Hire for now: perfect-fit contract lawyers for short-term needs with Fionn Bowd (ep 97)

Fionn’s idea was simple – to have the flexibility to do the work she loved doing and to do it the way she thought it could be done. But with a background working in with big firms and big companies with traditional values, Fionn found she was not given the opportunity to explore her ideas.

Fionn decided there had to be a better way for lawyers to work and came up with an idea – ‘what if lawyers could sell their time back to law firms?’

Enter: Fionn’s firm, Bowd, a law firm for law firms with a focus on perfect-fit contract lawyers. She believes that when you need a particular skillset for a particular piece of work, just hire that skillset – you don’t always need to hire for the long term.

Listen in to learn more about Bowd and Fionn’s views on the progressive law movement.

This episode is brought to you by The Prepared Company.

About Fionn Bowd

Fionn is a former big projects and infrastructure lawyer turned legal services entrepreneur. After a career with big firms and big companies, Fionn decided there had to be a better way for lawyers to work. She wants lawyers from all backgrounds to continue to work in law firms, as a diverse profession serves society best.

Fionn’s firm, Bowd, is a law firm for law firms, with a focus on perfect-fit contract lawyers to smooth the workload in law firms and prevent burnout and attrition. They provide a well-paying and rewarding career option for lawyers who love complex legal work but can’t see themselves inside law firms for the long haul. Bowd also provide other specialist services to law firms, like tender preparation, research and article writing.

Fionn Bowd quotes

• “The firm has no costs, they get to charge this person out and then pay them an hourly rate. The firm takes its profit on the charge out rate and it works really well. Lawyers get double market salary, the firm gets half its charge out rate, we get a cut and everyone goes home very, very happy.”
• “When you need a particular skill set for a particular piece of work, just hire that – don’t add people to your team who are going to be a bad cultural fit, who cause conflict, who are going to fade into the background or aren’t going to help because they don’t have the technical skills, no just hire the technical skills.”
• “We’re all just humans living human lives, we all have our own challenges and for some people that’s kids, for some that’s parents for some people it’s needing to not work a full workload because their mental health is not supporting it… there’s so many reasons.”
• “I think that’s what we need to do, I think we need to break the structures of our firms up into what we need for the short term and what we need for the long term. And potentially a medium term as well.”

Find Fionn online at Bowd website and LinkedIn or join Fight Club for Lawyers on the Clubhouse app.

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