I often meet attorneys who have never considered using a per diem attorney. It has simply never occurred to them. Yet when I ask solo practitioners “how’s business?” they will often complain of a busy caseload, and wish they could afford some help. Hiring a full time associate is a problem when you can’t be sure to generate enough work to keep the associate busy full time. Bringing me in to pinch-hit for you is a highly cost effective alternative – you can bill my time to your clients at a higher rate than I will charge you, and you can leverage your time and better manage your caseload. Bring me in and you bring on an extra pair of hands, an extra legal-trained mind, an experienced, reliable and meticulous practitioner who is dedicated to making your life in the practice of law easier. Research, motions, appeals, conferences, depositions, document production, estate planning, contracts, matrimonial cases… have law degree will travel!

– Megan Oltman

Why would you need a pinch-hitting attorney? Has anything like this ever happened in your law office? Imagine you are a sole practitioner with one associate. Your top client is being sued. You have three days to file a responsive pleading, which will involve a dozen or more exhibits. Your associate is in court all week; you will be working into the wee hours to get this pleading filed.

Of course your phone still rings, and your other clients still need attention. You speak to clients and adversaries, putting out small fires as you go along.

Into the middle of this comes another issue – a matrimonial matter where you represent the wife. The husband has taken unilateral action which harms your client. You emailed opposing counsel taking exception to the husband’s action, and today you received the reply. Counsel claims that not only was his client justified, but that some unspecified case law would impose liability on your client for opposing his position. It’s not an everyday issue, and though counsel’s claim doesn’t sound right to you, you can’t recall the law off the top of your head. It is a time sensitive issue, and you must respond.

This clearly called for a pinch-hitter. The practitioner described gave me a call, spent fifteen minutes getting me familiar with the case, and gave me copies of the relevant emails. I researched the point of law, asked a few more factual questions, and presented her with my analysis of the relevant law as applied to her client. (By the way, the adversary was blowing smoke, big time!) The practitioner outlined a few points for the response, I drafted a letter to the adversary, and sent it to the practitioner to revise if she liked, sign off on, and send to her adversary. The whole thing took me about two hours, and the practitioner was able to respond to her adversary in less than twenty-four hours. A real pinch-hit.

– Megan Oltman