Demand for Contract Lawyers Is Rising From COVID-19 Business Disruptions
Currently much of the hiring is for corporate legal departments who need more lawyers to fill specific niches, or because of reduced productivity from COVID-19-related issues. But increased demand from law firms is anticipated for later this year, recruiters say.
May 01, 2020 at 04:39 PM
4 minute read
Recruiters say the demand for contract attorneys in corporate and government legal departments and law firms is rising as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic creates more of certain types of legal work.
Matthew Weaver, executive director of interim legal talent at consulting and recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, who is based in New York City, said, "We are definitely seeing an uptick in interim legal talent."
Industries and practice areas with a strong need for contract attorneys and paralegals right now include health care and hospital networks, financial services, insurance, purchasing of technology services, and food suppliers.
Privacy and data security contract lawyers also are in high demand, he said.
"Tech companies are finding themselves inundated with new users, and privacy has become a huge thing with people working from home and outside the firewalls of our companies," Weaver said.
Practices such as bankruptcy and restructuring and insurance litigation also are anticipated, he said.
Hiring is going on virtually using Skype, Zoom and Microsoft Teams even as corporate law departments and many law offices remain shuttered due to shelter-in-place orders in some cities, the recruiters said. Some employers are on-boarding the contract attorneys for remote work with plans to bring them into offices later when shelter-in-place orders are loosened or lifted, they said.
"There are no obstacles to on-boarding right now," Weaver said, including for employment eligibility verification. "In the latter part of March, the Department of Homeland Security relaxed requirements for contract and permanent employees, not requiring in-person verification of I-9s through May 19. They are interviewing on video right now, as quickly as possible."
Currently much of the hiring is for corporate legal departments straining under demands for expertise in particular niches, or from reduced productivity due to COVID-19-related issues, but increased demand from law firms is anticipated for later this year, the recruiters said. Weaver said law firms have more flexibility to meet demand surges with their own associates, whereas corporate law departments have to use contract lawyers to quickly staff up.
While not providing any overall hiring figures, Weaver said at Major Lindsey clients at corporations and law firms are getting requests for one or two contract lawyers per organization, and as many as 10-30 junior lawyers and paralegals on loan processing and documentation assignments at financial services employers, for Small Business Administration and stimulus programs.
Jamy Sullivan, executive director of San Ramon, California-based Robert Half Legal, whose office is in Dallas, said her firm also is seeing increased demand now for interim talent in financial services companies including banking and mortgage refinancing, Small Business Administration and other federal government stimulus; manufacturing and supply chain and health care. Much of the work is contract review and review of new regulations, and reviewing insurance policies in anticipation of claims, she said.
"Contracts review and contract obligations, compliance and risk are the areas that will continue to tick up in the coming months," she said.
Sullivan said she also expects to see increased demand for litigation and bankruptcy help as courts reopen or go virtual, in both law departments and law firms, probably in 30 to 90 days. Weaver agreed. She said health care, insurance and commercial matters also are expected to increase hiring or corporate law departments and law firms.
Most positions require more than three years or five years of experience for substantive roles and niche practices; and for financial services and banking and mortgages, they will take junior experience and paralegals. Most are open-ended contracts.
Weaver said his clients mainly call for lawyers with one to five years of experience, and two to 10 years for paralegals. Compensation ranges from $50-$150 per hour for privacy, health care and tech niche corporate transactional attorneys and $20-$40 per hour for the higher-volume loan processing work and paralegals, he said.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllCorporate Counsel's 2024 Award Winners Performed Legal Wizardry, Gave a Hand Up to Others
'We’re Here to Empower People to Make Good Decisions': Why Compliance Chiefs Must Learn to Think Like a Businessperson
Which Outside Law Firms Are Irreplaceable, and Which Should Have Gotten the Ax Years Ago?
4 minute readFrom Tires to Tracks: Goodyear Chief Risk Officer Joins Union Pacific as Legal Chief
Trending Stories
- 1Read the Document: 'Google Must Divest Chrome', DOJ Says, Proposing Remedies in Search Monopoly Case
- 2Voir Dire Voyeur: I Find Out What Kind of Juror I’d Be
- 3When It Comes to Local Law 97 Compliance, You’ve Gotta Have (Good) Faith
- 4Legal Speak at General Counsel Conference East 2024: Virginia Griffith, Director of Business Development at OutsideGC
- 5Legal Speak at General Counsel Conference East 2024: Bill Tanenbaum, Partner & Chair, AI & Data Law Practice Group at Moses Singer
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250