal department.

For teams seeking flexibility, access to a broader talent pool, and cost savings, remote work may be the better option.

On the other hand, for those prioritizing collaboration, security, and maintaining strong interpersonal relationships, on-site work may be the optimal choice.

In some cases, a hybrid model, combining the best of both worlds, could offer the perfect solution. Legal leaders must weigh these factors carefully and consider what will align best with their long-term goals and the unique demands of their team.

Does remote hiring sound like a good fit for your company? We’re here to help. Reach out to Paragon Legal to see how we can create a custom staffing solution for you.

The Paragon Career Connect Program: A Partnership to Foster Inclusivity

September 12, 2024/in Articles diversity, career connect, inclusivity/by Kristen Poor

Corporate legal departments don’t have the best reputation for diversity. Some might argue that the makeup of these departments reflects who is graduating from law school, but that’s not the case. Today’s law students are an incredibly diverse group that brings a wealth of unique experiences to the legal field.

Paragon Legal recognizes and celebrates this diversity. That’s why we created the Paragon Legal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) Career Connect program.

The program began in 2022 as a partnership between Paragon Legal, Affirm, Dropbox, and UC Hastings College of the Law (now University of California College of the Law, San Francisco). It aims to increase the talent and diversity of in-house legal teams by offering recent law school graduates an in-house position with a Bay Area tech company.

The program expanded nationwide in its second year, including the Santa Clara University School of Law, William & Mary Law School, and additional leading industry partners.

How does the Career Connect program work?

The Paragon Career Connect program matches law school graduates with in-house legal departments to support their entry into the workplace while further developing their legal skills and gaining industry experience. Here are the basics:

Application. Prospective participants complete an application. This helps us determine who is best suited for the program. Candidates provide a statement about what they think their unique background and perspective will bring to an in-house legal team. Promising candidates may be invited for an interview with Paragon Legal.
Matching. Once we have chosen our participants, we’ll match them with an in-house legal department.
Training. Participants will receive training and onboarding to set them up for success in their new role. Training will continue through the course of the program.
Mentorship. Members of Paragon Legal’s staff will work one-on-one with program members to ensure that they are supported in their placement.

The program has benefits for law schools, law graduates,and legal departments.

Legal graduates receive ongoing training and experience in how an in-house legal department works. In addition, they have the opportunity to build connections within the legal industry.

Law schools are able to offer a specialized experience for students that they might not otherwise have available. If potential students are interested in working in-house, this can help law schools with recruiting efforts.

Companies have the opportunity to work with new law school graduates and help shape their understanding of what it means to work in-house. In addition, the Career Connect program will give in-house departments access to students who are both promising and diverse. If they’re looking to expand their department, these hand-picked candidates are an attractive hiring pool.

Success stories from participating law schools

Here’s how the Paragon Career Connect program is making a difference for our participants.

University of California College of Law, San Francisco

Born in Iran, Famy Chavosh and her family moved to California when she was young. After graduating from the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings College of the Law), Famy was a member of the inaugural class of the Paragon Career Connect program. Her undergraduate degree in business gave her an entrepreneurial mindset. She set her sights on an in-house position while she was still in law school, but she found that her education focused more on traditional career paths like private practice.

Famy immediately saw the opportunity offered by the Career Connect program. She applied, thinking “it was too good to be true.” After her acceptance to what she called a “rare opportunity,” Famy realized that the program delivered on its promises. She was placed at financial tech company Affirm, and her education continued.

Famy appreciated the opportunity to get hands-on experience in a legal department and enjoyed the chance to work on a team that was cross-functional. “There is no such thing as being “specialized” and sticking to that specialty when working in-house,” she said. Everyone in Legal touches every aspect of the legal review process.”

When asked whether this is an opportunity other law school graduates should pursue, Famy said, “I would definitely recommend this route to graduating 3Ls who are looking to enter straight into the in-house realm. The support Paragon offered throughout the process helped me feel prepared to pursue my goals.”

Fellow UC Law SF graduate Maryam Quasto was another member of the inaugural class of the Career Connect program. She was drawn to the program’s goal of diversity and inclusion, saying, “Career Connect’s focus on diversity matters to me. As an Iraqi immigrant and first-generation lawyer in the United States, it is important to me to see more representation in the legal field. I believe that my background and culture provide me with a distinctive legal perspective.”

Maryam was matched with tech company Dropbox, where she worked with senior attorneys on tasks like data privacy negotiations. “One of the most surprising aspects of starting my career in-house has been the ability to really take a hands-on approach to learning the profession. Early on, I was assigned my own workload and clients to manage, and that in and of itself created a unique opportunity to practice the law,” she said.

