Temporary Legal Employment

The benefits of temporary legal employment, beyond income, include preventing or minimizing employment gaps on a resume and providing contacts within a law firm or organization. There are four general characterizations for this type of employment:

  1. Contract work

  2. Temporary or freelance work

  3. Temp-to-perm work

Each has its own benefits and drawbacks. Be aware that the terminology used to describe these temporary types of employment is often used (and misused) interchangeably, so always be sure to clarify what is meant when you hear the term.

CONTRACT WORK

Contract work may be arranged independently (and sometimes through an employment agency) and can be limited to a defined period of time, with or without the understanding of further employment upon completion of the contract. Employers hire contract attorneys:

  • To support the organization through a busy period

  • To help out with a large case

  • To cover for a lawyer on extended leave

  • To prove the need to hire another permanent lawyer

  • To help during a trial

  • To hire expertise they do not have within their existing team.

Before accepting a contract assignment, we recommend that your letter agreement or contract with the firm minimally confirm the following details:

  • Compensation

  • Benefits (if any)

  • Length of contract, including the beginning and end dates

  • Exact scope and nature of the work

  • Addressing the possibility of further or continuing employment upon the completion of the contract

TEMPORARY WORK

“Temp work” is typically arranged through an employment agency or staffing company, which interviews the lawyer and checks references before assigning the lawyer to a firm. Temporary work is assignment- or project-based and has historically consisted of some kind of document review/support or some paralegal-type work for which lawyers are generally overqualified.

When it comes to reflecting your temporary experience, most agencies will require that their name (and not the name of the firm or organization for which the attorney does the work) be used on your resume. They may also prohibit the attorney from disclosing the name(s) of the agency’s client(s).

If you work for an agency, be prepared for the agency to test you by sending you on less glamorous assignments and offering you last-minute work until it is confident that you are a reliable worker. Once you have proven yourself, the assignments, if available, will become more desirable, will be more aligned to your educational background and will command a higher rate of pay. It is possible to accumulate bonuses, health insurance and vacation/holiday pay if you work enough hours and receive satisfactory reviews. The hourly rate paid is a function of the work itself, not your experience.

Examples of a legal staffing company are Hire Counsel and Robert Half.

Experienced attorneys have an additional option to do more substantive legal work due to the growth of companies such as Axiom and platforms such as UpCounsel.

  • Axiom “loans out” mid-level to senior lawyers to corporations. Similar to a secondment, working for Axiom or similar can be a great way for an attorney-in-transition to keep their resume current, gain new substantive skills and develop contacts. The agency pays the lawyer’s salary and benefits.

  • UpCounsel uses a different model, being a matching platform where attorneys can find freelance work.

Before accepting any assignment through an agency or platform, it is essential to understand the exact nature of the work to be performed, the time commitment, the expectation for overtime and the rate of pay.

An important word of caution:

Temp work can be beneficial, but consider carefully before committing to a lengthy assignment which may take time away from your job search. Weigh the benefits of such an assignment against the drawbacks. It is important to honor any commitment made to the temp agency and to the client as well.

"TEMP-TO-PERM"

Temp-to-perm employment is less common for attorneys than for legal assistants. In a temp-to-perm assignment, the work is contracted via an employment agency. It is a way for an employer to try out a potential employee before hiring him or her, and vice versa. Although it’s not unheard-of for attorneys to be hired by employers this way, it is rare. Therefore, be skeptical of any agency that tries to lure you into temporary employment with the promise of the temporary employment turning permanent; ask lots of questions, and request references from other attorneys whom the agency has placed.

 

Search the CRC