Part-time attorney work? Forum

[elev8tor]

Is it common to for organizations to offer part-time attorney positions in which they hire attorney-employees for an average of 10-20 hours max per week (and pay lower due to a part-time position)?

With an oversaturation of attorneys and huge unemployment, is the competition steep to obtain these part-time attorney positions?

[deadpanic]

Is it common to for organizations to offer part-time attorney positions in which they hire attorney-employees for an average of 10-20 hours max per week (and pay lower due to a part-time position)?

With an oversaturation of attorneys and huge unemployment, is the competition steep to obtain these part-time attorney positions?

From my experience it is more common for organizations/companies to hire you on an independent contractor basis per case. Check with your local bar association. Usually they have an organization that offers "low bono" work for local lawyers.

You could also sign up for Local Counsel Collective if you are looking for some way to make extra money. From what I understand you basically just appear locally on behalf of collection attorneys to take a default judgment, so it will not get you much substantive work, but you can get some extra cash.

Not sure how any of the competition is as have never worked for either. Good luck.

Edited to add--also check out getting appointed on criminal cases. A lot of jurisdictions will appoint them to local lawyers since the PD's dockets are so big.
P.S. Make sure you have your malpractice insurance.

[Anonymous User]

From what I've seen, it's a good way to get a perm position.

Definitely do not expect it and do not think it will lead to a perm position but the people I know who hustled (meaning they were on their shit and delivered good work product for these positions) received a perm offer. Some took longer than others. It's possible, not guaranteed.

As for your original question: temp positions are usually an immediate need. Best way to get it is apply asap.

I doubt anyone knows about how competitive it is overall. But I do know that if you put in good work, there's a good chance if they need help again they'll ask you first

[A. Nony Mouse]

For a counter - I think it's pretty hard to get part time work from an employer. I know a number of women who prefer part-time work for child care reasons and they've either worked for the employer full time for some years before going part time, or have struggled to find something.

There are definitely temporary positions, but they're usually full time. They're different from working part time but permanently.

Also, moved to correct forum.

[cavalier1138]

The independent contractor approach is much more viable than "part-time". Imagine it from a client perspective. How would you feel if the firm told you that they had an associate working part-time on your case?

[haus]

The independent contractor approach is much more viable than "part-time". Imagine it from a client perspective. How would you feel if the firm told you that they had an associate working part-time on your case?

If I was a client, I would not want to be paying for work that I did not need. I would simply assume that many people who would work on my case/matter would be doing something else with some(most) of their time. Why would I care if that was working on the case of another client or sitting at home writing a novel?

[cavalier1138]

The independent contractor approach is much more viable than "part-time". Imagine it from a client perspective. How would you feel if the firm told you that they had an associate working part-time on your case?

If I was a client, I would not want to be paying for work that I did not need. I would simply assume that many people who would work on my case/matter would be doing something else with some(most) of their time. Why would I care if that was working on the case of another client or sitting at home writing a novel?

Ok, but how many part-time associates do you see? And how many lawyers do you see contracting out independently for things like criminal defense (as was discussed earlier in the thread)? There's a stigma to part-time work, whether you think it's reasonable or not.

[haus]

The independent contractor approach is much more viable than "part-time". Imagine it from a client perspective. How would you feel if the firm told you that they had an associate working part-time on your case?

If I was a client, I would not want to be paying for work that I did not need. I would simply assume that many people who would work on my case/matter would be doing something else with some(most) of their time. Why would I care if that was working on the case of another client or sitting at home writing a novel?

Ok, but how many part-time associates do you see? And how many lawyers do you see contracting out independently for things like criminal defense (as was discussed earlier in the thread)? There's a stigma to part-time work, whether you think it's reasonable or not.

I do not doubt that their is a limited number of people working part-time, but I doubt that clients care. I suspect that their is room for firms that want to become creative on their use of non-traditional employees.

[A. Nony Mouse]

The independent contractor approach is much more viable than "part-time". Imagine it from a client perspective. How would you feel if the firm told you that they had an associate working part-time on your case?

If I was a client, I would not want to be paying for work that I did not need. I would simply assume that many people who would work on my case/matter would be doing something else with some(most) of their time. Why would I care if that was working on the case of another client or sitting at home writing a novel?

Ok, but how many part-time associates do you see? And how many lawyers do you see contracting out independently for things like criminal defense (as was discussed earlier in the thread)? There's a stigma to part-time work, whether you think it's reasonable or not.

I don't think there's a stigma or clients should care, it's just not usually available. Again, part-time is not necessarily the same as contract/temporary. You can be a part-time associate, but it's really hard to swing it.

[CanadianWolf]

Not sure if this practice still continues, but one attorney just "hung around" the courthouse & was repeatedly appointed counsel for indigent criminal defense work. He billed & received over $400,000 from the county in one year. I believe that I read the newspaper article on this about 10 years ago.

[CanadianWolf]

Also, document review might be considered part-time in the sense that the duration of each job is often uncertain. Usually pays $30 an hour but most expect 8-10 hours per day.

Seems like a lot of document review work for attorneys fluent in Japanese, Spanish, German or Portuguese in various US cities. (Probably helpful to know English too.)