Contract Lawyers: Cheaper By The Hour

"USE OF CONTRACT ATTORNEYS GROW, AS DO THE COMPLAINTS

Julie Kay / Staff reporter
January 12, 2009

A year or two ago, South Florida legal recruiter Abbe Mald Bunt was able to place attorney clients with new jobs "in a minute."

Now, she's referring most clients — primarily experienced associates who were laid off — to legal staffing agencies for "contract work."

"I'm just hoping they will get some viable employment," said Bunt, who said she is "flooded" with résumés these days.

Bunt is not alone. As law firms downsize, laid-off attorneys and new law school graduates unable to find jobs have been turning to an option they may never have imagined at law school: becoming contract attorneys — hired guns for $35 an hour."

Read the rest of Julie Kay's article here:

http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202427338861