A flexible attorney started at 10–20 hours a week, scaled with the company’s needs and ultimately became a permanent member of the legal team.
At a Glance
- Company: High-growth technology company
- Team: Small in-house legal department
- The trigger: A large government contract that pushed legal work beyond the team’s capacity
- Engagement: A D.C.-based attorney with BigLaw experience supporting commercial contracts and legal operations, beginning at 10–20 hours per week
- Outcome: The engagement expanded with demand and converted into a permanent full-time role
A Major Contract Created an Immediate Capacity Gap
A high-growth technology company secured a large government contract. It was an important business win, and an immediate capacity challenge for its small legal team.
Commercial contracting volume increased quickly, while the government work introduced additional requirements. The existing team could not absorb the workload without pulling attention away from its other priorities.
The need for support was clear, while the long-term staffing requirement was not.
The company initially expected to need part-time help, but it was too early to know whether the increased workload represented a temporary surge or a new baseline. Committing to a permanent hire would have meant making a long-term decision before the company had enough information about the role, the workload or the person it needed.
Why the Traditional Options Fell Short
- Hire full-time immediately. If the volume increases, a permanent hire might be justified. If it decreases, the company could be left with a role sized for a temporary spike. For a small legal department, one premature hire can materially affect the team’s budget and structure.
- Wait for greater certainty. Delaying the decision would not delay the work. The contract obligations were already active, and the legal team was already beyond capacity.
- Send the work to a law firm. Routing recurring commercial contracting work to outside counsel would come at a premium, and would do little to build institutional knowledge within the company.
The company needed a way to address its immediate workload while determining what its long-term staffing needs actually were.
Start Flexibly, Then Scale With Demand
Priori connected the company with a D.C.-based attorney who had BigLaw experience and could support both commercial contracting and legal operations.
The engagement began at 10–20 hours per week. That gave the company meaningful support without requiring it to commit to a full-time role before the need was established.
The attorney’s experience allowed them to take on sophisticated work without creating a significant supervision burden for the lean in-house team. As the workload increased, the company expanded the attorney’s hours.
Instead of staffing against a forecast, the company scaled the engagement alongside actual demand. At the same time, it gained a clearer understanding of the work the role needed to cover and the level of ongoing capacity the department required.
From Flexible Engagement to Proven Hire
The engagement ultimately grew into a full-time position, and the company hired the attorney permanently.
By that point, the company was no longer evaluating the candidate through a résumé and a handful of interviews. It had already seen the attorney’s work product, judgment and ability to collaborate with the team. It had also confirmed that the workload supported a permanent role.
Flexible legal talent can do more than solve an immediate capacity problem. It can give a company the time and evidence to make a permanent hiring decision with greater confidence, while ensuring the work is covered in the meantime.
Facing a Similar Capacity Gap?
If a new contract, product line or growth stage has created more legal work without a clear long-term staffing plan, a flexible engagement can provide immediate support while helping your team determine what it needs next.
