Looking for job security?

Looking for job security?

Most Solicitors probably feel that their jobs are fairly secure. Of course, this is more so in the economic ups than the economic downs, but whatever the economic climate, clients still need legal advice.

Most Solicitors probably also feel that working as an employee or a Partner in a law firm is the most secure way to forge a career in the legal profession. It comes with a ‘guaranteed’ monthly salary (or profit draw) and the expectation that the firm will have saved some cash from the good times to see it through the bad times. All in all, it’s got to be much less risky than being self employed, right? Well not necessarily.

If you’re a Consultant Solicitor you are effectively self employed, even if many will contract through a limited company. You’ve got no employer to fall back on for a monthly income and no one to balance out the economic peaks and troughs on your behalf. But you do have a lot more control over your destiny when the economy starts to take a turn.

When you’re employed as a Solicitor, you may consider that you have many clients because you are working for different people or businesses. But in fact your firm has many clients, and you only have one – your employer.  It’s the same if you are employed in-house (as that is your client).

Imagine you are Consultant Solicitor with, say, 10 regular clients each paying you roughly the same amount in legal fees per year. Then imagine you lost one of those clients because of an economic downturn or other reason beyond your control – you’d lose 10% of your income. If you’re an employed Solicitor or a Partner and you are made redundant or are asked to leave the partnership – you’d lose 100% of your income.

Not many Solicitors will have looked at their employment in these stark terms, but there’s no denying that having one client (your employer) looks to be a much risker proposition compared to having multiple clients as a Consultant (alongside the other clients in your umbrella firm that work with your consultant colleagues). Of course, Solicitors will inevitably look at the risks of being a Consultant and ask what if you lost all 10 clients? Well, what are the chances? And if you did, go out and find some more!

When you’re a Consultant Solicitor you control your own marketing and business development. When it’s the right time to find more clients, you can go out and do so (with our support). We’re not suggesting this part of consultancy life is easy, but we have many examples within Nexa of lawyers who have used their relationships and their business development skills to win ever more work.

It’s a lot more enjoyable and a lot more lucrative when you’re doing this for your own benefit rather than then benefit of your firm. Plus, when your income is dependent on your abilities to generate and do the work, it’s good motivation to learn the right skills to achieve this. At Nexa we offer a supportive environment in which to grow and develop your practice and regularly offer training and coaching on business development skills to our team.

Want to explore more?

Our very own David Roth is a friendly face and first port of call for those looking for a bit more detail. He can answer all your questions about what Nexa offers lawyers looking to do things differently. He is a fine advocate for our alternative model, and the soul of discretion – you can rest assured that all communications will be strictly confidential. There is absolutely no obligation, and we never badger people. So, please do get in touch. Or, have a look at our brochure.

–Eliot Hibbert, COO & Founder