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Interim and Locum jobs

For interim lawyer roles right across the UK

Covering the length and breadth of the UK, our dedicated Interim team recruits and provides consultants, agile/flexible workers and document review lawyers. We cover all levels of seniority, ranging from senior general counsel and qualified solicitors to legal executives and paralegals.

From one to two days’ assignments to maternity cover or longer term projects, we have outstanding opportunities in private practice and in-house. These opportunities include magic circle firms and public sector organisations, SMEs and large international PLCs, along with high street firms, each covering all areas of law.

Providing regular contact to clients and candidates alike, alongside support with market updates and expert career advice has built this national team’s excellent reputation, resulting in many exclusive assignments.

See our contacts page or call us on +44 (0)203 096 4550 (London & South East roles) or +44 (0)117 917 1860 (South West roles) or +44 (0)121 200 5577 (Midlands and North roles) if you’d like to talk through any of our latest opportunities.

Document Review

Boasting some of the most experienced document review lawyers in London, our specialist Document Review team works with an extensive list of UK, US and Global law firms as well as Legal Process Outsourcing organisations (LPO’s). 

From one to two-day assignments to large headline-grabbing international investigations, we place both qualified and paralegal candidates into document review and eDiscovery positions across the UK and mainland Europe. We have a very successful track record in filling roles that require hard to find foreign language skills.

Our team offer quick turnarounds to clients and candidates as well as excellent service.  Last year, we placed over 300 lawyers into projects with LPOs in London and the numbers are growing. If you are qualified and/or a paralegal with relevant litigation experience please do contact us. Language skills are frequently an advantage and general requirements include document review or litigation experience, eligibility to work in Europe, proof of qualification/admission and references.

Document Review: a great option for Aussie and Kiwi lawyers in London

I recently had a call from an Australian lawyer who had just moved to London with her partner and was keen to discuss her work options. She had started the process of finding a permanent job, but was eager to find a short-term position in the meantime to keep her busy and to continue bringing some money in. This was just the latest of numerous similar conversations that my team and I have with lawyers from Australia and New Zealand. In these circumstances, a document review contract can be a great option.

Many lawyers have some familiarity with document review as an ad hoc process but aren’t necessarily aware of how developed the market is in London for document review projects in their own right, run by a range of UK, US and international law firms and legal process outsourcing companies (LPOs).

These projects involve going through a large number of documents using eDiscovery software to flag up and code them for relevance to a wider matter, which could be a regulatory investigation, banking litigation, international arbitration, competition case, etc.

Due to the nature of the projects, which can vary in length from a one or two days to several months, the review market moves very quickly. Projects typically start with only a few days’ notice so candidates that are immediately available are at a strong advantage. This makes it a great opportunity for those who have recently touched down in London and are looking start working ASAP.

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First hand insights into working as an interim/ locum lawyer

I have been working with interim/locum lawyers across the South West and South East region at Chadwick Nott for more than four years now. Throughout this time, I have worked with and placed a variety of candidates from paralegals through to partner level. These candidates have all opted to work on an interim/locum basis for a number of reasons, but some of the key determining factors include:

  • Flexibility to choose work schedule (full time, part time, remotely or on a consultancy basis)
  • Opportunity to travel and stay in different locations
  • Hand picking the types of firms you wish to work for
  • Variety of work and experience on offer
  • Extended periods of time off

Each interim/locum lawyer that I have spoken to has his or her own reasons and additional benefits of why they choose to work in this way, but above all, work life balance is by far many candidates’ main reason to work as an interim lawyer.

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IR35: The end of the private sector temp?

In the recent Budget released, the Chancellor of the Exchequer confirmed that changes to IR35 regulations will be extended to the private sector. It was initially expected to be implemented from April 2019 but this has been postponed until April 2020, providing a welcome delay for many businesses, practices and interim Lawyers working via limited companies.

What is IR35?

If you are not familiar with IR35 it was introduced in 2000 to close tax loopholes for individuals who worked via their own limited companies and who were essentially ‘off payroll’. In April 2017 these rules (IR35) were tightened within the public sector, with employers left to determine whether national insurance contributions and income tax applied to the interim staff working for them.

In or Outside IR35?

The decision as to whether a role falls inside or outside IR35 is made by hiring managers, backed up by information from the worker. This is a very time consuming and complex process with the rules covering a whole host of different aspects such as: control/management of the worker, right of substitution, the equipment required, integration into an organisation, contract terms and previous IR35 status.

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Bianca Gibbs

Bianca Gibbs

Associate Director (Interim - South West & South East)Bristol
Chris Goodman

Chris Goodman

Senior Associate (Interim, Paralegal & CILEx)London
Charlotte Williams

Charlotte Williams

Associate DirectorBirmingham