Lawyer Quick Start Guide

Priori is the legal marketplace changing the way in-house teams find, hire and manage outside counsel. Using data and technology, we rapidly connect teams from 1 to 1000+ with the right attorney for any project globally.

Our clients include Fortune 500 enterprises and leading technology companies, who use the Priori platform to find vetted boutique firms for projects requiring niche expertise, local counsel, cost-control or overflow capacity support. 

We were shortlisted as a 2018 and 2019 Financial Times Intelligent Business for our work reducing the cost of legal services for corporate clients by 60-80%.

Lawyers in the Priori network receive opportunities from prospective Priori clients via two streams:

• Stream 1: Clients typically submit requests on our website and receive a proposal with a list of best-suited lawyer matches for them to connect with. If a client is interested in your services, you will be notified by email and can log in to schedule a free 30-minute introductory call or message the client about the prospective engagement. Each new client inquiry will appear as a card on your account dashboard.

• Stream 2: For clients requesting customized quotes for their project, we invite lawyers with relevant experience to apply for the engagement on our opportunities page. Clients will review your application and contact you if they would like to interview you for the prospective engagement. Each week we also send a curated list of these open opportunities by email to our extended lawyer network.

To ensure we can best match you with prospective clients, please complete your Priori Profile and Matching Preferences.

If you do not currently have an account on our platform, please apply here.

Priori clients are charged a composite rate for projects initiated on our platform. The composite rate is comprised of your legal fees plus our management fee per the following formula:

Client Total = Your Legal Fees + Priori Management Fee

You can add a rate to your Priori profile at any time. You can also create additional rates when building proposals or opening new projects for Priori clients. We accommodate hourly rates, flat rates and retainers on our platform.  

Important: There is no management fee payable on disbursements and out-of-pocket expenses. You will recoup any disbursements in full.

If you connect with a prospective client on our platform and they would like to move forward with the engagement, the next step is for you to send the client a formal proposal for them to consider and accept or decline.

You can build and send a formal proposal by viewing the relevant client request on your account dashboard, selecting the "Build Proposal" option and filling out the information on each tab of the proposal builder. If the client accepts the proposal, you will be notified by email and provided with the client’s contact information to connect and start work. Each new open project will also appear as a card on your account dashboard.

For existing or repeat clients, you do not need to send a proposal to the client to start the engagement. You should instead open a new project. This process does not require the client to accept your proposal to hire you for the new engagement.

Important: If you require clients to sign an engagement letter you may upload it to your formal proposal on our site, send it via our messaging app or send it by email once the client accepts your proposal on our site. To ensure consistency, we suggest that your engagement letter reference your Priori rate and state that billing and payments will be made via the Priori platform. 

Priori clients must be billed through our platform. The standard billing period for Priori clients is between the 1st and the 7th of each month for the preceding month’s work, with any unsent time as at midnight on the 7th being automatically invoiced to the client. You may however send invoices to your Priori clients at any other time agreed with them.

You can add line items and build and send invoices from the relevant open project page, accessible from your account dashboard. Simply select “Add Line Item” on the project page, enter the required information, repeat as needed, then select “Build Invoice” to create and send your invoice to the client.

You can also upload LEDES invoices to send to clients:

Unless we otherwise notify you, Priori clients must submit payment of their invoices within 14 days. Payment may be made by credit card or linked bank account / ACH and are deposited in your linked bank account once the payment is cleared by our third-party payment processor. This may take up to 7 days to occur.

Important Notes:

(1) Our payment processor (Stripe) charges processing fees to transfer money paid by clients via credit card. The processing fees are 2.9% + 30c per credit card transaction and are automatically deducted from the amount deposited in your account. Stripe does not deduct any processing fees from amounts paid by clients via bank transfer or ACH.

(2) Priori does not guarantee payment of client fees. Payments (less any processing fees) are automatically directed to your linked bank account promptly following payment by the client on the Priori platform.