The future of the legal industry: a new way of working
At Flex Legal, we provide flexible, interim lawyers and paralegals to legal teams all across the UK. Through working with over 350 law firms/in-house teams and over 500 interim lawyers, we’re in a great position to see how flexible working conditions are becoming increasingly the norm in law, as well as how individual teams and lawyers are reacting to this change.
In the midst of COVID-19, the legal industry had to suddenly adapt like never before. Now in the third year of the pandemic, lawyers all over the country are trying to adjust to the ‘new normal’, with hybrid working and flexible hours becoming commonplace. But has COVID merely accelerated a change that was already underway? Is the hybrid model here to stay? And what other new ways of working are on the horizon?
Was the move to flexible working already underway?
For a long time, many legal professionals have been keen to move to a more flexible working model. Due to the rapid increase in tech over the last 20 years, lawyers no longer leave the office at the office, replying to messages and answering calls in the evening, and many argue that this expectation to work late already demanded increased flexibility. The last decade has also seen the industry become more flexible when it comes to part-time work/job shares, better work/life balance for parents or carers, paternity leave, and much more.
As an organisation that provides lawyers with flexible, interim legal work, at Flex Legal we have seen this change first-hand. More and more lawyers are looking to find an alternative to the traditional gruelling hours, relentless billable time targets, and poor work/life balance of the legal industry.
‘The new normal’: the hybrid working model
However, despite this change already being underway for a long time, it can’t be denied that the pandemic has rapidly accelerated the move to hybrid working. After so many years of resisting flexible working models, the pandemic proved that our industry can work effectively from home on mass; and modern technology has allowed this to happen as smoothly as possible, with providers such as Zoom and Teams allowing us to video call our colleagues whenever and wherever.
The regional results of the Thomson Reuters survey, “Stellar Performance: A Survey of Standout Talent”*, reveal that the appetite for flexible working has increased dramatically in the legal profession. 63% now want to work flexible hours, compared to 22% pre-pandemic. On average, they want to work in a hybrid manner, with 2.1 days at home moving forwards – up from 0.6 previously.
Although this new model brings with it some key challenges, including coordinating hybrid meetings, the difficulty of collaborating/developing strong working relationships and the struggle to train junior lawyers, remote/hybrid working has obvious benefits that lawyers across the industry have come to value over the past 18 months. From an improved work/life balance to greater autonomy, this new way of working combines the best of both worlds and provides lawyers with their long-sought-after increased flexibility. A desire that is felt across the industry, with juniors as well as partners keen to find a balance between home and office working.
This will to work flexibly does not however reflect a decline in job commitment. Previously, lawyers in the UK worked an average of 10 hours per day on weekdays and expressed a future preference to work 10.1 hours, according to Thomson Reuters*. Lawyers don’t want to work less – they want to work better, in ways that support their lives.
Is interim working the way forward?
But for some, hybrid still isn’t enough - they want complete flexibility and choice in their working life, and many are waking up to the benefits of flexible interim roles. A way of working which allows them to work when and where they want, in a way that suits their lifestyle.
Flex Lawyer, Nathalie, has found that interim working has allowed her to travel and visit family abroad, as well as giving her more time to focus on the other areas of her life: “I have been able to travel and spend time with my family abroad, and I work in an environment that helps me to be more productive which makes my work feel more fulfilling. Interim work has made it possible for me to have a more flexible and efficient work schedule and it has given me more time to work on other areas of interest and professional development.”
As Nathalie shows, more and more lawyers are taking control of their careers, and the power to pick and choose roles is in their hands. It’s now up to law firms and in-house legal teams to provide flexibility, whether that’s through hiring interim workers, adopting the new hybrid model or perhaps even taking a futuristic move to work in the metaverse.