Our recent report, Disloyal lawyers: has the partner track lost its lustre?, explores how career paths in law firms are quickly changing. Our report showed the partnership model, once the assumed career path for associates, has been fading in popularity.
New career paths have gained huge credibility after a relook at priorities following the pandemic. In recent years, we've seen the rise of a host of alternative legal service providers (ALSPs), an increase in legal consultants at platform law firms, a new wave of freelance lawyers, and plenty of other unique options challenging the standard model.
Because of such changes, law firms are struggling to retain talent and therefore, law firms are increasingly looking to contractors, consultants, and freelancers.
In this article, we'll dig deeper into the new opportunities for lawyers, the shifting career paths available to them, and the increasing role of contractors, freelancers, and legal consultants in law firms.
It's important to begin with definitions. Both freelancers and contractors are typically self-employed, operating as sole traders or as limited companies and each operates differently. Mostly, contractors are signed up with an agency and not paid directly by clients, whereas freelancers work independently and are paid directly.
The term legal consultant is often used interchangeably with freelance lawyer. Like contractors, legal consultants don't work entirely independently, as revenue-sharing platform law firms typically afford them employment. The key difference between legal consultants and contractors is that consultants tend to share a percentage of billings, whereas contractors are typically paid in fixed amounts: per day, per month, per job, and so on.
As mentioned, the legal sector often uses the above terms interchangeably and freelancer is sometimes applied as a synecdoche for all employees not employed by a law firm or a business. For ease, here, freelancer will cover both contractors and legal consultants.
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The pandemic . Various causes explain that tend: employees enjoyed working from home, noticed increased productivity at home, found themselves unwilling to commute, lost their jobs due to lockdowns, and sought a better work-life balance in their future jobs. The pandemic led to a wholesale relook of how people spent their time, according to the . One that hit the legal industry widespread.
Our report shows that lawyers at all stages of their careers seek better work-life balance. Work-life balance was cited as the most important factor when looking to move firms. And more than two-thirds (71%) of associates said they would place work-life balance in their top three most important priorities. Finally, for lawyers at the start and end of their careers, work-life balance was seen as the most important work factor.
The so-called is ahead of schedule. Consider, for example, that and 80% said they want to increase their use of freelancers. Then think about the fact that 80% said they're attracted to a freelancing career. The UK currently has , a number set to rapidly increase in the coming years. The rise of freelancers is ahead of schedule, but it's still only just beginning.
The legal sector broadly conforms to that trend. For example, the increase in flexible resourcing models, as seen in platform which employs roughly 350 freelancers and , which has more than 1,000 third-party lawyers ready to be deployed for specific client projects. Other firms have followed suit: , , and Consilio's .
Or consider , which showed a growing number of solicitors opting for freelance positions. suggests as many as 3,000 of the UK's 10,000 firms could close or merge in the next five years due to platform law firms. It's clear that, whether through flexible resourcing models, ALSPs, platform law, or , freelancers will form a significant chunk or the future of law.
But what about law firms? Should they use freelancers? Below we take a quick look at the pros and cons of using freelancers, starting with the most obvious pro.
Pro: reduced costs
Freelancers often work on a timed or project basis. Meaning law firms don't need to pay when freelancers are sick, not in the mood, or even if they're struggling to complete the job. Hiring freelancers means you only pay for the specific services rendered.
Con: reduced quality
Firms only pay for the specific services rendered, but such services may not meet expected qualities. Hiring freelancers comes with risk, as firms won't have the time to perform the necessary quality control they'd afford full-time employees. The work may not meet standards, leading to issues over payment, unhappy clients, and reputational damage.
Pro: increased flexibility
Law firms can bring in freelancers overnight to meet increased demand. Meaning law firms can take on larger projects, especially once they've streamlined the process of onboarding freelancers. And, as above, firms can onboard on a project basis, which avoids onboarding an inflated number of full-time employees during increased demand.
Con: increased risk
Freelancers will necessarily receive access to potentially sensitive information, which could increase risk. They may fall out with clients, pose cyber security risks due to less awareness of systems, or raise contractual disputes over payment and deliverables.
Pro: greater expertise
Freelancers often bring nice or specialised expertise to projects, supplements the skills of in-house staff and enhancing the firm's capabilities. Such expertise consequently allows firms to increase scalability and reach more client needs. Greater expertise, in short, can help law firms expand their reach and delve into previously untrodden territories.
Discover the full findings in our free report, Disloyal lawyers: has the partner track lost its lustre? Download today!
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