We all go through periods in our careers when the daily workload starts to feel like more of a chore than a reason to jump out of bed. For lawyers, the long hours, lack of variety and high pressure environment can get too much, but if you’re not yet ready to turn your back on your legal career and want to carry on working with top clients on interesting projects it might just be time for a change.
Many lawyers consider interim assignments as they are building their careers but rule them out for fear of taking a step back on the career ladder. In fact, switching out of the traditional linear track and taking on some project-based legal assignments can be a great way to strengthen a top-quality legal CV or resume helping you demonstrate ambition and gain unique and varied experiences that will make you stand out in a highly competitive talent market.
Peerpoint has been helping lawyers all over the world to build exceptional and exciting careers for nearly a decade, and we have hundreds of top-tier professionals on our panel. Let us dispel a few myths about the realities of interim opportunities...
Firstly, they're not for lawyers who can’t hack it.
Opting to pursue project-based assignments isn't about taking a step back, and it is certainly not for those that can’t cope with the demands of Biglaw. Rather, we're supporting pre-eminent global companies and financial institutions with their interim legal requirements, and those clients want the best of the best.
If you want the prestige of working with big-name organisations on their cutting-edge, mission-critical assignments, then that’s what’s on offer. The great difference about doing it on an interim basis is that you have more control: you might choose to try something new, to take longer breaks between contracts, to work part-time or to seek exposure to a wider range of industries.
You won’t sabotage your career by doing this.
In fact, our consultants are able to propel their careers to the next level, often boosting their credentials by building a portfolio of experience across a range of clients, projects and sectors. Forward-thinking lawyers can diversify their expertise and build new skills by accessing a variety of work, winning the chance to engage with clients they might never have dealt with if they had stayed in a permanent role.
Choosing to go down the interim lawyering route needn’t affect your ability to get a permanent role in future, and can accelerate the pace at which you can achieve your professional goals.
Finally, it’s not true that the work is menial and junior.
Our clients are looking for brilliant, ambitious, self-directed professionals to step in and help on their major transactions, legal projects or during peak busy periods. The practice areas that we typically resource include capital markets, banking and finance, corporate M&A, technology, intellectual property, data privacy and employment law.
The work you'll be doing will be on a par with what you're doing in your permanent role, and you're likely to find it more interesting and challenging, and on your terms. You'll get to push yourself forward, stretch your mind and expand your network, while always having a choice about the next assignment you take on.
Working on a project-basis isn’t for everyone, but whatever your experience, ambitions and goals, Peerpoint commits to offering its lawyers all the support they need to thrive. Our consultants have the backing of Allen & Overy, so you’re never on your own and can instead tap into the highest-level work with the full support of our dedicated teams.
We've been doing this long enough to know how to match lawyers to the right opportunities, so we’ll help you tick the boxes you want to tick and keep you heading in the direction you want to travel.