What to ask a flexible legal talent provider before you sign

Ask any flexible legal talent provider five things before you sign: how they vet lawyers, how they match them to your scope, what relevant in-house experience the candidates have, what the commercial and contract terms are, and what happens when a placement is not working. Compare providers on the same scope, and ask for answers in writing so you can score them side by side.

The market includes staffing agencies, lawyer networks, alternative legal service providers and independent freelancers. They overlap, and the label tells you less than the answers to the questions below.

Know what you are buying

Start by deciding what you need, because the right provider depends on it. Is it a senior lawyer with in-house judgment, or high-volume review work? Do you need a short interim cover, an ongoing embedded role, or a path to a permanent hire? A provider that is excellent for one may be a poor fit for another. If you want senior in-house experience rather than junior document review, make that a stated requirement and test it, because it is easy for the two to be blended in a sales conversation.

Questions on vetting

Ask for a clear explanation of the vetting process:

• Who vets the lawyers, and what do they check? Credentials alone are a thin test. Look for evidence that they assess in-house judgment, business fluency and practical decision-making.
• How do you verify experience claims? A claim of many years in an area is only useful if someone has checked what the work really involved.
• How many of your lawyers have worked in-house, and in what kinds of company?
• Do you take references, and can I speak to them?
• What is your process when a lawyer's work disappoints, and how does it feed back into who you present next?

Be wary of answers that are all volume and no process. A large pool is useful only if the people in it have been assessed.

Questions on matching

• Who chooses the candidates you show me, and on what basis?
• Do I see profiles on paper first, and do I get to interview before committing?
• Does the lawyer also choose? Ask how the lawyer reviews the scope and confirms their interest and availability.
• How many candidates do I see, and how quickly?
• How well will you understand my scope? A provider that asks detailed questions about your work, your stakeholders and your constraints is more likely to match well than one that sends generic profiles.

Our Fractional InHouse matching process uses a double opt-in: the lawyer reviews the scope and opts in, and we screen for fit before making an introduction. Ask every provider how its matching process works.

Questions on seniority and fit

• What seniority range do your candidates typically cover, and can you show examples of similar scopes?
• What is the lawyer's experience in my industry, and how much does that matter for this work? Be honest about whether it is essential or a preference.
• If the candidate lacks a specialism I need, how will you tell me, and what trade-offs would I be making?
• Is the lawyer available for the full period, or committed elsewhere?

A provider that tells you plainly where a candidate's experience stops is easier to trust than one that presents everyone as a perfect fit.

Commercial terms

Compare providers on the same assumptions. Ask for the following in writing.

• How are fees structured: hourly, monthly capacity, fixed fee, or a mix?
• How are hours tracked and reported, and how often do you see them?
• What happens when hours exceed the plan, and what happens when they fall short? Do not assume unused time carries over.
• Is there a minimum term, and how can the engagement be extended, reduced or ended?
• Is exclusivity required? Exclusivity can slow you down if the provider does not have the right person, so understand what you would be giving up.
• If you want to hire the lawyer permanently, what is the conversion fee, and does it change over time? Our conversion fee decreases with time in the engagement. Confirm the applicable terms before the engagement starts.

Contract structure and responsibility

Ask who the parties to the agreement are. In some models the lawyer contracts with you directly and the provider handles billing and relationship management. In others the provider is the contracting party. Neither is automatically better, but you should confirm separately who supervises the work, who carries which obligations, and who you contact when something goes wrong.

Also ask about confidentiality, conflicts checks, insurance and the tools the lawyer may use with your data. We are a legal talent platform, not a law firm. The lawyer provides legal advice under the applicable engagement agreement. Establish who is responsible for each part of the arrangement.

Quality assurance and when it is not working

No provider can promise that every placement will be right. What you can ask is how they handle it when it is not.

• What is the process if I am unhappy in the first few weeks?
• How is a replacement handled, and who bears the cost?
• Do you check in during the engagement, and who is my contact?
• Will you tell me when utilisation drifts?

A provider with an account management routine, regular check-ins and an honest process for a poor match is worth more than a promise of perfection.

Provider or freelancer?

Hiring an independent lawyer directly can be a good choice if you know them and trust their work. The trade-off is that you carry the vetting, the contract, the administration and the continuity risk if they become unavailable. A provider may offer matching, administration and replacement support; verify what is actually included and what it costs. Weigh that against the size and importance of the engagement.

RFP outline

If you issue a request for proposal, keep it short and specific.

1. Your scope, in one page, with the work, the stakeholders and the expected duration.
2. The seniority and in-house experience you require.
3. The questions above, numbered, with a request for written answers.
4. Commercial terms to be stated on a common basis.
5. Sample candidate profiles for a scope like yours.
6. References, and the account management model.
7. Your scoring criteria, with weights, shared in advance.

Score every response against the same list. The cheapest option on paper may not be the cheapest once vetting, replacement and your own time are counted.

Explore our Fractional InHouse and legal recruiting services, or talk to us about the work you need covered.

A starting shortlist for experienced in-house talent

We match experienced in-house lawyers through Fractional InHouse. For comparison, Paragon offers embedded legal talent for projects and capacity needs, and Latitude offers flexible contract engagements and secondments. Ask every provider, including us, for the proposed lawyer’s actual in-house role history, ownership of commercial decisions and relevant workstream experience. A document-review credential alone does not answer a senior operating-counsel brief. Our staffing-model comparison covers the broader alternatives.

Which references to request

Request consented references from a hiring manager or GC who supervised comparable work, ideally with similar responsibilities, duration and organizational complexity. Ask what the lawyer owned, how onboarding worked, how independently they operated, how they communicated and escalated, and how the provider responded when something needed to change. Ask whether the reference would re-engage the lawyer or provider and why. Distinguish evidence about the individual from evidence about the supplier. Keep questions at the operating level; do not request confidential matters, customer details, documents or privileged advice.