How Much Do Paralegals Charge for Evidence Preparation?
Last updated November 2025
If you've ever asked “How much does a paralegal charge to organize screenshots or prepare evidence?” the short answer is: far more than people expect. Evidence prep is one of the most time-consuming tasks in family law — and one of the most expensive.
This guide breaks down typical paralegal rates, why evidence preparation takes so long, and how modern automation tools can reduce costs dramatically.
1. Typical Paralegal Rates in Family Law
Across the U.S., paralegal rates generally fall into these ranges:
- $50–$90/hour for admin-style work (sorting screenshots, organizing files)
- $100–$150/hour for substantive work (summaries, timelines, exhibit prep)
- $150–$250/hour in major metro areas or specialized litigation firms
Evidence preparation is usually billed at the higher end of the range because it’s detailed, meticulous, and high risk.
2. Why Evidence Prep Takes So Long
Most people don’t realize what goes into building a clean packet. Paralegals often spend:
- 2–5 hours just sorting and renaming screenshots
- 3–6 hours extracting context and writing summaries
- 2–4 hours assembling exhibits into a PDF
- 1–3 hours revisions based on attorney feedback
Total time: 8–18 hours per packet
At $90–$150/hour, families often pay $900–$2,700+ for evidence organization alone.
3. Why This Cost Surprises People
Most clients think evidence preparation is simple:
“I already have screenshots — can’t someone just put them in order?”
But courts need more than that. They need:
- a clean timeline
- consistent formatting
- accurate summaries
- no duplicates
- clear labeling for exhibits
Every detail matters — and time adds up quickly.
4. The Modern Alternative: Automated Evidence Tools
Today's AI-based systems can now handle:
- automatic text extraction
- chronological sorting
- summary generation
- relevance tagging
- PDF packet creation
Instead of paying $1,500 for manual sorting, clients review and approve what the software organizes for them.
5. Why Lawyers Are Adopting Automation
Attorneys increasingly prefer automated tools because:
- they reduce billable hours for low-level work
- evidence is more consistent
- summaries are cleaner and easier to cite
- clients feel more empowered and less overwhelmed
Many firms now pair a digital evidence tool with paralegal review to ensure accuracy at a fraction of the cost.
6. Final Thoughts
Paralegal support is valuable — but evidence prep doesn’t need to be prohibitively expensive. Automated tools like CaseBuilder give families a faster, more affordable way to prepare strong, court-ready packets.