Dropbox was clearly impressed with Maryam: at the end of the program, they offered her a full-time job in their legal department. When asked what advice she had for law school students, Maryam said, “I advise any law student curious about corporate law and in-house life to be open-minded and willing to learn!”

Santa Clara University School of Law

In its second year, the Paragon Career Connect Program expanded to more law schools. For Debbie Snyder, Assistant Dean of Career Management at Santa Clara University School of Law, working with Paragon “made sense.” She points to the diversity of SCUSL as one reason this collaboration works so well. “Your first legal career opportunity lays the foundation for your professional journey, shapes your growth as a legal professional, and sets the trajectory for your future success. It has the power to shape the impact you can make in the world, and we are thrilled to bring this opportunity to students alongside Paragon,” Ms. Snyder said.

How can my law school participate in Career Connect?

Law school graduates are a diverse bunch. One of the best ways to ensure this diversity is integrated into the legal field in general is by supporting these graduates in making connections with in-house legal departments.

If your law school has a commitment to diversity and inclusion, we’d love to talk with you about a partnership with Paragon Legal’s Career Connect program. We are committed to expanding this program so other law school graduates can benefit. If you think this program may be a good fit for your school, please contact our team at Daphne@paragonlegal.com. We’re here to answer your questions and provide any additional information you might need.

Interim Support, Rightsourcing, and AI in Legal Practice

August 16, 2024/in Articles rightsourcing, artificial intelligence, legal AI/by Kristen Poor

Takeaways

Rightsourcing can help in-house legal teams that have too little time and too much that needs to get done.

Interim legal professionals may be more cost-effective than outside counsel.

Legal-specific AI tools can dramatically speed up time-intensive tasks like contract review and redlining.

It’s no secret that in-house legal teams are being asked to do more with less. This can be particularly noticeable in areas where legal teams have historically relied on outside counsel. Since work demands tend to ebb and flow, it’s typically not cost-effective to make a new hire, but, as budgets fall, outside counsel may become too costly.

The solution is interim support. If you can hire a skilled interim employee just for those times when you need an extra hand, you reduce the cost while still receiving the support you need. Now imagine that interim employee has the ability to do more in less time, making them substantially more efficient.

All of this is possible through the combination of rightsourcing and advanced technological tools that harness the power of AI.

What is Rightsourcing?

Paragon Legal President and COO Jessica Markowitz defines rightsourcing as “the right work getting done at the right time by the right people using the right technology.” Let’s break that down.

The right work: Outsourcing work becomes less attractive if extensive training is required to get any interim employees up to speed. You need trained and qualified legal professionals who are ready to hit the ground running and can help with the work you need done from day 1.

The right time: Although there is no such thing as an average day on an in-house legal team, some times are reliably busier than others. You’re going to need more attorneys available when working on meeting a compliance deadline or completing a quarter than you will during down times. No amount of shifting work will completely eliminate this feast-and-famine cycle of work. You’re going to need help.

The right people: The wrong person can create far more work than they alleviate. You need someone who can fit into your existing system and work with current staff. Unfortunately, these people aren’t always easy to find when you need them.

The right technology: Much like the right people, technology can either simplify things or complicate them. Unfortunately, sometimes it’s hard to know which technology will be a net benefit without going through a long period of evaluation, implementation, and onboarding. This is particularly true when it comes to new technology like generative AI (GAI).

Considerations When Using AI in Legal

The horror stories are well-known at this point: attorneys who have cited fictional caselaw or otherwise been misled by GAI, often with catastrophic results from formal sanctions to having pleadings struck. Part of this is a misunderstanding of GAI’s purpose and capabilities: it is not necessarily intended to be a research reference, and, if it cannot find the information it’s looking for, it can sometimes ‘hallucinate,’ or create something out of nothing. To say that this is a problem in legal work is an understatement.

However, AI also offers many benefits to lawyers, law firms, and legal departments. AI is much better at comparing internal consistency in a document than a human, for example. It can also evaluate large amounts of data very quickly. If used correctly, AI has the ability to make legal work much faster and more efficient.

There are several products on the market intended to make AI more efficient, accurate, and useful for the legal field. These products should be evaluated very carefully to ensure that they respect data privacy and security, but once due diligence is performed, these programs have the potential to revolutionize the legal field.

Rightsourcing and AI

Efficiency looks much different for legal services that rely on billable hours than it does for in-house teams. In fact, it may seem counterproductive for some lawyers to improve efficiency: the billable hour system rewards thorough contemplation over speed. And there is a case to be made for thorough contemplation. However, not every legal matter requires the original thinking that you’re paying for when you use a big law firm for outside counsel.

