Most clients we speak with understand the commercial benefits of bringing in flexible lawyers to cover resource and skill gaps in their teams. But there are wider benefits of augmenting your legal team with flexible lawyers – and in this article we look at the best way to integrate Orbit lawyers alongside your in-house lawyers to produce a truly high-performing team.
The place to start assessing resource requirements is at the project level. You’ll get a clearer picture of your capacity to meet the project’s resourcing requirements by first identifying what skills are required, who is best placed to deliver them, and what are the existing commitments to ongoing work amongst your team. Then you’ll be able to fill the skill and capacity gaps in your in-house team, structure your team so you maximise the benefits of using contingent lawyers, and make sure your team remains focused and engaged.
One of the key benefits of bringing in an experienced contract lawyer is that they have worked in different operating environments, which may include other sectors, organisational structures and work cultures, with different processes and procedures.
This breadth of experience means Orbit lawyers will be highly adaptable to your specific environment. It also means that that they can bring real insight from working in other organisations, particularly if you have a young in-house team, or one that has been working in your organisation for a long time.
You can get real value from tapping into our lawyers’ diverse commercial knowledge to encourage creative thinking across your team. A fresh pair of eyes can see a long way. We’re obviously not suggesting Orbit lawyers would share any confidential commercial information – we, and our lawyers, are very strict about maintaining confidentiality and professional standards. But they may have experienced different ways of tackling problems or approaches that create quantifiable efficiencies that could be applied to your project.
Orbit lawyers are used to parachuting into organisations and starting work immediately. One of their skills is being able to adapt quickly to new teams and environments. To get the best result from your flexible workforce, best practice is to give a clear brief at the beginning of the assignment about the project, your desired results and the key deliverables.
But we understand that isn’t always possible – circumstances change, scopes flex and unanticipated events can disrupt the best-laid plans. Orbit lawyers not only join your team as flexible resources, and they also bring a flexible work approach that means that your team becomes more able to work together to deliver the right results, efficiently and effectively.
A collaborative team produces better solutions and more efficient results.
If you’ve created the right team for your project and allocated in-house and contract legal resources appropriately, then you’re also more likely to have created the environment for the team to succeed – and for this success to be replicated in future projects. Your in-house team members will appreciate the support of their contracting colleagues and your contingent lawyers will enjoy being part of an integrated team. As a bonus, you will also create more opportunities for skill transfer, creative problem-solving and innovation amongst your permanent legal staff.
***
If you’re looking for a flexible and practical legal resourcing solution on an urgent project or a temporary gap in your legal team, email or call Greg Monks for a confidential conversation on how Orbit can work for you.
Greg Monks
Head of Orbit
Phone: +61 3 9672 3187
Email: [email protected]
