The goal was to manage life in a way to stay at home with their children, and at the same time remain in the legal profession. How to achieve that goal was a mystery at the time, but something that had to be accomplished. “It was a matter of necessity,” says Erin Giglia, co-founder of Montage Legal Group, a company that provides temporary legal services to law firms through a network of independent freelance attorneys who work from home on an hourly basis. Giglia says she was completely terrified to quit the firm where she was an associate to tackle a concept that was somewhat new in the legal industry. “I would not have left if it wasn’t for this business,” she said.
But it was Giglia’s business partner, Laurie Gormican Rowen, who came up with the idea to create a network built around other people, in their same position, with the same level of legal skill and expertise. Giglia took a step of faith and eventually the pieces fell together. Both Giglia and Rowen invested just $2,000 each to get the company off the ground, and in 2009, Montage Legal Group was formed. Giglia says they didn’t need much to get things moving other than a laptop, printer and the Internet.
The company initially started with their own efforts and in 2010 they began adding more attorneys to their group. By 2011, their network of attorneys grew to 60 and today, according to Giglia, Montage has 125 attorneys in the group. Law firms in need can now contact Montage and request an attorney to assist with short-term or long-term legal projects for a fee, based on the service or specialty provided.
In 2013, Montage made just over $1 million in revenue and this year they will exceed that, according to Giglia The formula for success boils down to a simple formula, says Giglia—"gut check” everything. She says the pause to assess the state of the business has been her approach to everything from screening talent to expanding the business.
The pool of talented attorneys has become the bread and butter of Montage. Giglia says she is mindful of the attorneys they hire. “We screen for background and quality. All of our attorneys are extremely hirable. Their credentials are impressive,” says Giglia. Unlike a staffing agency, she says, the attorneys with Montage are not looking for full-time work. They left their firms voluntary but want to remain in legal practice.
Jessica Coffin, a graduate from the University of Southern California Law School, was an associate at Snell and Wilmer in Orange County, Calif., before she became a freelance attorney with Montage in 2012. Coffin says she could not imagine a better way to practice law. “We are doing real substantive work for an hourly rate that is usually in line with our training and practice, “ says Coffin.
She reached out to Montage as a path to help her continue practicing law and follow her husband, who is in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. “We also have a five-month old son, so I feel extra fortunate that I can work from home while taking care of him,” says Coffin.” Other attorneys like Coffin who are mothers, fathers, military spouses or just looking for an alternative mode of practicing law now have the chance to work for law firms with flexibility through Montage, according to Coffin.
But that dream lifestyle isn’t given away freely. Giglia says the company receives over a thousand applicants hoping to join the group, but they only take a select few. The attorneys at Montage have worked in top law firms and graduated from top law schools. Giglia says she must feel confident in the people Montage is hiring. Giglia says trust is imperative. “We don’t see the substantive product,” she says. Montage must rely on feedback from firms to ensure the quality is at a high level---and so far, it’s been positive.
For smaller firms, like Kang, Spanos and Moos, LLP, Montage has become a game-changer by helping reduce the cost of legal services. Damian Moos, a partner at Kang, Spanos and Moos LLP, has worked with Montage the past two years and said their freelance attorneys allowed him to staff cases with excellent attorneys that typically come from top law firms. “Because I don’t have to carry an employee’s salary on payroll or accommodate a larger office space, I can keep my overhead down and offer my services at a lower price,” said Moos. “In terms of capability, I can compete with a larger firm. Yet in terms of cost, I’m probably substantially cheaper.”
Josh Abel, a partner at Abel Law Offices, a boutique practice in Aliso Viejo, Calif., says having the ability to get qualified attorneys to assist him in his projects on a rush basis has served him well. “Montage attorneys communicate effectively and have the ability to jump into a project, learn it quickly, and work on it as if they were there from the beginning.” Abel also says working with Montage allows smaller firms like his to take on larger cases without having to make a big commitment to a full-time employee.
Currently, Montage is active in California, New York, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Maryland, Illinois and Ohio, with plans to continue expanding. Giglia warns however, that entrepreneurs like her must be careful in expansion. “Keep it close and keep it quality is a mantra she believes in. “ Growth is good, but Giglia says to be extremely thoughtful. “It’s easy to look into the marketplace and say someone else is doing that, why don’t I do that?” Giglia says she really takes the time to stop--gut check, and research every potential market. She believes in measured growth. Giglia says she doesn’t want to be too big where Montage has lost touch with the attorneys and in turn, sacrificed the brand. “We want the quality very high,” says Giglia. “We want to live up to our brand.”
