New legal resourcing business opens doors in Glasgow this week

Natalie Kirk, who worked in the Middle East for eight years with US law firm Weil Gotshal & Manges, is set to open Element Legal Services in Glasgow this week — a legal resourcing business that will supply law firms with freelance lawyers on a project-by-project basis.

Speaking to The Herald, Ms Kirk said: “Lots of law firms are looking at their cost structure and are thinking about the way in which they staff matters.

“Many are looking at hybrid models where they disaggregate the work and apply the right resource.

“Our business is responding to that. I’m inspired by the fact that change is good and will ultimately transform the legal industry into something better.”

The business will focus initially on offering intellectual property as well as corporate and commercial services to a Scottish audience, with a view to expanding into London, where Ms Kirk has previously worked.

“We’ve started to speak to potential clients in the Scottish legal market and have been well received so far,” she said.

“We’re looking at London as well but more on an opportunistic basis because we have existing contacts in the market.

“The London market is fast growing with numerous providers but the Scottish market doesn’t have that many options.

“Lawyers are notoriously conservative and risk-averse people but everyone accepts that transformation is coming.

“Law firms that see the opportunity to do things better are going to be the ones that succeed.”

Lawyers working with Element will be self-employed and will work as freelancers, something Ms Kirk believes will appeal to an increasing number of practitioners who want to balance interesting work with a family life.

“There’s an increasing pool of people like me who have worked at top-tier firms but don’t want to be part of big law anymore,” Ms Kirk said.

“They want to do other things like develop their own business, or they have had children and they want to be able to wake them up in the morning and bath them and put them to bed every night, or they might want to do great legal work for three months then head off to see South America for the rest of the year.”