Sushma Awtani is a Consultant Family Lawyer. We asked how Consultancy benefited her work life.
Q: What intrigued you about going into Consultancy from an employed role?
A: I heard about Consultancy from another family Consultant Solicitor who contacted me after reading an article about me in the Law Gazette in the ‘my legal life’ section. She explained in detail how it all worked and the fact that you get to keep around 70% of what you earn. It sounded extremely attractive to me.
As an employee, in law firms you are expected to bill at least 3 times if not more of what you earn. When I was newly qualified, although I was an employee, I was given a lot of autonomy and my own office.
Despite being an employee and only getting a third of what I billed, I was still asked to do marketing to find my own clients. I remember advising the firm where to advertise and as soon as the advert came out in a particular magazine, new enquiries just went through the roof. I was billing 50% more than my target and hence I was made partner a year and a half into being at that firm.
If only I knew about Consultancy back then, I would definitely have done it sooner. Most of the clients I was generating were through my own contacts and ideas and if I could build a successful department for someone else, then why couldn’t I do this for myself.
Q: How did it benefit your personal life?
A: I have recently purchased a detached house in a highly sought after area, it is only 0.2 miles from a tube station and also extremely close to the shops.
Being employed, I may not have been able to purchase this property. There are two reasons for this. One, if I wasn’t doing Family Law, I may not have had sufficient income to purchase this house and secondly, if I wasn’t a self employed consultant, I don’t think I would have been able to view the house as quickly as I did.
As I was a consultant and self employed, I decided to work from home the next day (I usually work in the office) and I was able to see the property when I wanted to. Had I been employed, I wouldn’t have been able to view the house as quickly as I did because when I was employed I had to give sufficient notice to take any time off.
I viewed the house and believe I was the first or second person to view it. I put in an offer then and there. I got my dream house because I acted so swiftly and I was able to do so because I have the flexibility as a self employed Consultant.
Q: Are there any benefits tailored to Family Law Consultant Solicitor?
A: As a Family Law Consultant Solicitor, managing my own hours means I am able to concentrate on clients more. During lockdown, my billing doubled and I managed to bill in 6 months what I normally bill in 12 months. This was a first for me, I was not able to do this when I was employed. I was not able to do this when I ran my own business either due to lack of time as I had to run the business too and didn’t have the resources I have now.
Q: Are there any disadvantages?
A: There aren’t any disadvantages but I feel that you do need to be a people’s person if you want to be successful as a Self Employed Consultant. You have to go out there and find your own clients so it’s not just about being good at what you do.
Q: If you could speak to your employed self would you advise them to go for it or remain in their current role?
A: I don’t like to regret things but in hindsight I wish I had become a consultant a long time ago. I would definitely advise an employed solicitor to go for consultancy because I love being a consultant and there’s nothing like it.
If you have 3 year PQE+ or over 10 years of experience in Family Law and would like to become a Consultant with Taylor Rose, please contact our Consultant Acquisition team here.