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Quick answer: Legal process outsourcing cost depends on the pricing unit. Published examples range from $10 an hour for offshore support staff, to $40 to $52 an hour for U.S. JD and attorney reviewers on a state contract, to $0.44 to $1.29 per document for managed review, to $1,299 to $2,999 a month for a dedicated legal assistant. Stellar Staff's Pro plan is $1,999 a month for a full-time assistant. Ask each provider to quote the same job so you can compare total costs.
This guide covers price: how LPO pricing works, what providers publish, and how a firm may bill the cost to clients. If you're choosing a vendor, our guide to legal process outsourcing companies compares 11 providers. For the different ways to hire remote paralegal help, see hiring a virtual paralegal.
What Drives Legal Process Outsourcing Cost?
Five things set the price of outsourcing legal work. The first is who does the work: a licensed attorney costs more than a JD reviewer, and a JD reviewer costs more than a paralegal or legal assistant. The second is where that person works, since offshore reviewers are usually priced well below U.S. reviewers for the same task. The third is the pricing unit, which can be an hour, a page, a document, a gigabyte of data, a matter, or a month of full-time support. The fourth is volume and speed, because large projects often get volume discounts while rush turnaround costs more. The fifth is everything around the work itself: project management, quality control, review software, and data hosting. When two quotes look far apart, the difference usually comes from one of these five factors, not from one provider simply charging more.
What Are the Main LPO Pricing Models?
Most legal outsourcing is sold in one of five ways: per hour, per page or document, per gigabyte of data, per matter, or as a full-time monthly plan for one dedicated person. Hourly and full-time pricing buy capacity, meaning a person's time. Per-page, per-document, and per-matter pricing buy output, meaning finished work. That difference decides who carries the risk of slow work. Under capacity pricing, your firm does, so you need to watch productivity. Under output pricing, the provider does, so you need to watch quality and the definition of a unit. Per-gigabyte pricing covers the data itself, not the review, and usually runs alongside one of the other models on eDiscovery projects. Each model fits a different kind of work, and each one puts extra costs in a different place. The table shows what you pay for under each model and the first question to ask.
| Pricing model | You pay for | Common work | Ask before you sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per hour | Reviewer, paralegal, or attorney time | Research, drafting, first-level review, overflow | Who is the person, and is project management billed separately? |
| Per page or per document | Output, counted by page or file | Deposition summaries, managed review, coding | What counts as a page or a document, and is there a minimum? |
| Per gigabyte | Data processed, hosted, or produced | eDiscovery processing and hosting | Is hosting monthly, and does it stop when the matter closes? |
| Per matter or fixed fee | A defined deliverable | Due diligence, contract batches, discrete projects | What happens if the scope or volume changes? |
| Full-time monthly (FTE) | One dedicated person for a set number of hours | Intake, case administration, recurring paralegal support | How many hours are included, and what are the notice terms? |
What Do LPO Providers Charge Per Hour?
Hourly rates depend mostly on credentials and location. Washington State's statewide Discovery Services contract No. 10521, in effect from February 2023 through December 2027, publishes the rates its vendors charge state agencies. Consilio's price sheet lists first-level review at $43.00 an hour for a barred attorney, $40.00 for a JD reviewer, and $24.00 for a qualified reviewer in Gurgaon, India. Modus's price sheet lists remote third-party attorney review at $52.00 an hour. For lighter support work, Outsource2india, a Flatworld Solutions brand, says its LPO rates start at $10 per hour and calls that figure indicative. At the top of the range, Law Partner On Call's pricing guide says experienced freelance attorneys in the U.S. generally charge $100 to $250 an hour. That range is a useful reference point when you check a contract attorney hourly rate.
Benchmarks from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
Government pay data gives you an in-house comparison for any paralegal hourly rate you're quoted. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median wage of $30.24 an hour, or $62,890 a year, for paralegals and legal assistants in May 2025. For lawyers, the May 2025 median is $159,670 a year, or $76.76 an hour. These are wages paid to employees. They don't include payroll taxes, benefits, equipment, or recruiting, so they're a floor for the in-house cost, not the full cost.
