A:
The market for temporary and contract attorneys is booming, fed by corporations eager to reduce costs in any possible way. And temp placements do not necessarily involve low-level scut work. Any non-recurring event -- a maternity leave, a divestiture, a implementing a document management system -- may create a demand for a for skilled or specialized lawyer ... for a short time. I know of temporary attorneys who are negotiating mergers, handling sensitive jurisdictional issues in multi-district toxic tort cases, and judging the relevance of documents written in German in a landmark pharmaceutical case.
When a temp agency acts as the broker for your services, you will be paid by the hour -- after they deduct their cut. You may never know what rate they are charging the client for your services; you�ll just know that you�re taking home between $25 and $120 an hour, that you are receiving no benefits and that you enjoy considerable freedom in how much time you want to work and how you schedule that time. And someone will be picking up malpractice ... either the agency or the client. So that expense usually won�t come out of your pocket, and no wise client would dare let a temp "run naked," even if the work involves relatively low exposure to malpractice risks.
It would be nice not to have to pay the agency a sizable cut, but, the argument goes, they do confer some value to you. Specifically, agencies can cast a broader net in their marketing efforts, arguably learning of lot more opportunities than you could unearth through you own networking. On the other hand, of course, if you do learn of an attractive engagement and can "cut out the middle-man," you take home more money and the client has privity of contract with its service provider. That can make for a happier, better-supervisied engagement for you. However, the few people I know who try to both market and deliver the service report that it�s tough sledding -- and all independent contractors will tell you of the stresses of the sole consultant�s feat-famine cycle: "when I�m marketing, I can�t deliver; when I�m delivering, I can�t market. So income tends lag behind marketing by several months."
If you add it up, one theoretically can make a decent living if as a full-booked temp: 35 hours a week at $70 per hour for 48 weeks, and you take home over $117,000. Of course, if you�re a first-year associate with a major firm, you�re probably making more than that, particularly if you factor in benefits. People who choose the temp life as a permanent identity (and the temp firms like that flavor best; they�re not in love with job-seekers trying to pull in some stop-loss revenue until they land full time) know that they are trading off security and income maximization for freedom and perhaps variety.
With this background in mind, it looks like there a several stumbling blocks with your strategem of becoming what the medieval Japanese called a Ronin -- a free lance samurai.
On one hand, in the temp market you are likely to be given high-marks for above-average smarts and legal training; large NYC firms are accept only the cream of the entry-level legal crop. But leaving a prestigious firm after only a year raises issues about your skills, motivation or ability to work with others that may be of concern to employers -- whether an agency or some potential client you are approaching directly. They are unlikely to see your decision to go it alone as entrepreneurial -- or even as prudent. They may doubt your maturity.
In terms of the value you can add, you may be bright, but you still are inexperienced. You simply haven�t had the time to gain either the specialized knowledge or the broad general judgment that translate into an ability to demand a high hourly rate. From an employer�s point of view, a temp is supposed to present a flat learning curve. Since you don�t have a long-term career path with them (although about 10 percent of temp assignments do ripen into subsequent full time employment), they don�t want to expend time and resources schooling you, particularly if you�re going to move on after three to six months. At your current level, therefore, even if you can get a temporary gig, you are not likely to be able to command a premium rate. If you can manage 35 hours a week at $35 per hour for 48 weeks, you�re taking home less than $60K. Not much by New York standards.
And in doing that work, you will not be getting either the training or the job-market leverage that working in a major firm is supposed to provide in the early years of one�s career. You will be sending the message to the world that autonomy means more than almost anything to you. Folks are less like to call you entrepreneurial than simply a loner.
The other issue with temporary engagements is that they end. Temp agencies who identify strong performers work hard to keep them fully booked, but there are no guarantees of employment continuity. Some ronin address this issue by shooting for employment as contract attorneys. These arrangements take many forms, but the idea is that ronin works as an independent contractors idefinitely -- or at least for long-term projects. Again, though, there usually are no benefits, and contract attorneys report that they often feel "out of the loop." They�re not part of the team, part of the culture, or part of the organization�s long-term plans.
If you sense I�m trying to tell you to stick with your current role for a couple of years, you�re right. Over the next 18 months to two years, try hard to get assignments that give you experience in a particular -- even esoteric -- practice area or skill set. You�ll have a lot more leverage in the temp market if you can focus a particular area or need where you can add significant value.
Sincerely,
Douglas B. Richardson
President, The Richardson Group
Law.com
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