Particularly when you’re hiring for day-to-day tasks, task efficiency can help stretch your outsourcing budget even further. If an attorney is completing routine tasks, a thoroughly-evaluated AI solution that is designed for use in the legal field can compound the amount of work that can be done in an hour.

Screens.ai

Screens.ai is a perfect example of this fusion of technology and human knowledge. It’s an AI-powered solution to assist with contract review and redlining. Contracts are put through screens, which are a set of standards that need to be met in a particular type of contract or transaction. Users can use pre-made screens that were created by legal experts or make their own customized screens.

This solution can dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes to review and redline a contract. However, the time savings is negated if it’s difficult to audit what the AI did and why it did it. Screens.ai resolves this issue by offering users the opportunity to accept, modify, or reject suggestions, as well as offering the ability to easily audit changes made.

Use of this software for contract review can dramatically speed up the process by flagging areas that would benefit from the attorney’s attention for manual review. In addition, Screens.ai has the benefit of quickly standardizing language throughout the contract.

Benefits of Using AI with Interim Support

Does it really save time if you need to train interim support on how to use this new technology? Obviously, it’s ideal if the interim talent is already trained on these new tools.

That’s why legal professionals at Paragon Legal are provided with a complimentary Paragon Contract AI Bundle that utilizes the power of Screens.ai. When you hire one of our team members, you’re not only getting an amazing, qualified attorney — you’re getting one who is equipped with the tools to make them even more efficient.

This can also be a cost-effective way to try new technology or see how it might be integrated into your current department. Working with an interim attorney who is equipped and trained in the newest AI technology can help you decide whether the technology is worth investing time and energy into.

Looking to the Future of In-House Legal

Things are changing for in-house legal teams, and it doesn’t seem that things will be calming down anytime soon. Legal departments will continue to be asked to improve efficiency without sacrificing outcomes. The current way that many departments utilize outside counsel may no longer be feasible.

However, change isn’t necessarily a bad thing. By embracing both qualified flex talent and technology tools, including AI, legal teams can respond to these challenges with imagination and agility.

If you’re considering working with interim legal counsel, we’d love to speak with you about your use case. Get in touch with us to discuss how we can help rightsource your legal team with the people and tools you need to succeed.

Centerforce Journeys to Equity Podcast: An Entrepreneurs Journey from Wall Street to Paragon Legal

August 5, 2024/in Articles legal talent, legal services, flexible legal talent, entrepreneurs, diversity, DEIB/by Kristen Poor

Trista Engel, CEO of Paragon Legal, and Jessica Markowitz, President & COO of Paragon Legal, share their journey from the 2008 Wall Street Financial Crisis to raising money to buy Paragon Legal, and now successfully growing the business. Listen to this inspiring journey. What were and how did they overcome the Gender Stereotypes and challenges they faced raising money and pitching VCs? Why did they select Paragon Legal, and how has flex talent changed and encouraged diverse legal talent to not only stay in the profession but use Paragon Legal as a springboard to launch their career?

Buzzsprout: https://shorturl.at/Ue8H9

Apple Podcast: https://shorturl.at/gqksR

Spotify: https://shorturl.at/RNqFS

Alternative Legal Service Providers: What are they and when to use them

July 23, 2024/in Articles flexible legal talent, alsp, commercial transactions/by competenow

Takeaways

Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs) offer flexible, cost-effective legal support for in-house teams.

Key benefits of using ALSPs include scalability, cost savings, access to specialized expertise, and innovative legal tech—without the overhead of full-time hires or typical law firm rates.

Flexible legal talent providers, legal process outsourcing providers, and the Big Four accounting firms are the three main types of ALSPs.

Picture this: Your company has an upcoming product launch, and your in-house attorneys are swamped with tasks to finish by the end of the quarter. They have to establish the business’s IP rights, secure liability insurance, and check the product’s safety, among other responsibilities.

Outside counsel could help ease the workload, but firm attorneys typically require a lot of oversight and work slowly because they’re especially risk-averse. Their high fees also significantly cut into the company’s revenue.

Sound familiar? If you’re a GC or legal operations leader, you’ve likely been in similar situations more times than you care to admit. You’re not alone in feeling frustrated with the traditional law firm model.

Now, imagine another solution—one that could provide the expertise you need when you need it and without breaking the bank.

Enter Alternative Legal Service Providers (ALSPs). In this post, we’ll demystify the term and show you how ALSPs can be a game-changer for your in-house team. We’ll cover:

The key differences between ALSPs and law firms
4 strategic benefits of partnering with an ALSP
Real-world case studies of in-house teams achieving success with ALSPs

By the end, you’ll clearly understand how ALSPs can help you boost efficiency, access specialized expertise, and lower costs.

