Taking on interim legal work can allow you to adopt a flexible working lifestyle.
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We are seeing more lawyers and paralegals take up interim legal work as they start to think about the type of lifestyle they want or find a better way to work.
Interim legal work is one way of working in the law that will allow you to work on different projects, not be part of office politics and make choices that are better for you.
Organisations are also finding that they need interim legal support on a regular basis and we are starting to see more alternative legal services providers either within law firms or start ups pop up.
The implementation of the SQE means that paralegals can record their experience on interim projects as qualifying work experience has become a game changer for those that may have been stuck in a job with little or no career progression. This is the first sign of the legal profession adapting and being more flexible to other ways of qualifying as a solicitor.
There are a number of reasons why people take on interim legal work and set out below are a few of those:
1. Lifestyle — it is without doubt that interim legal work allows you to adopt your chosen lifestyle. If you want to work from the Bahamas for example, or only take on interim work when you are available then it gives you the opportunity to do so. You can choose the timing and environment that suits you best.
2. Office politics — as you will only be working on fixed term projects, you get straight into the work and focus on delivering the outcome. Getting to know your colleagues during that time is important however, you won’t have to worry so much about fitting in as you were brought in to do a particular job which makes things simpler.
3. Varied work — working with different organisations on short term projects means you get an insight into a range of sectors and work with lots of different people.
Interim legal work is not for everyone though, if you are the sort of person that doesn’t like constant change and needs a permanent job due to financial or family commitments then it won’t be an easy decision to make.
Workflow is not guaranteed and there could be periods of time where you do not have a project lined up, there isn’t the same benefits you would get if you were a permanent employee but the numbers of people flocking to interim legal work allowing them to decide where and when they can work gives some idea of the current job market and that things are likely to keep on shifting towards more flexible options.
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