Legal Eagles Say ‘Temping’ Takes Drudgery Out of Law : Attorneys: A plentiful supply of labor now lets big firms hire quality help for short-term needs.
Wanted: Litigator. Prefer Ivy League-educated with at least three years’ experience. Quick learner with ability to think on feet. Length of assignment, two months.
As the supply of attorneys increases--by 60% nationwide in the last 10 years--and the demand at law firms declines, thousands of lawyers have taken to “temping” and have found they can still earn a good living working a fraction of the hours they once did.
“Economically, it makes sense,” said Cecily Berry, Harvard Law School ’86. She has spent three years as a litigation temp for Special Counsel Inc., a temporary placement agency in Manhattan. “I’ve been able to pay off a few bills. It allows you to have a more flexible schedule. It allows you to keep work as work --and you can have a life outside of work.”
Of the dozen temp agencies in the country, two are based here, Special Counsel and The Lawsmiths. Many in the legal profession say the market is expanding.
“I’ve been in business just over three years,” said Lesley Friedman, president of Special Counsel, “and last year we doubled our profits. We did $4 million in business.”
Special Counsel serves more than 50 client firms and companies with its pool of 500 attorneys. Annual incomes are difficult to estimate, given the on-again off-again schedules temps keep, but wages are $25 to $100 an hour, depending on the job, said Friedman, herself an attorney. Most temps handle the same tasks as regular associates, from researching and drafting court documents to representing the firm in court.
Applicants to Special Counsel have a variety of reasons for wanting to temp, Friedman said. Some are disgruntled with law and see no future in the old associate-to-partner career track. Some are mothers with children, law professors and retired or laid-off lawyers. Some are simply tired of working 100-hour, six-day weeks that bear little resemblance to television’s glamorous “L.A. Law” episodes.
Berry gave up the law-firm life after 14 months as an associate at Shea & Gould here. “I went to law school not knowing what practicing law was about. Even though it was lucrative, it wasn’t fulfilling.”
According to a recent survey conducted by the American Bar Assn., 48% of the nation’s lawyers would change jobs if they saw a reasonable alternative. High salaries and expensive lifestyles make their jobs hard to leave, however.
Temping offers lawyers alternatives: a wide range of experience and an inside look at various firms without permanent commitment. The main reason most lawyers temp, Friedman said, is because of the flexibility and freedom, advantages that many feel cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
“I might temp for six months and make enough money to support myself for the other six months I’m not working,” said Bernard Dushman, a temporary labor lawyer.
To some, however, the cons outweigh the pros. Temps get no medical coverage, pension plan, bonus or other benefits. And, unless assigned to a long-term project, they often do not know when, or if, they will have work.
“There’s no continuity,” said Dushman, a 1973 Boston University Law School graduate. “If I get placed and they say this will take six months and the case settles in two, I’m out on my ear.”
He said he didn’t mind the drawbacks: “It’s been a wonderful professional experience. I’ve gotten to work on some cases that I wouldn’t have if I were in private practice. The cases tend to be interesting, and you don’t get those continuously in private practice.”
Most law firms that use temps do not want it to be known, Friedman said. They don’t want to appear too small to handle their caseloads, and some firms still perceive temps as second-rate lawyers who couldn’t make it in the profession.
Friedman said the opposite is true. “It’s harder to get a temp job than a regular job,” she said. “You must have much better credentials.” Firms don’t want mediocrity, she added, nor do they want to waste time and client money having to walk temps through routine exercises.
Special Counsel’s standards also dispel that myth. New temps go through rigorous screening, first in Friedman’s office and then with the client law firm. A temp must be a graduate of one of the “Top 10” law schools or have ranked in the upper 5% of their class at another school.
“I never compromised my level of professionalism,” Berry said. “And I never felt that less was expected of me in terms of quality or quantity of work. I don’t think it makes you less of an attorney or less of a professional.”
Some believe the legal profession is ripe for this new industry. While business is still profitable for many firms, some of New York’s leading firms have suffered from overexpansion in the 1980s. Because fewer attorneys are being hired, more firms may be turning to temporary agencies.
And that’s fine with temps such as Cecily Berry. “I used to feel like a mini-factory for motions and briefs,” she said. “As a temp, you have the option of not putting all your eggs in one basket.”
