Podcast Ep. 34: Legal Marketplaces with Kristin Tyler and Michael Brunet of LAWCLERK™

In this episode, we chat with attorneys Kristin Tyler and Michael Brunet of LAWCLERK™ an online marketplace connecting small firms with freelance lawyers. We discuss the emergence of legal marketplaces, including a discussion of LAWCLERK™ and the opportunities, including personal branding, for today’s lawyers.

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Shownotes

Kristin M. Tyler is a founding Partner with the law firm of Garman Turner Gordon LLP in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her practice is focused primarily on estate planning, probate and guardianship matters. She helps families design and implement comprehensive estate plans – utilizing various trusts, wills and other techniques – for estates of all sizes.

Michael R. Brunet represents high-end hotels and casinos. He was Vice President, General Counsel for Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, and he has held executive legal positions with The Light Group, a leading hospitality development and management company, Affinity Gaming, Tropicana Entertainment, and Station Casinos. Twitter: @michaelrbrunet

What does the emergence of legal marketplaces mean for law?

Now more than ever, there is an oversupply of legal talent including recent graduates and new attorneys. The traditional up or out model is going away with attorneys changing firms and changing professions more often.

As past model disappears, web-based marketplaces like LAWCLERK™ are emerging which allows professionals to market themselves and find specialized freelance work while enabling law firms to find these professionals for specialized, temporary cases. The trend of legal marketplaces like this isn’t going to go away; this new model is the way of the future.

How LAWCLERK™ works as an online legal marketplace

LAWCLERK™ is a free market, not a staffing agency. This means that freelancers are able to work with law firms directly without a middle man or agent. The process of matching freelancers with firms is fully automated. The first channel of users is attorneys or firms looking to hire and the second channel is the freelance attorneys who are either recent graduates or newly licensed. LAWCLERK™ works with graduates who haven’t taken the bar yet because they are valuable in terms of legal research, writing, and briefing skills which are all sought after in this marketplace.

Attorneys branding themselves through digital content

You’re the creator of your destiny with the brand that you make for yourself. It’s essential for freelance attorneys to build their own brand which can be done through content, social media, and networks that online legal marketplaces provide.