1) A contract lawyer can earn nearly the same annual income
as a salaried lawyer from a small firm, for less time spent.
2) Time is left for personal life choices; the work hours
are flexible and often can be arranged to fit around the other
important aspects of your life.
3) There is the intellectual challenge of picking up a file
and quickly delving to the basic information necessary for the
immediate assignment.
4) The contract lawyer usually is responsible for only a portion
of a case or just one project - there is no tracking a case
for four years (some may consider this a detriment).
5) Often there is an interesting variety of people and cases.
1) Contract lawyers must market themselves and continually
cultivate business. The uncertainty about when and from whom
the next job will come can be unnerving.
2) The quantity of work available fluctuates, causing irregular
income and the need to budget carefully.
3) All taxes, vacation, sick time, and insurance (health,
life, disability, and malpractice) are self-paid. A contract
lawyer files a self-employed tax return and is responsible for
Social Security payments as well as income taxes. However, there
are numerous business-related tax deductions to which a self-employed
person is entitled.
4) Unorganized, unrealistic client-attorneys, with terrible
management systems and sloppy work, who wait until the last minute
to call, can request the impossible and disrupt the contract
lawyer's schedule. However, a job can be refused.
5) Slow-paying clients occasionally cause cash-flow problems,
and some may need to be pursued for payment.
