Litigation support is the part of a case that has to happen for the matter to move, but does not need a solicitor’s qualification to do it. That gap between necessary and specialist work is exactly where a fee earner’s time gets eaten in a busy litigation practice.
What does litigation support actually include?
Litigation support covers the recurring, structured work that runs alongside every contested matter: building and maintaining a chronology as facts and documents come in, drafting and updating a schedule of loss, tracking correspondence and deadlines across a caseload, and preparing the practical groundwork for a hearing, from witness availability to exhibit lists.
This is distinct from legal advice or case strategy. It is the infrastructure a matter runs on, and it needs to be accurate and current for a fee earner to make good decisions on top of it.
Why does this work pile up specifically in small litigation teams?
A two or three partner litigation practice has little depth to absorb a spike. When several matters move toward hearing in the same month, the chronology and schedule of loss work does not stop needing to happen, it simply gets pushed later into the evening or handled by whoever has an hour free, which is rarely the person who should be doing it.
This pattern is closely connected to the resourcing pressure discussed in our article on signs a firm has outgrown its current paralegal headcount, where litigation support work is usually the first area to show strain.
How does outsourced litigation support fit into a file that is already moving?
It slots into the case plan that already exists rather than replacing it. A dedicated paralegal works to the deadlines the fee earner sets, inside the firm’s own case management system, producing documents in the firm’s own format, the same output a competent in-house paralegal would produce, without the fixed cost of a hire sitting idle between hearings.
The fee earner retains conduct of the matter throughout. This is the same principle confirmed by the Court of Appeal in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP [2026] EWCA Civ 369, discussed in full in our article on what the Mazur decision means for delegating litigation tasks: an unauthorised person may lawfully carry out tasks within the conduct of litigation, provided the authorised individual retains responsibility and puts in place proper supervision.
How much does litigation support typically cost against an in-house hire?
A fixed-fee Single Paralegal package runs £800 a month, considerably less than the effective monthly cost of an in-house hire once National Insurance, pension and overheads are included, a comparison set out fully in our cost comparison article. Full package detail is on our Pricing page.
What stays with the firm throughout?
Every substantive decision on the matter, and final sign-off on anything that reaches the other side or the court. Our How It Works page sets out exactly how that supervision is structured from the first instruction onward.
Where to go from here
If litigation support work is the area slowing your caseload down, our Contact page is the fastest way to scope what a dedicated paralegal could take off your plate.
What legal obligation does the Civil Procedure Rules place on the parties?
Litigation conducted in England and Wales runs against the framework set out in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998, which govern everything from disclosure to trial preparation.
Litigation support work exists to keep a firm’s matters compliant with that framework without every procedural task landing on the fee earner directly.
How does this connect to the wider back-office picture?
Litigation support rarely sits in isolation. It connects closely to disclosure work, covered in our disclosure and document review article, and to drafting, covered in our legal drafting support article.
A firm often benefits from combining these under a single Team of Three or Complete Back Office arrangement rather than sourcing each separately, detailed on our Pricing page.
What does good litigation support actually look like measured over a full matter?
Consistency from first instruction to final hearing. A chronology started in week one should still be accurate and current by the time a matter reaches trial, not something reconstructed under pressure closer to the date.
That kind of continuity is exactly what a dedicated paralegal, working the same firm’s matters over time, is positioned to deliver, a theme explored further in our article on what a dedicated team does day to day.
How does this reduce risk around missed procedural deadlines?
By keeping a live, actively tracked record of every deadline across a firm’s litigation caseload, rather than relying on individual fee earners to each track their own matters in isolation.
A missed procedural deadline under the CPR can have serious consequences for a client’s case, and consistent tracking is one of the more overlooked ways litigation support protects a firm.
Is this suitable for firms handling multi-track as well as fast-track claims?
Yes. The underlying discipline, chronologies, schedules, hearing preparation, applies across all track allocations, though multi-track matters typically generate proportionally more of this work given their complexity and duration.
A firm running several multi-track matters at once often finds this is exactly where a dedicated paralegal earns back the most time.
What should a firm look for when scoping a litigation support engagement?
Clarity on which specific tasks are included, chronologies, schedules, hearing preparation, and how those tasks are prioritised across a busy caseload.
A vague scope leads to mismatched expectations. A clear one, agreed in writing before work starts, is what makes the arrangement actually work in practice, consistent with the approach on our How It Works page.
Does litigation support extend to correspondence with the other side?
Tracking and organising correspondence, yes. Drafting substantive responses on contentious points stays with the fee earner, since that involves the kind of judgement calls that sit outside a paralegal’s role.
The distinction is between managing the flow of correspondence and deciding what it says on anything that matters to the outcome of the case.
How quickly can litigation support actually start on a live matter?
Often within days, once scope and access are agreed in writing. There is no recruitment cycle involved, which is usually the biggest single difference in speed compared to hiring.
A firm with a matter already moving toward a deadline can typically get support in place fast enough to genuinely help, rather than arriving too late to make a difference.
What’s the single biggest misconception about outsourced litigation support?
That it means losing control of a matter. In practice, the opposite tends to be true.
A fee earner who is not buried in chronology updates has more actual time to think about strategy, not less, and retains every substantive decision throughout, exactly as set out in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP [2026] EWCA Civ 369.
Can litigation support be paused between active phases of a matter?
Yes, scope flexes with what a matter actually needs at any given point, rather than staying fixed regardless of how active the file currently is.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the real difference between litigation support and legal advice?
Litigation support is the structured groundwork behind a case, chronologies, schedules of loss, hearing prep. The advice and strategy stay entirely with your solicitor, always.
Can this work inside our existing case management system?
Yes. Whatever you run, Clio, LEAP, Osprey, Actionstep, work happens directly inside it. Nobody’s juggling a separate tool that needs reconciling afterwards.
Who actually checks the work before it’s used on a matter?
You do. Every draft goes back to the instructing fee earner for review and sign-off before it’s filed or sent, which lines up with how the Court of Appeal framed supervision in Mazur.
How does the cost compare to a Single Paralegal package?
It sits inside the £800 a month Single Paralegal package, or the £2,250 Team of Three if you need more hands. Full breakdown’s on the Pricing page.
