Professionals in the legal industry need technical legal writers that have an in-depth understanding of the legal system, bar association rules for attorneys, legal research, and marketing restrictions placed on law firms. Additionally, a legal writer must know how to avoid any complications that could arise due to incorrect writing and writing that gives legal advice. Taking the time to vet writers and find a writer who fits your firm’s vision is often a time-consuming process, especially when you need to vet more than one writer.
Understanding how to hire legal writers and knowing what to look for while you’re navigating the hiring process can help streamline your efforts, saving you time and money. Not to mention, our platform can make the process even easier by connecting you with a seasoned legal writer in just a few clicks.
Hire Freelance Legal Writers
Many attorneys write their own blog posts or have legal assistants or paralegals write blog posts. However, when you have a large caseload, blog posts tend to get pushed to the bottom of the pile, which means that your blog isn’t being prioritized. But if you want to continue to bring in a steady stream of leads, you need to be consistent with blog publishing. Followers like to see new content at least every three days. If you cannot keep potential clients engaged, many will gravitate toward a competitor to locate the information they need and complete their research.
In addition to frequent blog posts, legal writers can write web pages designed to catch the interest of a potential client, set the hook, and reel the client in. Clients know that they should ask certain questions before retaining an attorney, and if you can make that information stick the first time the potential client sees the web page or blog, you have a better chance of converting the potential client.
The Importance of Engagement
A person reading your blog may not need an attorney immediately, but instead, is researching because he or she expects to retain an attorney in your practice area. The potential client may peruse your blog posts to find out how knowledgeable you are, to get a sense of how you handle cases, or even to find out how many cases you settled or litigated. A potential client may also want to know how you might handle a specific situation.
If you do not keep a potential client engaged, he or she may gravitate to another firm’s blog to find the information he or she needs in order to make the phone call to retain a legal firm. Keeping potential clients engaged gives you a higher probability of converting a blog reader into a paying client. When you do not provide information a potential client is looking for – in other words, when you do not keep the prospective client engaged – he or she could end up hiring a competitor.
Hiring Legal Writers
When you hire legal writers to work in-house, especially if you need someone with legal experience, you will expend time and money to find the right writer. Because attorneys deal with confidential information and often have cash in the office, you will need to perform a background check on anyone you hire. You could always check public records; however, that takes time, and you could miss an imperative piece of information.
According to Law Technology Today, a CareerBuilder survey showed that 56 percent of all employers found lies on resumes. If you find that the legal writer has something on the background check that would cause you to pass him or her over, you will have to pay for another background check on another writer.
You might also have to take the time and expense to conduct pre-employment testing on any content writer to make sure that person has the skills to accurately represent your firm’s morals, values, and ideals in the writer’s writing. A large firm with offices across the country may require one style of writing to project your firm’s morals, values, and ideals, while a boutique firm may require another style of writing to achieve the same thing.
You can hire freelance legal writers without going through all of that trouble. And, it takes only a few minutes to find the perfect writer. WriterAccess vets writers for you, and because they do not work in your office, they do not have access to your digital or paper files, or any other confidential information. The pre-testing is already done for you. You simply have to look at the samples in a writer’s profile to find out if that writer is a good fit – or you can get help from the WriterAccess customer success team to find the perfect writer.
Finding a Legal Writer at WriterAccess
When you use keywords to search writer profiles at WriterAccess, you can quickly narrow down knowledgeable legal writers. Each writer has a profile where they detail their writing and professional experience, so you can get an understanding of what value they can bring to your law firm marketing content. You can also see writing samples that allow you to get a glimpse of their style and strengths.
Here are some things to keep in mind when hiring a legal writer at WriterAccess:
Choose a Writer at the Pay Level That Fits Your Budget
The first step to finding a legal writer at WriterAccess is to choose a star-level that fits within your budget.
WriterAccess uses a star-level system to rate writers based on their experience, talent, skill-level, and record of performance with clients at WriterAccess. Each star-level also corresponds to pricing per word. For instance, a 6-star writer (the highest distinction) typically works at a rate of $0.10/word.
That being said, every writer at WriterAccess has the option to set their own rates. Some legal writers who specialize in a complex area of law might have rates above the 6-Star level.
Consider what your budget will allow when it comes to writers’ rates and search for writers that fit within those rates. If you are less concerned with budget and more concerned with the quality and level of expertise, then you may want to start your search by looking for 5- and 6-star writers.
Locate a Legal Writer Using Keywords
Find the perfect match for your firm or your legal clients by searching for writers with experience in creating legal content. In addition to looking at their experience as a legal writer, you may also want to consider their professional experience in the legal industry, which may include working as a paralegal or marketer for law firms.
Many writers will include their expertise in their profile. They will elaborate on the types of legal research and legal content that they have experience creating. They may also include their practice area expertise in their profiles. Thus, if you are looking for a freelance writer that specializes in family law, criminal defense, or another area of expertise, you can find this information by looking at their profiles.
Review the Writer’s Profile
Once you choose a writer’s profile to review, look for skills that are important to getting your message out. A writer with a good skill set for your legal marketing might include the following:
- SEO experience
- Excellent communication skills
- Experience crafting social media posts
- Excellent writing skills
- Several years of experience in legal writing or working for a law firm
The writer may also have badges denoting that they have elite status or are a pro in legal writing. You can choose one writer or a team of writers to provide content for your blog and/or web pages.
Contact Writer Access
Every background check you have to run, every interview and subsequent interview with a writer, and the time you spend pre-testing a writer costs your law firm or marketing agency money.
You can avoid all of that by taking a few minutes to use WriterAccess to find a legal writer who can get your firm’s message to potential clients. Our writers have not only been vetted, but they have proven their skills and talent by working with our clients.
Ready to get started? Schedule a demo today.
Cheryl B. is a degreed paralegal who specializes in family law and bankruptcy, though she writes about several other practice areas. She worked for a small firm with three attorneys doing family law, bankruptcy, contract law, criminal law, personal injury, and constitutional law cases. She also worked on whistleblower cases and an international personal injury case. Cheryl started writing blog posts and legal articles in 2007 while she was still employed as a paralegal. Currently, Cheryl writes full time and occasionally helps a South Florida attorney draft some of his more difficult family law pleadings.