What is an Alternative Legal Service Provider?

ALSP is a broad term that refers to any organization providing legal services that isn’t a law firm.

Outside counsel was the legal industry norm for a long time, but demand for ALSPs grew over the last 10 years as cost reduction became more critical to in-house teams. Reuters’ 2023 report shows that the ALSP market has grown by 145% since 2015, and its 2021 survey found that 71% of corporate law departments rely on ALSPs.

What are the most common types of ALSPs?

1. Flexible legal talent providers

Flexible legal talent providers pair temporary legal professionals with corporate legal departments. Organizations like Paragon exclusively offer interim attorneys with years of in-house experience in specialized practice areas, ensuring they can handle complex tasks that require expertise and judgment. They work closely with in-house counsel—participating in meetings, collaborating on projects, and contributing to strategic decision-making.

Other flexible talent providers focus on staffing for repetitive, high-volume work that doesn’t necessarily require an attorney license. These companies typically provide temporary paralegals and legal secretaries along with attorneys.

2. Legal process outsourcing providers (LPOs)

LPOs handle repetitive tasks that require minimal expertise—such as document review, data entry, and basic contract management.

These providers often rely on overseas talent and automation to minimize costs, and they typically work independently with limited direct collaboration with the client’s legal department. This talent solution is best for teams that need support for repetitive legal work at a low cost and don’t need to work closely with the service provider.

3. The Big Four accounting firms

The Big Four accounting firms (PwC, KPMG, EY, and Deloitte) offer routine legal services that complement their primary accounting work.

These ALSPs attract clients with their multi-purpose offerings. Because their staff includes a variety of business professionals—not just attorneys—these firms can offer diverse service bundles. However, the Big Four was the slowest-growing ALSP segment in Reuters’ 2023 report, making up just $1.5B of the $20B ALSP market.

4 Strategic Benefits of Using an ALSP

1. Scalability and Flexibility

Unlike hiring full-time attorneys, ALSPs let you scale your resources up or down based on your legal needs.

Imagine your legal department only needs 20 weekly hours from an attorney to help with sales negotiations over the next quarter. Instead of bringing on a full-time, permanent employee, you could hire an interim attorney for just that time. You can add or cut hours from your interim attorney based on how your team’s workload changes.

With this scalability, your in-house team can remain nimble when the economy, your business, or your budget unexpectedly shifts.

2. Cost Savings

ALSPs’ flexibility helps in-house teams avoid wasteful spending. Instead of relying on costly full-time attorneys or outside counsel for every task, you can use ALSPs to complete most of your in-house work at a more cost-effective rate (without compromising on quality).

Imagine you’re a part of a small in-house team for a company that’s about to go through a merger. Your full-time attorneys will need to dedicate significant time to this project over the next year, so you use an ALSP like Paragon to backfill the team’s day-to-day legal work.

Here’s a breakdown of how much the ALSP route would save your team over a year based on current rates—roughly $150,000 compared to a full-time hire and $350,000 compared to using outside counsel.

For more cost breakdowns like this one, check out our GC’s Guide to Rightsourcing.

3. High-quality, fully-embedded team members

Flexible legal talent providers, like Paragon, have networks of attorneys with diverse backgrounds in many practice areas. Unlike outside counsel, interim attorneys from these providers work directly with your team at the pace your business needs. You can tap into niche legal expertise that may not be available in-house without resorting to costly law firms or new hires.

Say you need help with a regulatory compliance issue. A flexible legal talent provider can connect you with a seasoned expert in that field, like Paragon’s interim attorney Danny J.

He has over ten years of experience, specializes in compliance, and just spent nine months handling regulatory investigations for a social media tech company.

4. Access to innovative legal tech

Law firms are often slow to learn and adopt new technologies. They’re worried about these tools’ creating security risks, and they can’t bill their clients for learning how to use the latest software.

Meanwhile, ALSPs typically create and/or use innovative legal tech to work more efficiently and precisely than competitors. This software ranges from document management systems to contract lifecycle management tools and AI-powered legal research and analytics platforms.

Paragon, for example, recently formed a partnership with Screens.ai, an artificial intelligence-based contract review software for legal teams. Looking ahead, we expect more in-house teams to use tech platforms as AI tools become better at handling legal workflows.

How In-House Teams are Using ALSPs: 3 Case Studies

To better understand ALSPs’ value, let’s dive into how several companies relied on Paragon as their flexible legal talent provider.