Hourly charges beyond the review rate
Providers often bill separately for other work. Consilio's sheet lists review project management at $125.00 an hour and a managing attorney at $175.00 an hour, with overtime billed at the greater of 1.5 times the hourly rate or what Department of Labor rules require. Modus lists review project management at $150.00 an hour. Ask every provider how many management hours a typical project uses.
How Are Document Review Rates Set Per Document or Per Page?
Document review rates are often quoted per document instead of per hour, which moves the speed risk to the vendor. Consilio's Washington State price sheet shows how the tiers work. A fixed per-document price with no issue codes is $1.09 for barred reviewers, $1.00 for JD reviewers, and $0.44 for reviewers in Gurgaon, India. Adding 1 to 5 issue codes raises those to $1.19, $1.10, and $0.49, and 6 to 10 issue codes raises them to $1.29, $1.20, and $0.54. The fixed price requires a minimum of 20,000 files or 5 days of work. Industry survey data points to a similar range. In the ComplexDiscovery Winter 2026 eDiscovery Pricing Survey, published February 24, 2026, 28.3% of the 53 respondents put remote managed review at $0.50 to $1.00 per document, and 41.5% put remote hourly review at $25 to $40 an hour.
Two details change the real cost of per-document pricing. The first is how many documents reach a human reviewer. Consilio's sheet charges $0.25 for each document removed by analytics, so culling still has a price. The second is quality control, which is often billed separately. Consilio lists QC review at $65.00 an hour for barred attorneys.
Per-page pricing for summaries and scanning
Summaries, coding, and scanning are usually priced per page. Ditto Transcripts publishes deposition summary rates of $3.00 per page with a turnaround of 5 to 10 business days, or $2.50 per page if you can wait 11 business days or more. If Ditto also prepares the transcript, the summary rate drops to $2.25 per page, plus a per-minute transcription charge. Turnaround alone changes the price of the same work.
Scanning rates are small but add up on paper-heavy matters. On the Washington State contract, Consilio lists OCR at $0.03 per page and heavy litigation black-and-white scanning at $0.16 per page. Modus lists coding at $0.25 per page and color scanning or copying at $0.85 per page.
What Do eDiscovery Processing and Hosting Add to the Bill?
Data charges are the easiest part of eDiscovery pricing to underestimate. Processing is usually a one-time charge per gigabyte, and hosting is a monthly charge per gigabyte for as long as the data sits on the review platform. Modus's state contract sheet lists native processing at $5.00 per GB and monthly hosting at $2.75 per GB for the first 1,999 GB, falling in tiers to $0.75 per GB above 11,000 GB, with cold storage at $0.50 per GB. Consilio lists single-tier processing at $75.00 per GB, hosting on one of its platforms at $10.00 per GB per month, and native file production at $275.00 per GB. The gap between those two sheets is a good reason to ask each vendor for a full-matter estimate instead of comparing single line items.
Hosting keeps running after review ends. If a case settles slowly or an appeal follows, a firm can pay for months of storage on data nobody is reading. Put a closing date for each matter in writing, along with the steps to archive or delete the data.
How Does Per-Matter or Fixed-Fee LPO Pricing Work?
Per-matter pricing means the provider quotes one price for a defined result: a set of contracts reviewed against a checklist, a due diligence data room summarized, or a batch of medical records organized for a personal injury file. Providers rarely publish these prices because each one depends on scope, so the statement of work becomes the real price list. A good fixed-fee quote states the deliverable, the number of documents or pages it assumes, the turnaround, the price for anything above that volume, and how many rounds of revision are included. Fixed fees work well when you can describe the output in advance and the volume is predictable. They work poorly for discovery, where volume is unknown until the data is collected.
For discovery, ask for a per-document or per-hour rate with a written cap instead, and require the provider to notify you before it passes a budget threshold you set.
What Does a Dedicated Full-Time Legal Assistant Cost?
