With Flexibility and Changing Norms, ‘Side Hustles’ May Be on the Rise in Big Law

Changing professional norms and more workplace flexibility in Big Law has forged more avenues and paid opportunities for lawyers winning to take on side gigs, according to some industry experts. While it’s difficult to say the exact number of attorneys who have taken on additional paid opportunities, recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that workers with multiple gigs stays under 5 percent. However, it’s possible that closer to 10 percent of workers are employees with one main job and a couple of side gigs. Bankrate and McKinsey have put the percentage closer to 40 percent.

“In a considerable way, there are more and more lawyers who are looking to have a side-hustle,” said Daniel Farris, partner-in-charge of the Chicago office of Norton Rose Fulbright.

The Bankrate report found 53 percent of Gen-Z respondents and 50 percent of millennial respondents earned extra cash apart from their main source of income. The numbers were 24 percent for baby boomers and 40 percent for Gen-X, showing that younger workers were implementing the trend.

“My view is we’re beyond the days of, ‘Alright, you’re doing a two-or-three martini lunch and golfing with your clients,’ and whatever. And that actually creates time that maybe people didn’t have,” saiud Farris, who also has a side gig, having co-founded NMBL Technologies.

Are you interested in learning more about side hustles in Big Law? Read more in this law.com article.