Stupid Question
So, what exactly does it mean to be a "contract attorney," anyway? Some folks have suggested I do that for a while while I am navel gazing and exploring a range of options. I confess I don't know much about it -- like, who does it, and what exactly do they do, and how do they bill and get paid, and how common is it? The term has always seemed somehow pejorative, although I don't know why. Like, contract attorneys are people who aren't good enough to hack it in a firm or are unhireable so they have to be contract attorneys instead of "real" attorneys. As I type that it sounds absolutely ridiculous; seems to me there might be lots of reasons people would do it, and lots of kinds of people doing contract work. But I don't know where that connotation came from in my head, unless from someone or somewhere who actually knew something about contract attorneys enough to convey an impression to me. Anyway, my question is, what's the deal with contract attorneys?
Contract attorneys serve a valuable market segment. They can specialize (for example, my wife does environmental work) and allow smaller firms to service clients in areas that might not justify bringing on a new full-time attorney or starting a new practice area. Typically, my wife works 2-3 month projects at a time, usually in her specialty, so it's not quite "legal temping" as I've heard some other people call it. She works mostly with small firms, although she has occasionally worked with some very large firms on huge projects.
Why would someone do it? Several reasons:
1. She never has to "bill" a certain number of hours.
2. She's exposed to a wide range of interesting work.
3. She gets to work in her chosen specialty, without the headache of building a new practice area at a smaller firm, or sucking up and doing menial project work for years at a large firm.
4. She can work an intense project, and then decide to take a few months off to regroup, and then choose her next project.
5. She has free time to do whatever pro-bono work, no matter how "radical" whenever she pleases.
6. She gets to spend quite a bit more time with our family than most of her "firm" colleagues, and she still gets to work on interesting cases.
7. On many projects, she works out of our home office. (Although, on occasion she will work out of the firm's office, and she has done a fair amount of travel.)
It's not for everyone. One big deal is benefits... if you *need* health insurance, and your spouse doesn't have it, it can be costly to get (although you can sometimes get coverage from your local/state bar association). Fortunately, I have great benefits that cover her well, so for us, that isn't an issue.
I think really, it's the difference between being an entrepreneur and not. Some people are perfectly happy "working for someone else" and some others want a greater level of control over their lives. That's why my wife does it... she never wants someone telling her how many hours to bill and dropping boring assignments on her desk. As a "contract lawyer" she calls the shots. It's definitely a bumpier ride at times, but in the end, I think it really averages out, and comes down to being a lifestyle choice.
-Dave!
Posted by: Dave! | June 01, 2004 at 12:38 PM
What Dave! said. There are a lot of variations on the contract attorney theme, but it's good money without most of the obligations, politics, and other b.s. of being a permanent employee. Some firms will provide malpractice insurance coverage for contract attorneys, others will require you to get your own m.p. insurance. Benefits is another issue, as Dave! pointed out, and you should look into COBRA costs from your existing coverage if you haven't done so already. I have some friends who left firms, did other things, then decided they needed to make more money for a stretch, and went back to their old firms on a contract basis. Because the firm knows that person already, and because the person has all the institutional knowledge about how the firm works and doesn't require any training to get up to speed, the firm is often happy to bring in that person on a project-based or time-based contract at some comfortable hourly rate.
Posted by: mad | June 01, 2004 at 01:03 PM
Though it's not necessarily a popular view, I often recommend contract work to attorneys starting a law firm. Here's an
article (with additional links) on the topic at My Shingle . If you go to the online guide bookstore at the site, there's also a link to the excellent and definitive book on Contract Lawyering by Aron and Guyol.
In addition to using temp work to go solo and some the points made by others, contract work can help get a practice off the ground, it's also a great way to transition to a new practice area. A friend of mine who was a traditional tax and labor attorney was able to transition into more corporate/IP/licensing Internet inhouse work as a result of a long term temp project that she worked at a major corporation. Also, back when I started my firm I worked a temp project at the US Postal Service with someone who is now a high ranking, appointed official in the Dept. of Labor though I don't think she had any experience in that field back then. So temp work isn't necessarily just document review - it can serve as an entre into a new field.
Posted by: Carolyn Elefant | June 01, 2004 at 01:57 PM
Though it's not necessarily a popular view, I often recommend contract work to attorneys starting a law firm. Here's an
article (with additional links) on the topic at My Shingle . If you go to the online guide bookstore at the site, there's also a link to the excellent and definitive book on Contract Lawyering by Aron and Guyol.
In addition to using temp work to go solo and some the points made by others, contract work can help get a practice off the ground, it's also a great way to transition to a new practice area. A friend of mine who was a traditional tax and labor attorney was able to transition into more corporate/IP/licensing Internet inhouse work as a result of a long term temp project that she worked at a major corporation. Also, back when I started my firm I worked a temp project at the US Postal Service with someone who is now a high ranking, appointed official in the Dept. of Labor though I don't think she had any experience in that field back then. So temp work isn't necessarily just document review - it can serve as an entre into a new field.
Finally, I'd have to say that I disagree somewhat with Dave and Mad about contract work allowing you to "call the shots." I think that in some ways a contract lawyer (especially one with a specialty) may be treated better than an ordinary associate because the firm really needs the expertise. But ultimately, run-of-the-mill contract attorneys used to staff large projects (e.g., doc reviewer on a large litigation matter) are far more disposable than permanent employees and thus, other attorneys may not treat them as well. What's different, however, is that a contract attorney's term is finite and that makes it easier to put up with or laugh at any kind of abuse.
Posted by: Carolyn Elefant | June 01, 2004 at 02:02 PM
Just a point of clarification: when I say "Call the shots" I don't mean that contract attorneys don't have to put up with BS or poor treatment. That varies from job to job. But "calling the shots" means if you aren't treated well someplace, you don't take another assignment from them. Calling the shots means that if you are offered an assignment, but it doesn't sound interesting, the money's not good, or you simply don't want to work at the moment, the decision is yours. *That* is calling the shots. I dare any associate at any firm to tell a partner "Well, I think I will pass on that assignment. It doesn't fit my schedule at the moment." :)
Posted by: Dave! | June 01, 2004 at 02:49 PM