Key Takeaway: A brief scoping call reduces hiring risk, improves candidate fit, and streamlines the fulfillment process. It is the most efficient way to ensure flexible legal talent aligns with your team’s needs.

Legal departments often face urgent flexible talent needs. Whether the goal is to cover a leave, respond to a spike in workload, or fill a gap in expertise, the pressure to move quickly is apparent. But speed without clarity leads to misalignment, wasted time, and missed opportunities.

Hiring flexible legal talent is not just about filling a role. It is about finding the right person to represent your team, support your clients, and make meaningful contributions to your department. Hiring managers may be tempted to rely exclusively on job descriptions and resumes to guide the process. This shortcut leads to mismatches, delays, and frustration.

A brief, focused conversation at the beginning of the process drives clarity and alignment from the outset, leading to stronger hiring outcomes. The scoping call is not a formality; it is the foundation of a successful engagement.

You Are Hiring a Person, Not a Profile

Just as you wouldn’t hire a financial planner or caretaker for your child on credentials alone, legal professionals are not interchangeable. They will be in meetings, interacting with clients, handling sensitive information, and representing your department. A scoping call allows you to explain your team’s culture, expectations, and working style. This results in candidates who align with your unique environment, not just the job description. Skills matter, but so does communication style, work approach, and team interaction.

Define the Role Before You Fill It

Job descriptions are often vague, outdated, overly inclusive, or missing insight into how the role fits within the department. An effective scoping call clarifies what the role demands today and refreshes the job description with current business priorities and input from the direct hiring manager. Consider raising more specific questions to clarify the application of job requirements in practice:

• What percentage of the work involves contracts?
• How much client interaction is expected?
• Is this a heads-down role or one that requires cross-functional collaboration?
• Who will the candidate be interacting with day in and day out?

These questions move the process from general expectations to specific requirements. That clarity leads to better matches and faster onboarding.

Focus on Fit, Not Just Skills

Every legal hire is a strategic decision. They represent your department, interact with clients, and contribute to your team’s culture. A resume cannot capture how someone communicates, collaborates, or adapts.

Working with vetted professionals who have an extensive understanding of the hiring process allows teams to achieve better alignment and more effective outcomes.

Avoid Common Missteps

It’s easy to default to assumptions. Some teams request junior talent to manage cost, but junior professionals may not be equipped to work independently. Others ask for niche experience that may not be necessary for the actual work.

A scoping call surfaces these assumptions and tests them with strategic questioning:

• What specific tasks will this role handle with that specialized skill?
• Can we specify which skills are an absolute must-have
• Would a part-time senior lawyer be more cost-effective than a full-time junior lawyer?

Addressing existing assumptions with intentional questioning enables more informed hiring decisions.

Save Time Later by Investing Time Now

A scoping conversation typically takes 15 to 30 minutes, and that short investment pays off in fewer interviews, faster decisions, smoother onboarding, and quicker realization of value for your team.

Candidates are well prepared, interviews stay focused, and your team avoids repeating the same explanations throughout the process. When the role is clearly defined from the outset, the hiring journey moves faster and yields stronger results.

Build a Smarter Legal Talent Strategy

Legal departments that engage in scoping conversations build stronger relationships with their talent providers. They receive better advice, more relevant candidates, and a clearer view of the market.

Collaborating through a scoping call with professionals who know your business and anticipate future needs creates a partnership built through direct, meaningful conversation. That connection supports long-term planning and effective decision-making.

The Value of a Scoping Call

Your time is valuable. A short conversation upfront in the hiring process delivers clarity, alignment, and confidence, saving time and avoiding common pitfalls. When partnering with an experienced provider, every step in this process is designed to improve client outcomes and ensure exceptional hiring decisions while minimizing time commitment.

If your team is preparing to hire flexible legal talent, start with a conversation. You will get better results and spend less time getting there.

Learn more about Epiq Counsel.

Julie Kelly, Senior Director, Legal Fulfillment
Julie is the Senior Director of Fulfillment at Epiq Counsel, with over 20 years of experience in the legal industry, both as an attorney and as an expert in the legal secondment practice. Julie is a trusted guide and consultant, ensuring that clients' legal challenges are met when faced with an immediate need for experienced and skilled legal talent.