1. Expanding a Medical Device Company’s Legal Team

Before engaging Paragon, a fast-growing medical devices company faced several major legal challenges. Paragon’s interim attorneys were able to resolve each problem promptly.

The business’ in-house global clinical trials attorney was drowning in negotiation work and needed support. Paragon deployed a corporate attorney with 20+ years of experience in clinical trials.
The medical business’ commercial contracts team didn’t have an effective process for handling its increasing number of procurement contracts. Paragon deployed an experienced contracts attorney who optimized the company’s CLM processes.
The medical business needed a privacy law expert. Paragon deployed an attorney with a background in healthcare compliance to ensure the company’s medical devices complied with US and EU regulations.

The client accessed Paragon’s talent at a combined hourly rate of $605, compared to a law firm completing the same work at an estimated $2,000 per hour. Altogether, the switch to interim counsel saved the business over $2.3 million in one year.

2. Conquering Overflow Work for a Software Giant

A Fortune 500 software company faced unpredictable spikes in legal work due to rapid growth, new product launches, and regulatory changes. They needed highly skilled, flexible help to address overflow work in commercial transactions, procurement, antitrust, privacy, and marketing.

Paragon provided the business with experienced interim counsel who handled a variety of tasks, including:

Outbound commercial transactions
Contract review and negotiation
Antitrust regulations
Privacy regulatory investigations
Product marketing campaigns
Procurement concerns
Adtech and marketing issues

These attorneys seamlessly integrated with the software company, impressing the legal team with their communication skills and ability to work autonomously.

The successful engagement led to an ongoing relationship, with the client engaging Paragon 20 times over the last four years and converting three interim attorneys to full-time employees.

3. Supporting a Cybersecurity Startup During Transitions

Synack, a Series D cybersecurity startup with a two-person legal team, faced a challenge when its corporate counsel went on maternity leave. Steve Soper, Synack’s Vice President of Legal, turned to Paragon for an interim counsel solution.

Paragon matched Synack with David, an experienced lawyer who quickly integrated with the team. David oversaw contract issues, provided legal support on employment and corporate matters, and ensured the team met their internal SLA for contract review response times. He worked twenty hours per week, billing only for the time engaged.

After David’s initial engagement ended, Steve reached out to Paragon to engage him for a second time on short notice. The company’s corporate counsel had just quit her role, so David’s prior experience and knowledge of Synack’s business were invaluable.

Synack eventually hired a new corporate counsel, but Steve noted he wouldn’t be surprised if he re-engages David or another Paragon attorney.

“Given his knowledge of the company, it’s just super-nice, from my perspective, to be able to say, ‘Hey David, can you come back for a couple weeks to look at some contracts?’” said Steve.

Manage your team’s overflow work with ALSPs

Whether you need to expand your team’s capacity, fill a temporary gap, or access niche expertise, ALSPs are worth considering as an alternative to outside counsel or full-time hiring. They help in-house departments reduce costs, work more efficiently, and keep stakeholders happy.

If you’re considering leveraging ALSPs, Paragon Legal can help. We provide legal departments with tailored interim counsel solutions using our extensive network of experienced attorneys.

How to Reduce Your In-house Team’s Workload

June 4, 2024/in Articles technology transaction attorneys, product counseling/by competenow

Key Takeaways:

Feeling overworked and understaffed? Rightsourcing is the secret to reclaiming your in-house legal team’s time (and sanity).

Corporate legal departments: Audit your workloads, delegate strategically, and leverage flexible talent to boost productivity without burning out your top lawyers.

Stop letting your best in-house attorneys get bogged down in tasks. Follow this step-by-step guide to optimizing how work gets done in your corporate legal department.

In-house legal leaders, are you at your breaking point?

You’re not alone. Many GCs and in-house attorneys are trying to accomplish more with limited resources. But at the same time, they know they need to keep workloads sustainable if they want to retain their in-house talent.

We’re here to help with steps to complete rightsourcing—choosing the right people to get your team’s work done at the best cost. This article will walk you through a framework for assessing your team’s workload, delegating tasks effectively, and leveraging flexible talent to extend your department’s impact.

Let’s dive in.

Do a workload time audit

Time estimate: 2-4 weeks

The first step is to see exactly where your team is spending its time and effort so you can pinpoint areas where the department can be more efficient and effective.

Understand how your attorneys are really spending their time

We know attorneys bristle at time tracking, but frame this as an opportunity for improvement rather than a punitive measure. Emphasize that the goal is to help the team work more efficiently and be able to allocate time to the matters that matter most.

For example, you might find that multiple team members are working on NDAs, recreating the wheel with each new customer’s redlines. Or, one department could be taking up most of your legal team’s time, a clear sign to create resources that reduce their reliance on legal.

