MONTAGE LEGAL GROUP'S Freelance Attorneys Find Work-Life Balance While Helping Law Firms Thrive in Economic Downturn

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Feb. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Laurie Rowen and Erin Giglia never dreamed their two-woman contract attorney shop would become a 16-attorney freelance legal company in less than a year.  Rowen and Giglia, who previously practiced law at Snell & Wilmer, conceptualized their business when they left law firm practice after having children.  "I had an ideal situation at an outstanding firm.  But even a great situation at a firm had too many drawbacks for me to continue a traditional practice after starting a family," says Giglia.  The two litigators then formed Montage Legal Group, a network of freelance attorneys who do legal projects on a contract basis for both companies and law firms in Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego.  The goal is to provide flexibility and support for attorneys and clients, as well as excellent legal services at a fraction of law firm rates.  

Montage Legal Group consists primarily of female attorneys with young children, who walked away from careers at top-notch, full-service law firms to achieve the work-life balance that can be difficult for big firm attorneys to find.  Montage Legal's attorneys use their big-firm legal expertise to help businesses and firms balance their case needs while avoiding the financial pressures associated with salaried attorneys' overhead costs.

Because of its attorneys' exceptional experience, Montage Legal is drastically different than most legal outsourcing companies that focus on document review and pay their attorneys $15-$30 per hour.   "When a firm hires us, their case will be staffed with someone like Montage Legal's Angie Knarr, a Harvard Law graduate trained at Latham and Watkins," says Rowen.  "Our clients hire our attorneys to do complex, substantive work normally entrusted to their full-time associates.  Our rates are a mere fraction of associate rates, which is especially attractive to clients in this economy."  

Montage Legal had such a phenomenal response in 2010 that it added five attorneys in January 2011.  Former Cooley Goodward employment attorney Samantha Everett expands Montage's San Diego presence to three attorneys, and former Allen Matkins attorney Laura Finkelstein adds to the transactional group.    

"We created Montage to enable us to practice law while raising our children.  We are thrilled that we found a niche that provides work-life balance to other attorneys and allows our clients to increase their profits in this difficult economy," says Giglia.

SOURCE Montage Legal