What is a Consultant Solicitor?
What is a Consultant Solicitor?
For centuries, the traditional career path of a successful solicitor involved entering a law firm as a trainee and working hard (often every hour possible) to move up the ladder.
A good track record, specialist expertise and the ability to bring in clients gives solicitors the opportunity to progress to more senior positions, with some later making partner by proving success through business development, hours billed and tenure.
Today, as everyone places more value on their time and freedom, law firms need to adapt working practices to allow employees to work more flexibly and independently. However, most firms have been slow to recognise this challenge, mainly due to the constraints of outdated legislation and traditional law firms being reluctant to change the way they have always worked.
Consultancy within the legal sector is helping define a new way of working. Enterprising solicitors with a good following of work can use this type of relationship with a law firm as an opportunity to break away from the traditional model and begin working on their own terms.
Consultancy allows solicitors to practice on a self-employed basis, servicing their clients with the support of a law firm that can provide assistance when it is needed. Gibson & Associates will provide the benefits of everything that a large firm brings, including; access to additional resources, IT and case management systems, administrative support, marketing backup, compliance and insurance. Consultants work on their own terms, set their own hours and are rewarded fairly in line with the work they undertake.
Consultancy suits solicitors that are great at attracting and building relationships with clients and want to be rewarded properly for their skills.
What are the first steps towards becoming a consultant?
At Gibson & Associates, our approach to recruitment is about quality, not quantity. We are looking for successful solicitors who have the experience, entrepreneurial skills and networks to reap the benefits of working in a more liberated and supportive law firm. We are building our law firm around the best and brightest legal talent.
We are looking for senior solicitors with a minimum of 10 years’ post-qualification experience who have much to offer in terms of their approach and their skills, as well as:
- A client following or access to client introducers
- Entrepreneurial flair
- Self-motivation and ambition
- Passion, an openness to change and a desire for a challenge