Today's post is a little different. If you've ever been interested in doing freelance work in the legal field (without actually becoming a lawyer), then this one is for you.
This is a broad overview of the types of freelance work available in the legal realm, the basic requirements to get into it and some leads on sites that offer it.
1) "Mock Jury" Sites
As part of their preparation for major cases, legal teams sometimes construct an entire simulated trial. This includes recruiting mock jurors to see their reactions to evidence, what they do when they deliberate and their opinions on specific aspects of the case.
These mock trial sessions usually last anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours. Some are online, some are offline. Mock jurors are, of course, compensated for their time.
The selection criteria is basically the same as it is for any real jury - you don't have to have any particular education or experience, attorneys will instead be looking for certain demographics that reflect the expected jury composition in their real trial. Though many are handled entirely online, they may only want people from their geographic area (usually the greater metro area they are in).
The minimum requirements are usually to be a United States citizen, at least 18 years old, and not have a felony conviction. You also can't be employed by a law firm / lawyer or court in any way, work as an insurance adjuster, or be directly related to any of the above. I don't see any language on any signup pages indicating you can't be signed up to more than one agency.
This article goes into much greater detail in breaking down how a mock trial works, if you're interested.
If you want to skip straight to the part where you make some money - there are many agencies that recruit and maintain a fleet of willing mock jurors. Attorneys usually go to one of these services rather than recruiting on their own, so these are the places to look for work.
These include:
* eJury
* JuryMatters
* JuryTalk
* JuryTest
* Online Verdict
* Sign Up Direct
* VirtualJury
For local opportunities, try Googling "mock jury" or "trial lawyers"+"focus group" along with your city name and state. Here's an example of a local law firm looking for participants in Oklahoma City.
2) Courthouse Research
A lot of legal records are still not stored online. They're instead in places like the offices of county clerks or local courthouses. A number of agencies maintain a nationwide fleet of freelancers who can physically go to these places and get copies for them when needed.
Items of this nature that are often needed include real estate documents, public records used for background checks, tax records, trust information and deeds. These are all items that are available to the general public.
These jobs vary in complexity. Some simply involve sending a scan, fax or physical copy of certain records, and pretty much anyone is eligible to handle these. Others, particularly those involving background checks and entering data instead of sending copies, want you to have professional liability (errors and omissions) insurance. I haven't gone through this process myself, but cursory research indicates this costs between $20-80 a month depending on how much coverage you get.
* Accurate Background
* Advanced Background Check
* Deed Collector
* First National Acceptance Company
* Information Technologies Inc.
* IT-Boss Research
* JBS Court Research Services
* Omni Data Retrieval
* Sentinel Data Retrieval
* Sunlark Research
* WRProfessionals
3) Virtual Paralegal
Thus far we've talked about jobs just about anyone can do, this is where we start to get into the ones that require some specialized education or training.
"Paralegal" is a fancy catch-all term for basically anyone who works in a lawyer's office and assists with their work, but isn't actually a lawyer. An administrative assistant that focuses on legal needs isn't too far off of a description, at least the way most American lawyers use them (in other countries they are more like junior lawyers).
Paralegals are actually unregulated in most states. Since the attorney the paralegal works for is responsible for the their actions, however, they usually set some educational requirements. A bunch of different schools offer paralegal training programs that last anywhere from 1-3 years depending on how rigorous they are. Some lawyers also simply require an associate's degree in some legal field, like criminal justice. There are also a few national organizations you can get a paralegal certificate from.
Of course, there's an entry here because it's very possible to freelance as a paralegal over the internet. Generally, you'll need a good reference from working for an actual law firm for at least a year or two to be taken seriously when bidding for jobs, however.
This one is kind of like working as a freelance writer - you're expected to set up a site/portfolio and go out to find clients to pitch. Upwork does handle these types of jobs, that might be a good place to start if you're lost and need work toot sweet.
4) Legal Transcriptionist
If you're not familiar with the field, you might think legal transcription means being a court stenographer. That's actually not what it is, though. The stenographer / court reporter types up a first pass in shorthand in real time, since it would take too long to type out every word in full even for the fastest typists. This shorthand document is then handed off to the transcriptionist to be expanded out into a more readable and polished format for the official record.
This work doesn't necessarily require a law education or experience, but the agencies that handle freelance contract work are usually looking for people with experience in other areas of transcription (like medical) at bare minimum. The one specialized piece of law information you will need is a familiarity with the wide range of Latin terms often used in courtrooms, but you don't really need a formal education just for that. Some agencies will also ask that you carry your own Errors and Omissions insurance.
This is another case where you can set up shop on your own, pitching directly to clients or trying to get them through Upwork. There are a few general transcription sites that handle legal orders among their regular mix of work, however. These include:
* Athreon
* Cambridge Transcriptionists
* eScribers
* Pioneer Transcription Services
* SpeakWrite
* Tigerfish
5) Legal Writing
So if you search for information on legal writing through Google, most of the top results (including the one Google quotes at the top of the page) are completely full of shit. They basically say "anyone who can write can do it!", which is absolutely not true.
Here's a way more informed and helpful description of the job. Basically, it's a job that largely overlaps with the duties of both paralegals and law clerks. A similar background is expected, and the field apparently is mostly handled by people still in law school and recent graduates still looking for their first real position.
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