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Let’s be completely honest: Even if you have a law degree from a top law school or have recently begun studying for the bar exam or even passed it, you may not have your entire career mapped out — and even if you do, you know what they say about best laid plans of mice and men. You may have a general idea of what you would like to do, but like many legal professionals, you may have a strong desire to make a career change after practicing for several years.

The good news is the escape hatch from Biglaw is always nearby. If you decide the high salaries and prestige are not enough to offset the burnout of 70+ hour weeks and 4 a.m. calls from the partner who never sleeps, there exist several options for you. Up until now, the most popular one has been to go in-house. The work is on average, less taxing — at least in terms of hours — and more flexible. One option that is becoming more and more popular is to work as a contract attorney so that you can have more flexible hours and more control over your life. The beauty of contract positions are that they leave your options open. After a few years, you may decide that you want to work full-time again and start working as a Compliance Officer at a Fortune 500 company. There are also cases where we place contact attorneys permanently at Biglaw firms when they express the desire to start working full time again. While Biglaw was once thought of as inflexible — you walked a narrow ledge for eight years until you either careened off into the unknown or made partner has become more and more flexible. The safety netting of contract work, fueled by law firm’s desire to staff efficiently, is serving as both a livelihood and a way station for attorneys in transit.

A contract attorney is an attorney who works on legal cases on an as-needed or temporary basis. The contract can be for a few days, weeks or even a few years. Contract attorneys practice law without a guaranteed employment term. That is, the project may end early or be extended. Typically, when the project is over, contract attorneys move on to the next project. Many individuals confuse contract attorneys with document review specialists who are legally trained professionals (JDs, attorneys, or paralegals) who examine documents to determine whether they are relevant for trial. Unlike contract attorneys, document review specialists typically review contracts, memos, emails, financial documents, spreadsheets, or other types of documents to determine whether the information is relevant to the pending case. In contrast, contract attorneys don’t just review documents all day long. Instead, they might assist with pretrial investigations, conduct in-depth legal research, and summarize their findings in a written brief or report, write contacts and memoranda, and complete high-level work that other associates and other partners would typically handle.

Contract attorneys are typically employed by law firms or staffing firms that have contracted with small and large law firms, and they typically complete a wide range of tasks, depending on the size of the firm. Contract attorneys typically make $150+ an hour for their legal expertise, and even a half-time contract attorney will make well over six figures. The amount they receive depends on many factors. For instance, contract attorneys who are licensed to practice in states with higher living costs, are experienced at handling complex legal issues, or can speak another language are paid much more. Either way, contract attorneys allow individuals to make a nice income while gaining valuable skills that can transfer to other opportunities.

If you’re considering working as a contract attorney or are on the fence about whether this would be a good temporary or permanent position for you, here are a few benefits to consider.

Benefit #1. You Receive a Steady Income and Can Build a Reputation in the Industry

Working as a contract attorney enables you to make steady money for the duration of the project. Depending on your location and specialized skills, you can make a nice supplemental or full-time income. When you work a contract project, you are paid weekly or biweekly, and you gain hands-on experience.

Benefit #2. You Get to Network While You Get Paid

As a contract attorney, you expand your network tremendously. When you take on a new project, you meet new people and this enables you to network with various types of attorneys and legal professionals. These valuable contacts can then help you secure other positions at other firms. Plus, making money builds confidence and keeps the student loan creditors at bay.

Benefit #3. Assignments Are Very Flexible 

As a contract attorney, you have flexibility with the type of projects you take on and your work hours. That is, although some firms require you to commit to a set number of hours during the entire project, most employers are flexible as to when you complete these hours. Some firms may even give you the option to complete your hours within a 12-hour window. Or, they may allow you to work overtime (if you choose to do so). However, one of the benefits of working contract positions is that you typically leave your work at work and won’t be required to take it home with you (again, unless you choose to do so). Plus, most firms are flexible with your schedule and as long as you make up any missing time, you can also take time off for interviews, family emergencies, etc., without being penalized.

