Flexibility is so "last season", autonomy is where it's at now.

A handful of years ago the consultant model firms were able to play the “flexible working” card to entice lawyers onto their platforms.  They sung from the rooftops that you could work wherever and whenever you wanted to.  This was extremely appealing to those who felt like they were tied to the desk in a law firm day in and day out.  But times have changes, Covid turned our world upside down. 

The traditional firms were forced to adapt overnight to flexible working and two years later it is evident that employees will not be returning to their desks on a full-time basis. This has pulled the rug from under the feet of the consultant platforms who loved to hold flexible working and working from home as the holy grail.

However, just has the market has evolved so has the message from the platforms.  They’ve realised that flexibility is “so last season” and now the “in thing” is autonomy.  And its true, while law firms can give you the option of where you work a couple of days a week this isn’t autonomy. 

Autonomy is the ability to choose the direction of your career, plan your day and manage your calendar according to your life, pick your clients, deals or cases and champion causes that are close to your heart without getting sign off from your managers/leaders. It is selecting which days in a week you work and deciding for yourself when to take holidays and not risk having them vetoed or sabotaged.  This is what being a freelance lawyer can be for you if you choose that path.  Flexibility is just one perk of the “job”, autonomy is the foundation of it.

Let’s not get too carried away here describing the consultant platforms as utopia. Of course, it can be tough setting up your own practice, there is pressure in generating your own work, time and effort is needed to build your personal brand and once you’ve all of that right you will be in demand from your clients.  But it is different, this is all FOR YOU.  You can do it the way you want to, incorporating the values that you hold dear and focusing on the things you are passionate about.  Ultimately the rewards are all yours as well. This is autonomy.  You can be as successful as you want to be, the choice is yours. No targets, no appraisals, just your own personal measure of success.

If you are a practising solicitor sitting in your home office and questioning what all the fuss was about having flexibility please stop to consider what autonomy might look like instead.  If this idea takes hold, please reach out for a confidential chat about the consultant market. 

Not all platforms are the same, just like traditional firms they vary in size, shape, practice areas and ultimately how much you will be paid. If you are very entrepreneurial and want to have absolute autonomy, why not set up your own practice?  I know where you can get a law firm off the shelf and white label it with your name above the door.

The options are limitless when you have full autonomy.