There are many user-friendly tools—such as Toggl, RescueTime, and Clockify—that make it easy for attorneys to track their time without disrupting their workflows. Or, go old-school and ask attorneys to track their work with a notepad or spreadsheet, noting how frequently they get questions or projects that could’ve been handled by a non-lawyer or get a surge of work.

Aim to track time for at least two representative weeks, ideally up to four weeks, to get a representative sample of your team’s workload.

Meet with each attorney to ask how they feel about their work

Time-tracking tells part of the story, but it’s crucial to also confirm insights from the data with qualitative feedback. Set up one-on-ones with each team member to discuss how they feel about their time records and workload. Ask questions like:

What tasks do you feel you’re doing too often?
Which tasks do you find particularly unfulfilling?
What tasks on your plate don’t necessarily require a lawyer’s input?

These conversations will highlight what work might be ripe for delegation or reprioritization. For example, you know that escalations from the procurement team are becoming an issue if most of your attorneys say their calls and emails are bogging them down.

Categorize your in-house team’s tasks

Time estimate: 1 week

Once you have your team’s time audit data and qualitative input, bucket the work into priority, expertise, risk, and frequency categories. This will help you determine the most efficient way to handle your team’s tasks.

High-priority VS Low-priority

If delayed or mishandled, high-priority tasks can significantly impact your bottom line. Imagine how a delay in closing key licensing agreement can stall a product launch and all the deadlines built around it. Low-priority tasks don’t have the same time, revenue, or production pressures.

Here are a few examples of each type:

High-priority	Low-priority
Negotiating key customer contracts	Updating templates with minor tweaks
Advising on high-stakes litigation	Reviewing routine vendor agreements
Ensuring regulatory compliance	Attending non-essential meetings

Requires attorney expertise VS non-attorney work

Attorney expertise is necessary for tasks that involve interpreting laws, providing legal advice, and representing the company in legal matters. If the work is administrative or doesn’t require legal judgment, it may be appropriate for non-attorneys or technology solutions.

Here are a few examples of each type:

Requires attorney expertise	Non-attorney work
Counseling the C-suite and board on legal risks	Answering questions around existing HR policies
Structuring complex transactions	Maintaining contract databases (could be delegated to legal operations)
Developing legal strategy for litigation	Reviewing and routing your company’s template NDAs (could be automated with a contract review tool)

High-risk VS low-risk

High-risk tasks have severe consequences if mishandled—like regulatory penalties, financial costs, and reputational harm. Low-risk tasks have minimal potential downsides and are often more routine in nature.

Here are a few examples of each type:

High-risk	Low-risk
Bet-the-company litigation	Conducting research on legal and regulatory changes
Mergers and acquisitions	Processing routine vendor contracts
Regulatory investigations	Conducting trademark searches

Recurring VS one-off

Identify work that happens on a predictable cadence versus ad hoc projects. Recurring tasks are often tied to ongoing business processes or reporting cycles, while one-off projects have a defined start and end point. This will help you determine what tasks need support on an ongoing basis.

Here are a few examples of each type:

Recurring	One-off
Quarterly board meeting preparation	Implementing a new contract management system
Monthly sales contract reviews	Updating an employee handbook to reflect a new employment law
Annual compliance training	Acquiring a new business entity

Delegate work strategically

Time estimate: 2 weeks

With your team’s tasks categorized, it’s time to make sure that your attorneys’ work is in the right hands.

Interim counsel: Attorney-level work of any priority

When urgent matters come up and your in-house team is stretched thin, flexible counsel is the way to go. If it’s all hands on deck and you’re hoping to still make strides on those back-burner projects, turn to interim support. It’s perfect for in-house teams that need closer collaboration than outside counsel provides but lack the budget and time to recruit, interview, and hire a full-time attorney.

Interim attorney tasks typically fall under these categories:

High or low-priority
Attorney expertise
High or low-risk
Recurring or one-off

It’s really up to you! A solid flexible legal talent provider will work to understand what it is you need. From there, they’ll pair you with interim attorneys who have top-tier expertise and can seamlessly plug in as embedded team members.

Even better, interim attorneys don’t come with the long-term costs and commitments of full-time hires. You can access a versatile talent pool for projects as they arise when it makes sense for your team. Interim attorneys can handle any risk level you would be comfortable managing in-house with your own FTEs.

For example, imagine you’re launching a major new product, and your in-house attorneys are overwhelmed with compliance and privacy issues. Instead of spending more time and money to recruit and hire a full-time employee, your team could engage an interim attorney who specializes in product counseling. Or, you might deploy a flex counsel who can take your teams’ routine matters off their plate while they focus on the new product.