Benefit #4. Not Hard to Find Opportunities 

There are numerous opportunities available for contract attorneys, specifically ones who are willing to travel to remote locations. Depending on your skills and interest, Bridgeline Solutions can place top attorneys in temporary or permanent contract attorney roles. We have locations in Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Hong Kong, and more. Having been in business for over 10 years, we have developed a sound reputation in the legal industry with our dedicated pool of legal professionals and work closely with firms to find the right candidates. The rate for contract attorneys is growing exponentially and researchers estimate that the employment outlook for contract attorneys will grow more than 10 percent over the next ten years, which is faster than the average for other occupations. To make the most of this surge in contract attorney opportunities, you should pair up with a reputable staffing firm, always do your best to represent the staffing and law firm throughout the duration of the project, understand the project requirements, complete all assignments, and notify your legal recruiter or supervisor if any issues arise.

Benefit #5. Learn About the Litigation Process

As a contract attorney, you get paid as you learn how to practice law. That is, contract assignments enable you to gain valuable experience while improving your research, writing, analytical, and litigation skills. You avoid a steep learning curve as you are ultimately thrown into a fast-paced environment and taught how to swim in the experienced legal pool. No more wading in the shallow end. Instead, you go deep. You learn how to use valuable eDiscovery software and improve your legal research and writing skills. You learn how to draft pretrial motions and code documents. In essence, you learn how to practice law.

Benefit #6. You Build a Name for Yourself and Open Up Better Opportunities

By working hard at your craft, you can demonstrate your competency as a highly intelligent and dedicated legal professional amongst your peers. This may lead to advancement opportunities and steady work at the firm. Or, at the very least, you can earn a fine reputation as a hardworking, intelligent, and dedicated contractor. This alone can prove to be invaluable during future job searches, as a strong legal reference goes a long way. Plus, the legal training you receive on contract projects is not taught in law school, and you will significantly improve your skills with every completed project that will make. This will make you much more marketable in the industry.

In conclusion, working as a contract attorney can help you secure your dream position or help you make steady income as you search. Not only will you learn valuable and transferrable skills, but you can build a valuable network. Because you aren’t tied to one firm or practice area, you can try out different areas of law until you find the one that strikes your fancy. Plus, you’ll gain practical legal knowledge and get paid for on-the-job legal training. Finally, you’ll keep the student loan and mortgage collection trolls away. Who knows? Working as a contract attorney may just be your dream legal job — or at least a step in the right direction. Good luck!

Bridgeline Solutions pioneered the legal staffing industry and established many of its best practices. From Am Law 200 firms, Fortune 500 companies and financial institutions to boutique law firms — organizations around the world partner with us as their go-to legal & compliance staffing partner. With offices in over a dozen cities across the United States and Asia, we find our attorneys temporary positions in every legal market.

Bonus season began in Biglaw over a week ago when Milbank gave the industry with a little kick in the pants with an early bonus announcement. Now Baker McKenzie has made their associates happy with a match to the industry standard with a change to the firm’s usual bonus payday. Because everyone loves a big bonus announcement, but getting the money earlier than expected makes it even sweeter.

The bonus scale is as follows:

Class of 2019 – $15,000 (pro-rated)
Class of 2018 – $15,000
Class of 2017 – $25,000
Class of 2016 – $50,000
Class of 2015 – $65,000
Class of 2014 – $80,000
Class of 2013 – $90,000
Class of 2012  – $100,000
Class of 2011+ – $100,000

As noted in the full memo, bonuses will be paid by the firm on January 31st. Sure, some firms are paying bonuses in December, but considering the firm’s tradition of paying bonuses in March, this has come as a welcomed surprise, from a tipster:

People are happy the money is coming earlier this year — usually paid in mid-March.

Plus! The firm will pay above these market rates for “exceptional performance.”

(Full memo on the next page.)

Remember, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.

And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts (which is the alert list we also use for all salary announcements), please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for your help!

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

If you thought that Milbank’s decision to announce their 2019 year end bonuses early — November 7th to be precise — would slow the rest of their Biglaw colleagues from matching, well, you were wrong. Sure, it took Cravath the weekend to decide to match that standard, but once that happened the bonus announcements for the top of the Biglaw heap have been coming fast and furious.

