My Attorney Blog

What a shocking revelation, but contract attorney work can be rather boring at times. The income you generate from temping is indeed very good, but it’s easy to get bored in this line of work. When I first started out I was pleasantly shocked at how much money I could make by temping but at some point you realize that your legal skills are rusting away as you click away at your computer workstation.

I think it’s important to have side projects and other work related plans outside of temping. While some contract attorneys run an actual legal practice on the side, others work on building up their outside business and use the proceeds from temping to fund their side projects.

I have several side projects in the works and I use my non working hours developing them. If I didn’t have goals outside of temping, I’d feel pretty trapped. It’s true what they say. There isn’t much of a legal future in temping. I think everyone should see contract attorney work as a stepping stone to something bigger, particularly if they want to continue practicing law. But for those who like the lifestyle, more power to them. I don’t have anything bad to say about the permanent temps out there. Different strokes for different folks. Not everyone was cut out to be a legal hustler.

I seem to be hearing about a new legal staffing agency coming online every week. Perhaps only a year or so ago, the contract attorney market was dominated by a modest number of staffing agencies. They pretty much had their way with recruiting and exercised significant leverage with their temps, knowing that there were only so many agencies temps could go to find work.

Now, I am pleased to see the power shift. The bread and butter law firm clients are obviously still at the top, but in between the law firms and the contract attorneys is an expanding number of staffing agencies, each vying for applicants. I encourage you to apply to as many staffing agencies as you can to maximize your opportunities. The smaller staffing agencies may have more difficulty finding work for you initially but in time they will grow. They will also be more inclined to offer you a higher wage rate and will also likely be more grateful that you’ve chosen to work for them. Competition is definitely good for us!

Yikes. I just received my post card reminding me that my D.C. bar law license may expire if I fail to pay my mandatory bar dues soon. Sometimes these post cards resemble junk mail. I’m glad I examined it closely before chucking it into the trash can.

According to the D.C. bar website:

The D.C. Bar Board of Governors has set September 17 as the last date to pay Bar dues for the 2007-2008 year without penalty. After that date, a $30 late fee will be applied to members who have not remitted their annual dues. Nonpayment as of October 31 will result in the member’s loss of license to practice law. Dues originally were due on August 1.

Dues amounts are $188 for active members, $118 for inactive members, and $95 for judicial members.

I really should get more active with the D.C. Bar again. Take on a few pro bono cases perhaps.