By using interim counsel, you can cost-effectively add capacity and expertise to your team without the long-term commitment of a full-time hire.

Non-legal employees: Non-attorney, recurring tasks

Create templates, playbooks, and training to help other departments in your business handle routine legal work on their own. These tasks likely fall under these categories:

Low-priority
Non-attorney
Low-risk
Recurring

Say the sales team consistently comes to legal with contract review questions. Your legal department could create a training session that walks sales reps and managers through using an automated contract review tool, like Screens.ai. Paragon offers access to this tool in our Contract AI Bundle package.

Don’t have time to build training programs and playbooks? Consider using interim attorneys to create these resources for your company (more on using flex counsel below).

By enabling other departments to handle routine tasks, legal will reserve their time for more complex projects.

Outside counsel: High-risk, niche work

Tap law firms for high-risk matters that require on-call attention and highly specialized expertise. These tasks likely fall under these categories:

High-priority
Attorney expertise
High-risk
One-off

Imagine your company is facing a patent infringement lawsuit. The in-house team has general litigation experience, but they don’t have deep expertise in patent law. To give your company the best possible defense, you hire a law firm with a renowned intellectual property practice and experience litigating similar cases in the relevant jurisdiction.

In these high-stakes situations, consider using interim counsel to back up your team on the matters building up at home. Flex attorneys can handle your team’s day-to-day work while your full-time attorneys are focused on the work that will save the company.

In-house counsel: High-priority, strategic work

Keep your core in-house legal team focused on strategic work that’s critical to the business. These tasks likely fall into these categories:

High-priority
Attorney expertise
High-risk
Recurring or one-off

Say your company is facing a major regulatory investigation. Your in-house lawyers’ unmatched knowledge of your organization’s policies, risk areas, and history with the regulating bodies will be critical to interfacing with the regulators and developing your strategy.

Empower your in-house attorneys to lead legal projects that could significantly impact the company’s future and bottom line. If needed, they can always work with interim counsel or outside counsel for supplemental support.

The bottom line

At the end of the day, rightsourcing isn’t about going with the lowest-cost option or defaulting to what’s always been done. It’s about picking the talent solution that will execute the task at the best value.

You can do just that by following the steps above. Take control of your team’s workload by understanding exactly what’s on their plates and reallocating tasks internally and externally.

And if you need support, Paragon is here to help. With a network of experienced interim counsel, we help legal teams tackle their biggest challenges and lighten the load on the core team—all without adding permanent headcount.

Reach out to our team today.

The Top 5 Objections We Hear to Hiring Interim Counsel

May 16, 2024/in Articles interim counsel/by Kristen Poor

When you imagine interim counsel, do you picture a lone attorney in a windowless room doing document review? That was certainly the case 20 years ago.

Thankfully, flexible legal services have come a long way. Attorneys with niche skills take on interim roles today to get more control over their work and their schedules. They can use their expertise to help in-house teams without sacrificing their work-life balance.

And yet, some GCs still see flexible legal talent as a one-off solution for admin work. In-house teams are burnt out and over budget, even though talented interim attorneys could ease their workloads.

If that sounds dubious, you probably have one of these objections to hiring flexible legal talent. Read on for our responses to the most common questions about hiring interim counsel.

1. I don’t need interim legal services.

Traditionally, in-house teams used staffing services to backfill temporarily vacant roles, such as covering a maternity leave. But today, there are many more use cases for flexible legal talent.

Access to specialized skills. Interim counsel can provide expertise in a variety of practice areas, such as data privacy, intellectual property, employment law, and more.
Test new team structures. Use a flexible attorney to test a new role before committing to a full-time hire (or when you don’t have budget for one).
Add internal capacity. Interim counsel can support your team through temporary surges in workload, like quarter-end pushes or major transactions.

This last point is critical considering the in-house legal teams’ current workloads. In a 2023 Bloomberg survey, 70% of in-house counsel reported heavy workloads as a major challenge compared to just half of law firm attorneys. Flexible talent provides much-needed relief to your overworked in-house attorneys without the time and cost of full-time hiring.

2. Interim legal services isn’t the best use of my budget.

Some GCs assume flexible counsel is more expensive than full-time hires based on hourly rates alone, so they don’t allocate their budget to interim attorneys. But when you factor in all employee expenses, flexible talent is almost always more cost-effective than hiring full-time positions or outside counsel.

With flexible talent, you only pay for the hours you need.

