Working as an independent legal consultant is getting more and more popular.  Not very surprising when you think about it, as it does have a number of excellent perks. Of course, it all depends on what is important for you.  Personally, I experienced these 5 advantages:

1. Freedom

This is an important one for me. Being a freelance legal consultant offers you much more freedom than when you are on someone else’s pay roll.  You choose which kind of assignments you accept, which clients you take on, what your daily or hourly rate is, when and where you work. Basically, you are your own boss and you get to make these decisions.

Thanks to Limine an extra layer of freedom is added.  You get to negotiate directly with the client. Being lawyers or legal counsels, we are no strangers to handle negotiations…

2. Flexibility and work/life balance

You can choose the rhythm of your work.  What does this mean?  Imagine this world trip you have always wanted to make.  You’d need at least a few months for that.  Taking off from work that long while being an employee or a lawyer is almost impossible without kind of burning your career (there may be exceptions, but I know of only one single case).  When you are your own boss, this dream can become true as you can easily do a few assignments, earn enough money and then just take those 6 months or more of world travel.

This freelance flexibility means also that you can choose the days or hours per week that you want to work.  This may even change during the holidays or depending on the assignment.  I almost never work on Wednesdays to be with my two girls.  A friend of mine, also legal interim manager, takes off two months every year during the summer holidays – no more puzzling on which summer camp you can subscribe your children or which grandparent is able to have your children over.. Another legal interim manager combines his art gallery with a two days/week assignment.

Also, a lot of legal work can be done digitally, which means you can be fully remote and live where you want.  The pandemic has proven that extensively, but even before that, freelance legal consultants were in most cases able to choose whether and when they wanted to do home office.

Surely you can think of other things for yourself why this flexibility is indeed not that bad!

3. Smart career move

If you are considering a career as an in-house legal counsel, becoming a freelance legal interim manager is a great starting point.

Being a freelance legal consultant at a company is like getting to see and try out the kitchen of a restaurant.  You get to learn the ins and outs, you get to meet the business people, you get to work with the other legal team members and to taste the atmosphere of the company. No fuzzy job descriptions anymore – you get a real taste of the work.

It’s in any case a smart career move as you will likely get to work in top companies too. Nothing wrong with having that on your cv!

4. Improved legal and business skills

Working as a freelance legal consultant means you take on various projects from multiple clients in different industries. Each project brings something new to the table and provides an opportunity to expand your legal skill set. If you want to become acquainted with other legal practice areas, this is a great way to do that.  I

You get also to improve your business skills, offering you an even better understanding of what clients expect from their lawyer or legal counsel.

5. Network

As you get in contact with different people from multiple companies, you will expand your network rapidly.  Your network may get you your next assignment, doors will open and opportunities will arise.  It’s up to you to take them!

Of course, not everybody feels at ease to network.  In that case, a platform like Limine may be able to assist you.

Let Limine help you find your next legal assignment today!

If you’re ready to take on freelance legal assignments, whether interim or ad hoc, Limine is able to help you. Limine connects businesses with independent legal consultants they need.

Create a profile on our platform and begin connecting with potential clients right away. Visit Limine today to set up an account and get started.