Fractional legal roles grow in appeal – US survey
In a US study, Paragon Legal surveyed 100+ licensed attorneys about the traditional firm track, flexible legal careers, and how legal departments are staffing their teams.
A full 92% of practicing US attorneys surveyed say the traditional law firm partner track has lost its appeal.
- 92% of practicing attorneys are interested in flexible or fractional legal roles,
- 85% of departments expect their use of flexible talent to grow over the next two years,
- 88% of attorneys believe companies increasingly value flexible and interim legal talent,
- 87% of legal departments already use flexible or interim legal talent, with half using it regularly.
The study also finds that 30% of lawyers rank schedule flexibility as a top priority.
Younger attorneys were the most emphatic: Gen Z respondents were unanimous that the partner track has faded (100%), compared with 87% of millennials.
Attorneys also read the market the same way, the survey states.
Less compelling
Even as many found the traditional track less compelling, 88% believed companies increasingly value flexible legal talent, a sign they see the flexible path as durable rather than a detour.
Paragon Legal states that for in-house leaders, there is now a deeper, more reachable pool of senior talent, as those who once aimed only at partner now consider flexible roles.