Gun for Hire

With the ever-present need to pay bills, and the recent dearth of paying clients at present (I did not bring any with me from the partnership, it barely had any to keep afloat either), I have signed up with a half dozen legal temp firms.

They use the more impressive sounding "contract attorneys" label but for the most part it's just document review - the type of work a good Watson-type computer will be able to do in a fraction of the time soon.

So the firms all say it will just be a couple of weeks. They are sure work is just around the corner. Truth is, they don't have as much as they used to either.

So I plod along applying for other jobs, handling one or two cases of my own, and doing desperate acts like throwing my resume up on Monster.com.

Well Thursday I got a call from a legal temp agency. They have a job I would be good for, can I come meet tomorrow?

I go, even though I don't remember signing up with this particular agency.

Turns out, they grabbed my resume off Monster.

The interview goes well, he sends me to the client firm's offices to meet and it goes well there. In fact they put me to work. I get about 3 hours on the clock Friday - and another 7 hours Saturday. A couple from home Sunday, and full (very full) days Monday, Tuesday and today.

I think I just paid this month's mortgage.

Oh, and it's not document review. I'm doing substantive work, drafting a very complex opposition and memorandum in an appeal.

Temp work doesn't have to be drudgery - in fact I'm still waiting for the drudgery mills to call.

There's next month's mortgage to worry about after all.