Working As a Contract Attorney Requires A Lot Of Faith
I’m not trying to get religious but I just want to draw an analogy (maybe it’s a bit of a stretch). Ever heard the phrase - “there are no atheists in foxholes”? Well then similarly, there are no atheists in Temp Town. If you’re not one who can comfortably rely on a degree of positive faith that a project will find its way to you again after your current project is over, then you will likely be under frequent and persistent anxiety in the contract attorney world.
With Contract Work Just Learn To Embrace The Fact That It Is Unpredictable
Contract legal work is very fickle. There is very little durational or job description guarantees. When an agency submits you for a project and promises you 2-3 months work of solid work, the duration terms frequently and do change depending on project conditions. I’ve had 3 month projects turn into 1 week ones, and even a 2 month assignment drag into a 9 month mess. It all depends on the project activity.
This is just the trade-off and essence of contract work. Law firms and corporations hire contract attorneys for short to medium duration assignments because it is more cost effective than retaining a fleet that might not be needed for long durations due to unexpected or indefinite work flow.
When I first started doing this work, I used to always gripe and blame the agencies for falsely advertising and misleading me into taking on a particular assignment that ultimately turned out to be significantly shorter than was originally projected, meanwhile forcing me to give up other opportunities. I think there are a few tricky agencies that do try to inflate the expected hours and duration to snag a few contract attorneys for project submission, but on the whole, I’m not certain that even agencies really know just how long a particular project will last. You should always try to take an agency’s duration estimates with a grain of salt. Don’t nail down irrevocable vacation plans based on their estimations because these type of details tend to waiver. Some agencies are bigger inflaters than others - if they tell me the project will last 2 months, that’s essentially code for 3-4 weeks. If they announce a one month project, be prepared to be there for only 2-3 weeks. It takes some getting used to but the more contract experience you have under you belt, the better your B.S. detector gets.
But It’s All About Knowing That There Will Be Something For You After Your Current One Is Over
As for my expectations of where I’ll end up after the project is over, that is all up to faith - but it’s not blind faith. It’s based on my own previous experience and knowledge about the condition of the market. From my past experience I know that projects are almost always available but that sometimes it may take a few days or a few weeks longer to roll from one into the other. There is no sense in flipping out or panicking when the project is finished. Hopefully you had prudently saved up enough funds to carry you over during periods of downtime and have wisely filed for temporary unemployment benefits to cushion the momentary financial hit. Don’t fret so hard because a project will come knocking soon enough. There is always something going down in lawyer central. Even during recessive periods, there will always be some form of business or legal activity happening in the D.C. metro area.
If you feel like you are waiting around for a long while, take the time to interview and register with the multitude of smaller legal staffing agencies that are popping up everyday. The small fries want to earn your business too so give them a chance by speaking to them during your down time. I’ve found that smaller agencies tend to be more customer oriented than the big agency conglomerates. Of course, faith and expectation only applies to big contract attorney cities like Washington D.C. and New York. Contract legal jobs and projects are not as plentiful or predictably present elsewhere.
December 4th, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Great, unemployment benefits. “Law firms and corporations hire contract attorneys for short to medium duration assignments because it is more cost effective.” Why should taxpayers and the rest of society subsidize law firm slow downs and partner profits through unemployment? This is just another way for CEO’s and law firms partners to pass off the costs of doing business to the rest of society.
December 6th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
Myattorneyblog, I’m holding onto faith as I look forward to a lucrative year in ‘08!
Note to all the agencies, please migrate over to the westside. We need your help. Seriously.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:59 am
i’m so bummed. i was just dropped from my very FIRST contract attorney gig doing document review. the crappy thing is they never tell you WHY. i got a call from the temp agency at 10pm telling me the firm has let me go and the temp agency asks ME what happened. i had no idea other than the fact that i asked if it would be ok for me to receive a fax at the firm and the firm said yes and i got the fax…apparently it wasn’t OK…and it was enough to get me cut…
anyway i’m just frustrated at the moment…and i only hope that the fax was the only reason for getting cut. any thoughts or theories as i am new to this? i’m just venting b/c i’ve never ever been fired before from any job. has anyone here been cut from a job before it’s over????
i’m supposed to get the scoop from a now ex co-gruntworker if anyone else was cut from the job due to the passing of the major deadline. i hope that’s the case and that i’m not the only one that was let go.
technically, does it count as being fired if the firm lets half the staff go b/c the need for the temp attorneys has lessened? and getting the fax was the reason they lumped me into the cut category…i had my doubts about asking about that fax but another contract attorney encouraged me and i did it. i should’ve stuck with my instincts.