I’d like to test this proposition. Assume a corporate generalist six years out of law school. If hired as a full-time lawyer, that lawyer costs the company approximately $150-$170 per hour fully-loaded (See my post of Oct.18, 2005 on calculating a fully-loaded cost per lawyer hour.) The lawyer with the same amount of experience who is at a regional law firm, one of say 20 to 50 lawyers not on the coasts, would cost the company $180-$220 per hour.
The identical lawyer, hired instead as a temp by the company – but not through a temporary service agency, might cost $70-90 per hour with no benefits. (See my post of July 14, 2005 about retaining former lawyers of the department.) The same lawyer with the same qualifications if hired through a temporary service agency might cost $80 to $100 per hour. Finally, the same lawyer but an Indian law school graduate might bill at $15 to $35 per hour. (See my post of Jan. 6, 2006 about the Indian legal offshore market.)
Am I right? Quite a range of choices and costs!