The market for legal contract recruitment is on the rise, driven by the appealing flexibility and scalability it offers. Our clients are increasingly structuring their teams with contract lawyers for specific projects, whether for time-sensitive tasks, specialist roles, or strategic objectives.
Today's legal professionals are more dynamic and adaptable than ever, enabling in-house teams to swiftly and effectively respond to fluctuating market conditions with a readily available, highly skilled workforce.
In this article, we hone in on the benefits that organisations will get from hiring contract lawyers, especially during unstable economic times.
Why should you hire a contract lawyer?
Hiring legal professionals on a contract basis is often quicker and easier than recruiting permanent staff. Organisations are able to bring in the specific skills they need for a particular project despite the timeframe. There is a pool of candidates which is open and interested in contract roles for different reasons.
Moreover, when hiring contract lawyers, recruitment firms like Aquis Search can streamline the entire hiring process. We specialise in identifying and vetting candidates, ensuring that only the most suitable legal professionals are presented for each specific role. This specialised approach not only saves valuable time for businesses but also significantly reduces the burden of the hiring process.
With our deep understanding of the legal market and access to a wide network of skilled contract lawyers, Aquis Search effectively shoulder the responsibility of finding the perfect match for every project need, allowing organisations to focus on their core activities.
Now, let’s look at each benefit that contracting brings:
Specialist & experienced talent
Temporary cover
Workload management
Speed of response
Ease of sign off
Cost efficiency
6 Benefits of Hiring Contract Lawyers
Benefit 1: Specialist and experienced talent
Contractors have the specialist skills and knowledge to undertake specific tasks. This level of expertise mitigates the risk and cost of training or developing an existing team member over the short term.
In addition, contractors are experienced in-house lawyers with a proven track record in their field. They bring with them strong technical skills as well as the personal attributes needed to transition into a role.
Benefit 2: Temporary cover
Contracts can vary greatly, both in terms of duration and workload. They can be a few months in duration and act as a temporary resource that helps ease the workload during busy periods, sickness/maternity cover or fulfil any required work with minimal disruption.
Benefit 3: Workload management
Lawyers work long hours. When deadlines are approaching and business- critical negotiations need to be handled, lawyers typically work around the clock, sometimes to the detriment of productivity.
During these busy periods, bringing on temporary staff will help ease the workload to alleviate the pressure on the rest of the team. It will also be a great boost to team morale, demonstrating the firm values and respects the current workforce to bring on additional manpower and spread the workload — overall improving the firm culture and ultimately productivity.
Benefit 4: Speed of response
Contractors can be deployed quickly. In urgent situations, they offer an immediate solution, with esteemed staffing agencies maintaining a roster of qualified candidates poised for prompt project initiation.
Benefit 5: Ease of sign off
It is far easier to bring on a temporary contractor than a permanent headcount. It is also the case that the pressure on legal teams can be greater when there are restrictions on hiring for permanent positions as employers do not feel confident in committing to long term resources in fluctuating markets.
Companies can choose an interim resource as they monitor market conditions while at the same time ensuring current workload is fulfilled.
Benefit 6: Cost efficiency
Contract lawyers are typically paid a higher hourly rate than a comparable permanent headcount, however, when you consider the placement in the long-run it actually becomes more cost efficient.
Although they get paid more by hour, it costs less to deploy as they are only utilised per project. Furthermore, the hiring firm does not have the long-term commitment that is required of permanent staff as well as the commitment of resources to train and develop the contractor.
Your recruitment partner does the work
At Aquis Search, we work with clients to recruit in the same way as hire permanent staff, and if the contractor is hired on our payroll, we take on the liability of this employee and manage all the HR matters.
In short, the cost and liability of the contractor can rest solely with Aquis Search if required. Once they have commenced a placement, we maintain regular contact with both the client and the contractor to ensure the relationship is overseen for the duration.
If you are looking for a recruitment partner for your hiring needs, write me an email at [scottharrison@aquissearch.com] for a confidential chat.