The full-time model, often called FTE pricing, fits ongoing, daily legal support. You pay a flat monthly fee for one person who works a set number of hours each month for your firm only. Outsource2india describes its FTE model as a dedicated employee assigned full-time for 160 hours per month, with a part-time option of 80 hours for lower workloads. Wishup's legal assistant page lists starting prices of $1,299 a month for part-time and $1,999 a month for full-time. Stellar Staff's Pro plan is $1,999 a month and the Executive plan is $2,999 a month, both full-time at 160 hours a month. Pro works out to about $12.50 an hour.
A dedicated assistant is priced for steady daily work such as client intake, scheduling, case file organization, deadline tracking, and document preparation under attorney review. Our virtual legal assistant guide lists what you can delegate under ABA Model Rule 5.3 and what stays with the attorney. A dedicated assistant is not priced for a 200,000-document review that needs to finish in two weeks. That work belongs with a review vendor.
How Do You Compare LPO Quotes That Use Different Units?
Comparing LPO pricing across providers only works when every quote is priced against the same job. Pick one recent matter or one typical month of work and send the same description to every provider. Ask each one for a total estimate for that job, broken into the units it actually bills, along with the assumptions behind it, such as pages per hour or documents per hour. Then compare totals, not rates. A low per-document rate with a high minimum can cost more than a higher hourly rate on a small project. A low hourly rate with separate project management can cost more than a higher all-in rate. The table below lists the charges that most often sit outside the headline price.
| Charge | Where it shows up | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Project management | Hourly line on review projects | How many management hours does a project like mine use? |
| Quality control | Separate reviewer rate | What share of documents gets a second review, and at what rate? |
| Minimums | Per-document and fixed-fee quotes | What is the minimum volume or time, and what if I fall short? |
| Rush turnaround | Per-page and per-matter pricing | What is the price at standard turnaround versus rush? |
| Overtime | Hourly review | When does overtime apply, and who approves it? |
| Hosting after review | Monthly per-GB charge | When does hosting stop, and what does archiving cost? |
| Excluded work | Scope notes | Are foreign-language documents or privilege logs priced separately? |
The same check applies to monthly staffing plans. Our list of virtual assistant fees to check before you sign covers setup fees, hour caps, and notice periods.
What Is the LPO Cost for Small Law Firms?
For most small law firms, the right model depends on whether the work is steady or occasional. Steady daily work, such as intake calls, scheduling, records requests, and document formatting, usually costs less on a flat monthly plan than on hourly billing, because the assistant learns your files and you stop paying for ramp-up time on every task. Occasional spikes, such as a large production in one case, fit a per-document or per-hour review vendor that can scale up and then stop. One-off tasks, such as a few deposition summaries before a mediation, fit per-page pricing. Many firms end up using two models: a dedicated assistant for recurring work and a vendor for the occasional large project. Our virtual paralegal guide walks through the tradeoffs between dedicated support and project-based review in more detail.
A dedicated assistant through an agency like Stellar Staff fits the firm's ongoing workload. Stellar Staff handles recruiting, payroll, HR, tracking, and replacements, and your attorneys direct the assistant's daily work. You interview 2 to 3 finalists and pick one, and the search takes 5 to 10 business days. Plans are month to month with no long-term contract and can be canceled with 14 days' notice. A bilingual assistant adds $200 a month. You can see how one firm set this up in our Roberts Markland law firm case study, and what a legal assistant handles on our law firm virtual assistant page.
Can a Law Firm Bill Clients for Outsourced Legal Work?
Generally, yes, as long as you stay within the rules on fees and client consent. ABA Model Rule 1.5(a) says a lawyer shall not charge or collect "an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses," and that applies to outsourced work too. ABA Formal Opinion 08-451, issued in August 2008, takes the position that a lawyer may outsource legal or nonlegal support services as long as the lawyer remains ultimately responsible. As summarized in the ABA's Law Practice Today, the opinion says the fees charged must be reasonable and comply with Rule 1.5. It adds that appropriate disclosures should be made to the client, and that client consent should be obtained when the outside provider will receive confidential information protected by Rule 1.6.
