Despite the fact that no one goes to law school hoping to become a doc review attorney, many legal professionals end up doing this type of work for a living. It isn’t the most prestigious gig and it certainly doesn’t pay well, but it does provide semi-steady work. It also helps many recent law school graduates pay off their student loans.
Depending on the case or matter, attorneys, paralegals and other litigation support professionals may be hired to review certain documents or records, often with the assistance of software that allows for easy sorting and search. Some of this work is done as part of the pre-trial discovery process. In some cases, hundreds or even thousands of pages are needed to be reviewed.
Document review is tedious work. It is a time-consuming job that requires a keen attention to detail. Especially when there is a large number of documents to be reviewed, it is important that all records are carefully examined and the relevant information extracted. It is also necessary to review each record for privilege. Those records that are considered privileged should be marked and added to a privilege log.
In general, a document review attorney’s salary depends on the project, the experience and the location of the company. Licensed lawyers who specialize in reviewing certain types of documents typically earn higher rates than those with no experience. Those working in metropolitan areas and on projects that require specialized skills or foreign language fluency may earn higher salaries.