The latest firm to make their associates’ bonus dreams come true is Weil, Gotshal & Manges. Earlier today, the elite firm matched the market bonus scale. That bonus schedule is as follows:

Class of 2019 – $15,000 (pro-rated)
Class of 2018 – $15,000
Class of 2017 – $25,000
Class of 2016 – $50,000
Class of 2015 – $65,000
Class of 2014 – $80,000
Class of 2013 – $90,000
Class of 2012 – $100,000
Class of 2011 – $100,000
Class of 2010 and senior – case by case

Bonuses will be paid by the firm by January 31st. (Full memo on the next page.)

Remember, we depend on your tips to stay on top of important bonus updates, so when your firm matches, please text us (646-820-8477) or email us (subject line: “[Firm Name] Matches”). Please include the memo if available. You can take a photo of the memo and send it via text or email if you don’t want to forward the original PDF or Word file.

And if you’d like to sign up for ATL’s Bonus Alerts (which is the alert list we also use for all salary announcements), please scroll down and enter your email address in the box below this post. If you previously signed up for the bonus alerts, you don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive an email notification within minutes of each bonus announcement that we publish. Thanks for your help!

Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

When I arrived, I noticed the cafeteria did not serve pizza. I thought, “What an outrage.” My legacy is secure. It’s fine by me if I’m ever known as the pizza justice.

— Justice Brett Kavanaugh, joking about adding pizza to the Supreme Court’s cafeteria menu as part of his newly assigned work on the high court’s cafeteria committee. Kavanaugh made this lighthearted commentary during a speech given before the Federalist Society that was sponsored by Facebook.

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Robert Mueller got him, you guys.

Oh, not President Trump, who Mueller let off the hook by refusing to indict or call for the indictment of a president he found to commit multiple acts of obstruction of justice. Not Donald Trump Jr., who Mueller shamefully refused to question or prosecute. No, the last gasp of the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election ended today with the conviction of Roger Stone, a Trump aide and longtime professional troll. Stone was convicted on seven counts of witness tampering and lying to Congress. Good job, Bobby Mulls, you prosecuted the sizzle, but not the steak. I hope you’re happy with yourself.

To do a quick, non-comprehensive recap of Russia-probe criminality: Donald Trump’s campaign CEO, Paul Manafort, has been convicted of financial crimes; Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen has been convicted of lying to Congress to cover up campaign finance violations; Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to investigators; Trump campaign aide Rick Gates has pleaded guilty of lying to investigators; Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos was convicted of lying to investigators; and now Trump confidant and fluffer, Roger Stone, has been convicted of lying to investigators and tampering with witnesses.

The common thread here seems to be that they all lied to investigators ON BEHALF OF DONALD TRUMP. And yet, somehow, Donald Trump has not been charged for his conduct. Legally speaking, Mueller and the Republicans would apparently have us believe that all these people independently decided to lie, FOR NO REASON, about conduct done at the behest of Donald Trump. If you believe that all these men are guilty but Trump is somehow innocent, I have a bridge to sell you that is due for some traffic problems.

Trump, for his part, isn’t even defending Stone’s conduct. He’s just making the useless and false argument that other people ALSO LIE to Congress and are not in jail:

“But, what about [X]” IS NOT A DEFENSE. And it’s weird that Trump isn’t even trying to challenge the ruling that Stone lied to Mueller, because if Stone lied to investigators it ALSO PROVES Trump lied to investigators. Stone’s conviction should be the start of a new round of inquiry into the president’s perjury and obstruction of justice, not the end of that inquiry.

But I guess Trump is just going to get away with it. Roger Stone will now join Cohen and Manafort in jail while their benefactor, Donald Trump, remains free.

Stone’s convictions carries with them a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison. But Stone, a 67-year-old non-violent offender, is unlikely to get anything close to that. He will be released until his sentencing in February, and I wouldn’t expect him to get more than 10 years, at the absolute top-end, and I’d put the over/under at 7.5.

A “light” sentence for Stone will piss a lot of people off, and I appreciate that. Stone is a bad guy who lied about a serious investigation and jauntily flaunted authorities while doing it. His activities played a key role in bringing about the election of a bigoted misogynist and, seeing as that president is unlikely to be held accountable, the impulse will be to make sure Stone spends every last day of his natural life in lock-up. For sure, if Stone does end up dying in jail, I will not cry about it.

