Pilot aims to support career breaks

A consultancy that helps businesses manage a flexible workforce is to launch a pilot programme this month aimed at supporting lawyers taking a short-term career break.

The three-month pilot – conducted by the Swiftwork consultancy – will see the creation of a pool of experienced, self-employed lawyers who would be available to work on projects for law firms, the public sector or businesses on a part-time or flexible full-time basis.


Should the initiative, called Independent Professionals, prove successful, it would be expanded to give individuals taking a career break access to ongoing training, continuing professional development and legal updates in their specialist areas. A series of networking events would also be set up.


Lynette Swift, managing director of Swiftwork, said the initiative was developed after the consultancy was approached by a group of eight female lawyers. ‘They said that they wanted to stay in the profession but that once you leave, it can be very hard to get back in,’ she said. ‘There is a big attrition rate among lawyers, particularly in the 30 to 40-year-old age group.


‘The interim project work will allow people [taking a career break] to continue working, but in a more flexible way. The ongoing training will also mean that when an individual goes back to work they can hit the ground running – they can be proactive in keeping up to date while on their break.’


She added that the database of lawyers would enable firms to keep in touch with, and subsequently re-hire, their alumni.


Swiftwork – which has held meetings with leading City law firms and the Law Society to discuss the pilot – is looking to kick-start the scheme with solicitors or barristers who have a minimum of five years’ post-qualification experience. They will come from all practice areas.


Candidates must also have worked in a law firm, chambers, the public or charitable sector, or in-house within the past 12 months.


Ms Swift said: ‘The initial criteria will be quite tight, although they could be widened if the scheme works.’


A study published by the consultancy in March this year found continued resistance to flexible working in law firms (see [2005] Gazette, 17 March, 39). It revealed that flexible work options are not consistently applied, but depend instead on the area of specialism and the attitude of individual managers.

Ms Swift said law firms often pinpointed client demands as a barrier to implementing flexible working policies. However, she said other professional businesses that face the same demands – such as the major accountancy firms – had been more successful in tackling the problem.