A growing number of businesses, big and small, and their legal departments are using the services of freelance legal counsels.  But why are they doing that and what are the benefits?

1. Strategy

As we all know, there is a war for legal talent going on. It suffices to have a short look on LinkedIn or on the websites of LexGo or IBJ/IJE to see how many businesses are looking for permanent in-house legal counsels.   

Finding the perfect match can be hard.  Not only you need to find the candidate with the right legal skills and business mind, he/she should also fit in the company culture and get along with the other members of the legal and business team.

It also tends to be a time consuming process.  And you should take the time you need, as you don’t want to end up having to go through the hiring and training process for the same permanent position every six months.  However, what about the work that keeps piling up in the meantime? Sure, as legal profiles are generally hard workers, your legal department shall indeed work even more and harder, but honestly, they can’t go on like that for months.  Your legal department, your company and you all deserve a better and structural solution.

This is why hiring a freelance legal counsel is a smart strategic choice.  Many freelance legal counsels have a background as a lawyer and have in-house experience.  No need to train them as they quickly blend in thanks to their legal skills and adapting personality. Getting to use their excellent services for a few months, or more, allows you to close the gap of the hiring process and keep your legal team members, business colleagues and other stakeholders happy.

Also, hiring a freelance legal counsel may be part of your hiring process for a permanent position.  Indeed, both you and your freelance legal counsel get to work together and get to know each other outside the framework of a permanent position, but, who knows, maybe you have found your in-house legal counsel already…

Our matching technology makes sure that you get access to the 3 most relevant profiles, so that you lose no time and energy in ploughing through too many and too irrelevant CV’s.

2. Flexibility

You are a biotech company and you need extra legal brains in the context of a clinical study?  You are a public company and need to face big projects and legal challenges that change depending on which politician is calling the shots? You are a retailer or a manufacturing company and you need to adopt new business and legal strategies?  In our fast changing world, all companies in all industries need at some point to act quickly in order to keep on top from a legal point of view.

Or, imagine your top legal counsel is going on maternity leave, wants to take a sabbatical for a year, or is simply not available for whichever reason for a few months or longer?  What can you do?  Easy, you look for a legal interim counsel and you agree to hire him/her for as long as you need them, full time or part time.

3. Plug and play

No need to train legal interim counsels.  As already said above, they often have experience both as a lawyer and working at companies and possess the right legal skills and mind set to start working and deliver added value almost immediately.

As they are high achievers and face fierce competition, they already keep up-to-date with the latest news relating to their field in order to get ahead of their competitors. This represents a saving for you, both in terms of time and money.

Moreover, legal interim counsels have a personality that likes to be independent, so they also like to work independently and have the ownership of their projects.   

Freelance legal counsels also bring a lot of experience from other legal departments of other companies with them.  This way, they often bring a fresh way of solving legal issues to the table and they may share valuable learnings and legal insights.

4.  Easy administration

No hassle with the paperwork.  Concluding a contract with a freelance legal counsel is way easier and quicker than hiring an employee, due to all stringent administrative steps that need to be respected. The same goes for ending a collaboration.

5.  ROI

Return on Investment. You won’t hear me say that working with freelance legal counsels is cheap, because it isn’t.  No monkeys and no peanuts in our line of freelance business.

But I do dare to say it’s worth the investment.  Taking into account all advantages and benefits, your investment pays itself quickly back in added value.  Especially if you find your freelance legal counsel through our Limine platform, where, not only you know how much commission you’ll pay, but you also get to negotiate directly with your legal interim counsel.

Let Limine help you find your legal interim counsel today!

If you’re ready to work with excellent freelance legal counsels for your assignments , whether interim or ad hoc, Limine is able to help you. Limine connects businesses with the independent legal consultants they need.

Create a profile on our platform, publish your assignment and start connecting with relevant legal interim counsels right away. Visit Limine today to set up an account and get started