Is freelancing the way ahead for your career?

If you don’t know the term ‘Vario’, here’s Matthew Kay to explain what it means for clients and solicitors

Lawyers who place a different emphasis on what is important for their career and lifestyle are on the increase in Scottish corporate and public body roles and Pinsent Masons is at the forefront of this relatively new freelance movement.

Launched four years ago, our Vario (indicating variety or difference) freelance model addresses the needs of many businesses to have access to flexible, short-term, dependable and high-quality legal resource.

With almost 300 Vario lawyers spread across the UK, the individuals who complete our rigorous selection procedure are resilient, adaptable, commercial, self-sufficient, and in many cases entrepreneurial. They range from senior lawyers with decades-long experience in private practice or in-house counsel who are not ready to retire but want to soften the pace that operating at a senior level requires, to others who seek a better balance between their professional and home lives.

There is also evidence that an increasing number of lawyers working at a junior level want to step away from the more traditional private practice route and opt to “get off the treadmill” to achieve a better life balance.

Recent research found 89 per cent of our Varios believed their quality of life had improved since adopting the contracting model; 84 per cent viewed freelance work as their long-term career path; while the top motivation was the quality and variety of work offered.

Our selection process places a strong focus on the potential Vario’s technical ability, but also recognises that successful freelance lawyers require a particular mindset and appropriate behavioural skills which enables them to quickly enter and assimilate into a client environment and to be able to operate effectively and efficiently. The vast majority of Varios have spent time on secondment or have other in-house experience, and therefore have the capability of adding value from day one of their engagement.

Often a company’s in-house legal team find themselves under pressure due to large fluctuations of workload, so a key driver for engaging a Vario is the ability to flex an in-house resource as and when required, but without an associated balance sheet commitment.

As Pinsent Masons will usually have a long-term relationship with the client, a freelance addition can be viewed as a safe option for a short-term solution. As their trusted legal advisors, we have made an assessment on the capability and quality of the contractor lawyer, and therefore the client can be confident the flexible Vario legal resource is of Pinsent Masons quality and is tailored to meet their specific requirements.

The Vario model also allows us to react quickly to fast moving changes in the market place, for example, we are in the process of establishing a small team of experienced trade lawyers, located across our international locations, in response to the imminent triggering of Article 50 and the UK’S exit from the EU.

Pinsent Masons’ Vario model is an attractive addition to the services provided by our global network of 1,500 lawyers and 400 partners. Our objective is to build strong ongoing relationships with Vario lawyers to ensure they view Pinsent Masons as their preferred choice for freelance projects, Matthew Kay is Director of Vario, Pinsent Masons