Lawyers may outsource legal research and legal drafting projects for several of reasons. One primary reason is time: unfortunately, lawyers are not always in control of their own schedules whether it is set by court or law. This makes small firms and solos particularly vulnerable to periodic “workload overload.” Some tasks—such as trials, client meetings and marketing demand lawyer’s personal attention.
Activities such as legal research and legal drafting can be done by others. Outsourcing enables Lawyer to weather particularly busy periods without having to hire an employee or face time pressures that lead to lawyer stress and burnout even loss of business.

Another benefit of outsourcing is that hiring an associate requires a significant investment in both time and money. When lawyer outsource legal research and legal drafting projects, you pay only for the time it takes to complete the project, but when you hire an employee, you immediately add to your fixed expenses. Searching for and training a new associate (particularly a junior-level associate) is time-consuming. An employee adds to your administrative burdens, especially
if you are a sole practitioner or small firm.

The Lawyer may be subject to all the financial and legal responsibilities that accompany “employer” status. Retaining an independent contractor is much less complicated, both initially and on an ongoing basis.  In fact, outsourcing legal research and legal drafting projects can help law firm’s bottom line. American Bar Association has determined that a lawyer may charge the client a premium or reasonable measure of profit in excess of the research and writing provider’s.  The lawyer still has to supervise and do vetting of the legal research and legal drafting of the outsourcing firm.

A lawyer or non-lawyer who concentrates in legal research and legal drafting can often accomplish those jobs more efficiently than a busy practitioner who may not be as familiar with the available resources or as experienced in searching large databases. Outsourcing frees you to use your valuable time in a way that is most efficient for lawyers and their clients. Many lawyers simply like doing “outside” work—such as trials, depositions and client meetings—more than “inside” work, such as legal research and writing.  Outsourcing frees lawyer to do those tasks that Lawyer find most personally and professionally rewarding.