Consider a hypothetical cost comparison between full-time, outside, and interim counsel:

All costs considered, the interim attorney saves the in-house team over $150K. There’s no overhead for benefits, bonuses, equity, and other employee expenses. The flexible rate is also a bargain compared to outside counsel, especially as law firm rates continue to climb.

Want more cost comparisons like these? Check out our ebook, A GC’s Guide to Rightsourcing.

Plus, with flexible talent, you set the time your interim attorney works. Paragon clients retain and pay their interim attorneys for a set number of hours so they can control and predict their legal spending as workloads fluctuate.

3. It’s too much work to vet and onboard flexible legal talent for temporary work.

Onboarding an interim attorney requires some effort, but the right flexible legal talent provider will shoulder much of that burden. Look for a partner that:

Rigorously vets candidates. Before you meet potential interim counsel, your talent provider should interview your business to understand what you’re looking for in an attorney and interview candidates. This vetting process helps the provider find the best fit for your project.
Handles employee onboarding (as a W-2), including conducting background checks and administering paperwork, payroll, and benefits to their interim attorney staff.
Knows what a good match is in terms of both legal skills and culture fit, so you don’t have to sift through tons of resumes or worry that the candidate won’t work out.
Supports the attorney throughout the engagement, so you’re not alone in making the partnership successful. Paragon provides ongoing feedback, continuing education, and more to the interim counsel while they’re working for the client.
Checks in regularly with you to ensure the engagement runs smoothly and address any changes or needs along the way.

Paragon handles all of the above responsibilities and more. Unlike other flexible legal talent providers, we have a dedicated Attorney Development team to help us deliver high-quality service to clients and attorneys alike. This group provides interim attorneys with constant feedback and coaching to provide excellent service and address client concerns as soon as they pop up.

With this support, you only have to spend a few hours getting an interim attorney up to speed—far less time than recruiting and onboarding a full-time employee.

That onboarding investment has a lasting impact. Your interim attorney knows the drill at your company, so they can come back to work after their first engagement as much as needed.

4. Flexible legal talent isn’t qualified.

There’s a common misconception that interim lawyers are attorneys who couldn’t hack it at a firm. That couldn’t be further from the truth when it comes to today’s interim counsel.

Many highly qualified, experienced attorneys choose this path to practice in a way that provides more flexibility—because they have elderly parents or young kids, passions to pursue outside of the law, or want to do great legal work for 40 hours a week instead of 60 to 80. The traditional partner or GC path doesn’t appeal to everyone.

The key is finding a selective legal talent provider that prioritizes the vetting process. At Paragon, we accept less than 5% of the applications we receive and review candidates by conducting:

Initial application screenings for practice area expertise and years of experience
In-depth interviews
Reference checks

These vetting steps all happen before a client even meets with a candidate.

Our talent pool speaks for itself. It includes former senior counsel of tech giants like Adobe, Salesforce, and Twitter, as well as leading law firms. The flexible counsel in our network has practiced law for an average of 15+ years.

Working with a discerning, flexible talent provider gives you access to a network of vetted, accomplished attorneys.

5. Outside counsel and full-time hires are tried-and-true solutions.

When your outside counsel and in-house hiring have worked well enough, it’s natural to question a newer model like on-demand talent. But in an era of tighter budgets and leaner teams, we don’t recommend writing off flexible legal talent services based on newness alone.

Instead, evaluate providers based on their results and processes with clients. Here are common questions we hear from prospects:

What is your project success rate? Paragon’s is over 95%.
What is your client satisfaction rate? Paragon’s average satisfaction rate is 9.2/10.
How many years of experience do your attorneys have, and in what practice areas? Paragon’s talent network averages 15+ years in various areas of law—including privacy, corporate, commercial, IP, and licensing.
What training and onboarding do you provide? Paragon’s Attorney Development team supports talent and clients with regular coaching sessions throughout client engagements.
How do you ensure client satisfaction? Every Paragon client has a Client Development team member who is the dedicated point of contact for the engagement. We check in periodically with the client to see how things are going and are available to answer any questions.
What is your client retention rate? Seventy percent of Paragon’s clients are repeat users, and several have been with us for 10+ years.

Flexible counsel may be a newer solution for in-house legal teams, but providers like Paragon have a solid track record of high-quality talent and high-touch service.

Find experienced, flexible counsel with Paragon.

There’s a time and place for full-time hires and outside counsel on in-house teams. But many GCs think both are the only available talent solutions.

That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Flexible counsel gives teams specialized expertise, flexible capacity, and significant cost savings compared to law firms or full-time employees.

Ready to see how on-demand talent can ease your team’s workload and improve your bottom line? Reach out to our team, and we’ll break down our approach to matching top-notch attorneys with in-house teams. Request an attorney today.