MinterEllison launches flexible lawyer business

April, 2016 - Australia

Today, MinterEllison launches MinterEllison Flex, a new business that gives clients access to specialist contract lawyers to flexibly cover or boost their in-house capacity and capability.

The business, which the firm has piloted for six months as part of its innovation program, has already placed contract lawyers within clients' businesses and built a pool of talent in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

MinterEllison's Head of Innovation, partner Andrew Cunningham, said there is strong demand for contract lawyers and that clients are particularly looking for providers who can give them confidence about the quality of the talent on offer.

"Clients and market feedback tells us that there is increasingly a need for high quality lawyers to work temporarily in-house – but they need to be of the highest quality and able to 'hit the ground running'.

"The lawyers we place with clients through Flex are connected to and integrated with MinterEllison's elite capability and knowhow, and this gives clients the confidence to embrace agile staffing."

He noted that Flex also taps into the growing number of lawyers looking for flexible work.

"Flex has attracted a new pool of talented lawyers at all levels who enjoy the flexibility and variety of work you get on temporary engagements," Mr Cunningham said.

Flex lawyers are carefully selected through the same rigorous recruitment process that applies to MinterEllison's other lawyers and have the benefit of access to the specialists, know how, training and support of the firm. As a group, they form a dedicated pool of talent that exists exclusively for the purpose of contract assignments. These assignments cover situations such as periods of extended leave, the need to rapidly add capacity, and temporary requirements for special projects.

The pool already comprises lawyers from a range of backgrounds with varying levels of experience – from former General Counsel to junior lawyers.

Mr Cunningham said Flex is one part of the firm's broader innovation agenda.

"We are very focussed on building a deep innovation capability and culture at MinterEllison. Flex is part of a broader agenda to innovate in the services we offer, how we execute those services, and how we price them.

"There is a lot of disruption in the legal market. The challenge is to not just embrace new agile models for solving legal problems but to make these sustainable solutions that maintain the high levels of quality that clients expect."

You can find the MinterEllison Flex website here: http://www.minterellisonflex.com/

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For more information, please contact: Maria Nadalin Public Relations Manager, MinterEllison
Tel: +61 7 3119 6179 │ Mobile: +61 (0)412 366 743

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