If anyone aims to crown alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) as the largest employers of legal professionals, it may prove difficult to pinpoint their exact head count. For clients, the size of an ALSP’s workforce isn’t a concern or advantage. Instead, many look for a legal service provider with flexible staffing, which is possible due to their use of technology to automate some processes.

Many ALSPs keep an assortment of full-time, part-time and flex legal professionals available to meet clients’ impending deadlines and fulfill skill set, language, geographical and other requirements, noted Ed Sohn, head of solutions at Factor, a contract analysis and negotiation and corporate legal department solution provider.