Let’s say I am offering what are essentially specialized real estate paralegal services to lawyers. When they get some work in, instead of doing it themselves, they can outsource it to me. I will do the work for them, and then they can present the results to their clients as though it was generated by their own office. I will charge a “flat rate” for the work I do for them.
My question: What is the benefit to the lawyer? If they are billing by the hour, it is in their interest to keep this work to themselves so that they can bill for it. Now, I can market my services to them on the basis that I am more qualified and experienced in this particular capacity than they are, and they can essentially offer higher quality service to their clients (unless the lawyer himself or herself is a real estate specialist, in which case they probably have me beat). But I’d also like to present a cash money argument.
Not knowing anything about the details of billing in a law office, is there any financial benefit to be had by the lawyer? I can do in 4 hours what would take most of them 6 or 7. For that, I’ll bill $750. Presuming they are busy enough to fill those 6 or 7 hours they would have spent on this file with another file, can they then make money off of the work that I did, or are they simply reducing their workload?
The answer to this question probably varies from state to state, but in Massachusetts, it is unethical for a lawyer to charge a markup on outsourced work. Thus, they would not make any money directly on using your services. (Incidentally, it would also probably be unethical for them to present your work as their own, so you probably don’t want to suggest that. Besides, they will have to review it themselves, since you’re not licensed to practice law).
Nevertheless, it might well be beneficial to use your services in some situations. In particular, if the work is specialized and they offer the client more general services, they can offer a better total customer service package to the client by using your services. They do the stuff that they know how to do, and you do the stuff that you know how to do. They can serve more clients in their available hours by outsourcing that piece of the work, and those clients are happy because they are getting a full suite of services at a reasonable fee. (To use a specific example from my own patent practice, the drawings for patent applications must be done according to a fairly complex and arcane set of rules. I could do formal drawings myself, but it would be quite expensive for my clients, given my high billing rate. Instead, I send them out to a patent draftsman, who does them much more cheaply than I could, and I review them for accuracy and compliance with the rules when they come in. I write more patent applications this way, and my clients are happier).
In my opinion, you would be better off marketing the quality and low cost of your services without trying to put together a specific example of savings to the lawyer. Frankly, most lawyers aren’t that good with math, anyway, and if you just trumpet low cost and high quality, they’re not necessarily going to think about whether the savings go to them or to their clients, or how that might affect their bottom line.
Best of luck to you, though!