ANALYSIS: You’re a Lawyer. What Do You Need a Side Gig For?

The legal profession has traditionally been seen as a stable path to both professional prestige and financial security. For that reason, unlike many other careers, lawyering has not been closely associated with the gig economy or seen as a profession that requires “side hustles” to make ends meet. Lawyers are high earners with demanding workloads—so why would they need or want a side gig?

A closer look at results from Bloomberg Law’s latest Workload and Hours Survey provides a few possible answers, and suggests that the perception of a law career—and its financial dynamics—may be evolving. The survey findings show ...