But, I caution people to remember the justice equities involved in this case. As Vito Corleone might say: “Stone is a pimp. He never could have outfought the entire criminal justice system. It was Trump all along.” The problem is Trump. The criminal is Trump. The threat to American democracy is Trump. Stone is a henchman. He should be punished, but no amount of punishment now will do anything about Donald Trump.

And a particularly harsh sentence will not further deter current Trump henchmen from lying to protect Trump, more than they already are. I subscribe to the belief that “jail” is bad, but there are diminishing marginal returns for “more jail” when it comes to deterrence. U.S. Envoy to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, surely noted Stone’s conviction today. Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney noticed too. These men are on notice that if you lie for Trump, somebody will eventually come for you, even if your boss remains free. Sondland and Mulvaney should now be on notice that they must choose their words carefully if they want to avoid jail.

If Stone gets 20 years, instead of 10, it’s not like Sondland and Mulvaney will be “more” worried. I just do not think that they’re sitting at home thinking “Yo, I’m totally willing to do 10 years for Trump, but 20, come on, that’s just crazy talk.” Trump’s henchmen who are currently free should be scared straight by Trump’s henchmen who are currently incarcerated. If they’re not already intimidated by the threat of incarceration, the threat of additional incarceration is unlikely to change their behavior.

Again, if Stone has to ask permission to take a piss for the rest of his life, that would also be okay. But Stone was never the point. We can’t forget that, as Mueller apparently did.

Roger Stone guilty on all counts in federal trial of lying to Congress, witness tampering [Washington Post]

(Upon changing the school’s name to the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School after a $125 million donation from the W.P. Carey Foundation, the Twitter account @PennLaw was abandoned, and disgruntled students quickly stepped in and began tweeting. The account was then suspended, and @PennLawSchool was created, and continues to tweet out amusing parody content.)

(Thousands of students and alumni have signed a petition asking that the school maintain its Penn Law branding. Click here if you’d like to add your name.)

Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

I recently got together for lunch with a longtime friend. He is a senior partner at a very respected, mid-size firm in Dallas of about 60 lawyers. In the course of catching up, we discussed my work/advocacy with regards to wellness in the legal profession.  I asked him if he or his firm had taken notice of the push for more awareness.  Here is what he had to say:

1. He cares that his colleagues and friends are doing well as individuals. If they are struggling with addiction or problem drinking issues, he hopes they would come to him.  However, he does not care about lawyer wellness as a profession-wide initiative.
2. To the best of his knowledge, his firm as a whole, does not care. He is not aware of anyone at any level, ever broaching the topic.
3. He has had not heard of the ABA/Hazelden Betty Ford study on the subject.
4. He had no idea what the Texas Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) does.
5. He cares intensely about the following: a) his family, b) servicing firm clients, and 3) maintaining his lifestyle.
6. If a client project requires a 90-hour week, so be it. This is the nature of the profession we chose.

As he ticked through his viewpoints, I could feel the tips of my fingers begin to tingle. The temperature at our tiny table, in a small, crowded restaurant, seemed to rise 10 degrees. Sweat formed behind my ear lobes. I was angry.

I had no reason to be angry.  He was being honest. Did I expect him to lie about the realities of the profession beyond my bubble of confirmation bias? The echo chamber of fellow warriors of wellness?  He articulated the elephant in the room when we talk about such things. Other real-life priorities of diverse individuals. Mary Meditation, Millie Mindfulness, and Joe Yoga are great, but they don’t bill.

Whether this seems shortsighted in the face of the mental-health crisis the study lays out, many don’t know, or don’t care regardless. This seems to be especially the case outside of Biglaw. Friends and client service don’t leave much time for Mary, Millie, or Joe. Time is a prime asset that cannot be recovered. Within the billable and client responsive realm of our profession, it must be rationed to maintain the prime directives of day-to-day life. For my friends, family, clients, and lifestyle. Mortgage, rent, car payments, massive school debt, a sliver of social life. All threatened by any hint of not being a team player.

It becomes more complicated when we drop below Biglaw. A lawyer may not have an EAP.  He/she/they/them may know about their lawyer’s assistance program but assume it’s only for “alcoholics and addicts.” I know many who don’t trust their LAP despite messaging that it is confidential.

