One of the best ways to develop as a solicitor is to go on a secondment. A few essential facts and benefits associated with legal secondments are laid out in this article.
1. What are legal secondments?
A legal secondment occurs when a lawyer joins an organization’s internal legal team for a limited time to assist with a particular project, offer legal experience, or lighten the workload of existing teams without permanently joining the organization. A legal secondment was traditionally something a lawyer did early in their career to obtain more business experience through their employer in a private practice (law firm).
Nonetheless, legal secondments are becoming a common practice for attorneys at all stages of their careers to increase their level of flexibility and control over their work and diversify their skill set and industry expertise. Moreover, it gives attorneys some “breathing space” to balance their legal interests with extracurricular pursuits like family, travel, or a start-up.
2.What perks come with selecting an in-house service?
- Integration: In every manner: directly comprehending the needs of the client and adjusting to every detail, including, say, reporting.
- Immediacy: Working directly with the client company means that the lawyer can advise more quickly and maintain a much more direct connection, which results in significant cost savings.
- Experience: The client business will have an attorney with extensive industry experience, who will also gain from having even deeper insight into the organization and its guidelines. In addition to this, the rest of the team continues to support the attorney.
- Effectiveness: This can be possible from the beginning of the legal secondment thanks to ongoing cooperation and past knowledge of the client and their sector.
- Collaboration: The client company and the legal firm will be able to become actual business partners as their relationship becomes more profound.
Flexibility: Complete and instantaneous customization to the business’s unique needs is provided.
3.How does it benefit law firms?
Law firms can offer trainees more in-depth work experience by offering a secondment. Lawyers are exposed to the legal sector from their client’s perspective since they deal closely with businesses. Law firms also acknowledge that collaborating in-house with clients can help attorneys gain various competencies, including business acumen and commercial understanding. Law businesses that utilize legal secondments might be seen as investing in their trainees, expecting them to come back after a six-month placement with knowledge and expertise to benefit the firm.
Secondments are another tool that businesses can utilize to improve their rapport with clients. Companies can collaborate with top lawyers by bringing in an attorney from a law company to staff their internal legal department.
Several law firms and in-house legal departments of businesses operate joint secondment programs whereby the client is provided with a consistent supply of solicitors from the law firm for a prolonged period. The legal firm and the participating solicitors benefit from this connection because clients will have the necessary infrastructure to accommodate the lawyers on placement.
Remember that a secondment will allow you to further your career and acquire skills you would not usually be able to on regular training contracts at a law firm.