Charging the provider's cost versus billing it as legal fees
How you bill the work matters. Florida Bar Ethics Opinion 07-2 says a law firm may charge a client the actual cost of an overseas provider and should not duplicate charges for nonlawyer services. The New York City Bar's report on outsourcing legal services overseas says that if a firm plans to bill clients on a basis other than actual cost, it should get the client's consent in advance. The report counts a reasonable share of overhead as part of actual cost. In practice, many firms describe outsourced work and how it will be billed in the engagement letter.
Supervision stays with the lawyer
ABA Model Rule 5.3 requires lawyers to make reasonable efforts to ensure that nonlawyer assistants, including those outside the firm, act in a way that fits the lawyer's professional obligations. A lower price does not reduce that duty. Budget attorney time for instructions, spot checks, and final review when you compare providers. State rules vary, so check your own state bar's opinions.
This section is general information, not legal advice. Talk to your state bar's ethics counsel or your own counsel about billing and consent for your firm.
LPO Pricing Questions Law Firms Ask
How much does legal process outsourcing cost?
It depends on the unit. Published examples include rates starting at $10 an hour for offshore support, $40 to $52 an hour for U.S. JD and attorney reviewers on Washington State's eDiscovery contract, $0.44 to $1.29 per document for managed review on that contract, $2.50 to $3.00 per page for deposition summaries, and $1,299 to $2,999 a month for a dedicated legal assistant. Compare total estimates for the same job, not unit rates.
How much does LPO cost for a small law firm?
Most small firms outsource steady administrative and paralegal-type work, which is usually priced as a monthly plan for one dedicated person. Stellar Staff's Pro plan is $1,999 a month for a full-time assistant at 160 hours a month, about $12.50 an hour, month to month with 14 days' notice. Occasional large reviews are often cheaper through a per-document vendor than through added staff.
What is the hourly rate for outsourced document review?
On Washington State's Discovery Services contract, Consilio lists first-level review at $43.00 an hour for barred attorneys, $40.00 for JD reviewers, and $24.00 for qualified reviewers in India, and Modus lists remote attorney review at $52.00 an hour. In the ComplexDiscovery Winter 2026 survey, 41.5% of respondents put remote review at $25 to $40 an hour.
What is the hourly rate for an outsourced paralegal?
It varies by location and model. The BLS median wage for paralegals and legal assistants is $30.24 an hour as of May 2025, before benefits and payroll taxes. Outsource2india says its LPO rates start at $10 an hour. A full-time assistant on Stellar Staff's Pro plan costs about $12.50 an hour.
Is offshore legal support cheaper than U.S. reviewers?
Usually, yes, for the same task. On the same state contract price sheet, Consilio lists first-level review at $24.00 an hour for qualified reviewers in Gurgaon, India, compared with $43.00 for barred U.S. attorneys, and per-document review at $0.44 compared with $1.09. Offshore work still needs client consent where confidential information is shared, plus attorney supervision.
Can a law firm mark up outsourced legal work?
The total charge must be reasonable under ABA Model Rule 1.5. Florida Bar Opinion 07-2 allows a firm to charge the actual cost of an overseas provider, and the New York City Bar report says billing on any basis other than actual cost calls for the client's advance consent. Rules differ by state, so check yours. This is general information, not legal advice.
Price the Work Before You Pick the Provider
Legal process outsourcing cost is easiest to control when you know what you're buying: capacity or output. Write down the work, the volume, and the turnaround first. Then ask providers to price that exact job, and compare totals that include management, quality control, and data charges. Our LPO companies guide can help you build the shortlist.
A dedicated assistant is not the right choice for every firm. If your need is a large, time-limited review that requires licensed attorneys, privilege calls, or an eDiscovery platform, a managed review vendor is the better fit. If you only have ten or fifteen hours of work a week, a full-time plan will leave paid hours unused, and Stellar Staff sells full-time plans only. If your work needs someone in the courthouse or a state-specific paralegal credential, hire locally.
If your firm has a full-time workload of intake, scheduling, and case administration, compare Stellar Staff plans and pricing or start a search with the #2 VA agency on Clutch.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Third-party rates are quoted as published on each source and can change. Sources checked November 8, 2026. Stellar Staff pricing is current as of November 2026.