![Wisconsin Lawyer April 1999](/SiteCollectionImages/WisconsinLawyer/wlogo.jpg) |
Navigation |
Vol. 72, No. 4, April 1999 |
Contract lawyering as a career alternative
Contract lawyering can be a viable career alternative -
but it's not for everyone. Before making the move to self-employment
as a contract lawyer, build a solid foundation for success with
realistic self-assessment.
By Hindi Greenberg
he contract practice
of law has become a hot topic for individual lawyers and law
firms. Attorneys are looking for a way to combine their legal
background with a different quality of life - some for a defined
short period, others for a longer time or permanently.
In the present legal
market, there is a growing demand for contract lawyers - lawyers
who are paid on an hourly or project basis by other lawyers.
Law firms are revamping their attitudes and policies about less-than-full
time lawyers. No longer are these attorneys thought to be less
worthy. In fact, good contract lawyers often are envied for their
ability to organize and handle complicated legal matters in a
shorter time, thereby creating the benefit of financial economy
for the firm and more free time for the lawyer. And, although
some lawfirms are resisting the growth of alternative
work schedules, contending that proper lawyering cannot be achieved
with a less than full-time commitment, they stand to lose excellent
lawyers if they do not eventually accede to the marketplace realities.
Many people exploring the possibility of working as contract
lawyers desire to use their legal skills, but in a less intensive,
all-consuming style. These lawyers want more time to pursue other
interests or commitments, such as build a business, do volunteer work, attend school,
or spend more time with family.
Some become contract lawyers because they were laid off or
fired, or quit their jobs and need supplemental income until
they find another job or decide what their next career move will
be. Numerous small-firm and solo practitioners who are building
their own law practices supplement their income by performing
hourly work for other lawyers who are overloaded or short on
expertise in a given field.
Others want to use skills that aren't appreciated by their
current employer. One law firm associate tolerated her work only
because of her strong relationships with most clients - client
relations and customer service had always been her strong points.
Because she wanted to use those client relation skills, set her
own schedule, be involved in a variety of issues, and receive
the respect for her work that was lacking in her current job,
she left her job to begin work as a contract lawyer.
Determining if contract lawyering is right for you
The reasons for doing contract work are many and diverse,
and each has as much validity as any other. However, there are
numerous issues to consider before deciding to work on a contract
basis. An effective contract lawyer must be at ease walking into
an office with new people and new issues and comfortable being
dropped into the middle of an existing case. When conscientious
contract lawyers are confronted with unfamiliar law, they often
remedy that
An effective
contract lawyer must be at ease walking into an office with new
people and new issues and comfortable being dropped into the
middle of an existing case. |
situation by spending time in the law library, without
charge to their client, until comfortable with the new issues.
To avoid unrealistic expectations by her clients, one contract
lawyer informs the hiring attorney of her level of expertise
in any particular area and lets the hiring attorney decide if
she should take the project. This lawyer once was brought into
a pending case just months before trial and was asked to prepare
a complex motion for summary judgment using volumes of depositions
in an area of the law unfamiliar to her. After acknowledging
her lack of experience in the subject area, the contract lawyer
was still given the green light by her attorney-client. She has
learned to handle the trepidation of working in a new practice
area, saying, "You bite down that moment of fear and initial
panic and just get on with it."
Contract lawyers are called upon to handle all kinds of legal
and factual situations on a moment's notice. That's both the
thrill and the terror of doing contract work. It is also the
reason that lawyers who seem to cultivate the most of this work
usually have at least two to three years of practice experience.
Additionally, most contract work is in the litigation arena,
often in research and writing, appearances, and discovery. However,
there are transactional lawyers who help compile real estate
documentation, draft contracts and trust documents, handle parts
of probates, work on patent applications, and so on.
Attorneys considering working on a contract basis should consider
these additional points:
- Lawyers who want to be responsible for a case or have ultimate
authority, or who have their ego invested in the status they
achieve, should probably not work on a contract basis. Often
the work is supplemental, most times it is piecemeal, occasionally
it could be done by an experienced paralegal.
- Sometimes the contract lawyer works under less than desirable
conditions - for instance, pulling books off the law library
shelves and copying cases, or reviewing complex files in cramped
quarters if the hiring attorney does not want the files to leave
the office.
- If a geographic location is not yet receptive to contract
work, lawyers intending to cultivate work in that area need to
determine how much pioneer energy they are willing to expend
to overcome the traditional objection that "contract lawyers
must not be good attorneys or they would have a full-time job."
- Contract lawyers need to be aware of conflicts of interest
when switching from case to case and firm to firm, always asking
who the parties, attorneys, and important witnesses are and inquiring
about the issues in each case.
- In addition to realistically assessing their experience in
any given area of the law, contract lawyers also must be able
to assess the time needed to complete the project. One contract
lawyer was handed a thick file and assigned to write a motion
for summary judgment - in three hours. The lawyer tactfully informed
the attorney-client that that was insufficient time. Upon review,
the client agreed and extended the approved hours to a more reasonable
amount.
- If you are considering a job as a full-time employee, working
on a contract basis in a law firm often is a good way to preview
a firm (and for the firm's lawyers to preview you). Even if you
initially do some work for a firm without thinking about a permanent
relationship, some "romances" do develop, resulting
in permanent employment.
- If the firm doesn't require work to be done in its office,
contract lawyers often do their research at the law library and
their document preparation on their own computers. Many provide
a finished product, although some firms want to have the information
available on disk or have their own secretaries prepare the document.
Many contract lawyers do not carry malpractice insurance.
This isa personal decision. But sometimes the supervising
attorney's insurance policy will cover a contract lawyer, especially
if the contractor does not sign documents, but merely prepares
them for signature by one of the firm's insured attorneys. Some
contract lawyers request indemnity agreements from firms with
whom they do repeat work. Most wing it and try to avoid potential
problems by not allowing their names on legal documents of any
kind.
Editor's Note: State Bar ethics consultant Keith Kaap advises
readers to carefully review professional ethics opinion E-96-4
before entering into any agreement involving contract lawyering
- either as a lawyer providing or hiring contract services.
E-96-4: Use of Temporary Attorneys in Wisconsin is published
in the February
1997 Wisconsin Lawyer .
Next Page![--->](/AM/Images/art/buttons/fwdarrow.gif)
|