The lawyer may not have health insurance or have such a high deductible that for anything major, they are de facto uninsured. All of this can add up to the fear, insecurity, and drive to put money in the bank that makes the high-hour work week an accepted reality for the majority of the profession.  We get the resulting vacuum in which the practice of law is pretty much what it was 10 years ago in terms of priorities and views on wellness. I asked my friend to expand on our irritating lunch discussion. He graciously agreed.

When I first started practicing law in 1985, no lawyer I knew had a computer.  

I worked for a large downtown law firm, which had a Word Processing division — but secretaries were obligated to type any document shorter than eight pages long (which meant retyping for any significant changes that could not be corrected with Wite Out).

Longer documents were put in your secretary’s outbox to be picked up by the intraoffice mail person, who would take it to the Word Processing room.  A document that went in intraoffice mail at, say, 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon would be delivered back to your secretary’s inbox at around 10:00 a.m. the next morning.  You would hand mark your changes — and then put it back in intraoffice mail.

As a result, trading documents with attorneys for the other side in litigation or a corporate transaction was slow, and delays were expected.  In other words, the turnaround cycle for legal work matched the rhythms of life, and you could leave the office for dinner and socialization at a decent hour.  A large corporate transaction might take five or six months.

Now, with ubiquitous computers and tablets, with editable Word documents that can quickly be duped and revised, cut and pasted by the attorneys themselves, documents have doubled and tripled in length, and the complexity has increased correspondingly.  With email and texts, documents can be zipped around the world in different time zones with the click of a Send key, so the turnaround time for large corporate deals has shrunken to sometimes 60 days or fewer.

And now with ubiquitous WIFI and cellular hotspots, you can work anywhere: On a plane, in your car, on a dock by the bay — so clients, with compressed deal times, expect you to.  

Frequently, you’ll see a client’s name pop up on your office phone.  When you don’t answer, your cellphone will ring.  When you don’t answer that, they text you.  The expectation is that you’re always available.  If you’re on vacation, great — but that just means that they expect you to get the document out before your wife and kids get up for breakfast.  And if you’re not willing to be always accessible, you’ll lose the client to another lawyer who will.  We’re all in a race to the bottom to ruin our lives.

And by the way, partners expect associates to be always on, too, so if a client needs something at 10:00 p.m. on a Sunday night, the partner expects the associate to hop right on it.  We don’t care where the associate is.  We’re feeling heat from the client, so we need always-on responsiveness from the junior attorney.

So, we drink to calm down at the end of a day.  For some of us, every day.  For senior attorneys who are in the later stages of our careers and are making a bunch of money, we can look at our brokerage statements and gut it out for the five or six years to retirement — as we grind the junior attorneys who work for us.

For the junior attorneys who work for us, life is miserable — and they’re looking at a long career of misery in front of them, so I can understand why they are likely depressed or have substance abuse problems.

But we don’t give much thought to that (and, at mid-sized or smaller firms, are not trained to look out for or give any thought to it).  As noted above, clients are bombarding me with demands 24/7/365.  I need my associates to be responsive in the same timeframe.  If they are slow in responding, or are slow in turning work around, or turn in inadequate work, I don’t have time to counsel them.  I move on to another associate.  Too much emphasis on billing and collecting to add counseling services to the mix.  It’s very Darwinian.  

There you have it. It’s anecdotal, but don’t kid yourself. It’s not an outlier. Those who advocate are doing great in getting the message those in the rarified air of Biglaw. We have a lot of work to do below that where the majority of the profession resides.

Brian Cuban (@bcuban) is The Addicted Lawyer. Brian is the author of the Amazon best-selling book, The Addicted Lawyer: Tales Of The Bar, Booze, Blow & Redemption (affiliate link). A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he somehow made it through as an alcoholic then added cocaine to his résumé as a practicing attorney. He went into recovery April 8, 2007. He left the practice of law and now writes and speaks on recovery topics, not only for the legal profession, but on recovery in general. He can be reached at brian@addictedlawyer.com.

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Read the white paper to learn how a focus on efficiency and delivering value will yield dividends for firms willing to embrace change.