Malaysia's LAW Partnership has launched an interim legal resourcing service to provide businesses and corporate legal departments with a streamlined flexible working arrangement in response to high demand as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Spearheading the venture is Claudine Au, a Kuala Lumpur-based lawyer with 15 years of experience as a practitioner and in-house counsel for a number of companies. She will work in tandem with the firm’s managing partner, Brian Law, to lead the service to supply employers looking for alternatives to the traditional recruitment process, particularly those impacted by cost pressures and headcount freezes. 

The service has been developed to meet the demand of clients for short-term or ad-hoc personnel who support their legal teams without committing to employing them permanently, Au explained to The Global Legal Post. 

“Over the years, the demand for interim legal resources has been growing, and even more so since the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said. “We are also seeing additional demands due to the health crisis and its economic consequences, with matters out of the ordinary arising such as disposals, insolvencies and disputes, all requiring different skill sets that may not be within existing teams.” 

Au further described the service as an alternative for those seeking to avoid delays caused by the traditional recruitment process, adding that some clients have come to place more value on flexible working arrangements as the legal industry continues to adapt to the shifting post-Covid market. 

Law added: “These are strange times with the workforce as well as employers looking at non-conventional working arrangements, and interim resourcing provides the versatility and flexibility to cater to such needs.” 

Founded in 2019 with a focus on intellectual property, technology and litigation, LAW Partnership currently boasts six partners and nine associates in Kuala Lumpur. 

A number of other law firms have recently ventured into the booming alternative legal service provider (ALSP) market in order to compete with dedicated ALSPs by developing comparable services. 

Last week, Ashurst launched a programme to optimise career development opportunities for professionals within its New Law division, Ashurst Advance, while Linklaters launched a 400-strong legal operations function last March to streamline its New Law service offering, which includes legal project management, innovation, knowledge and learning and pricing. 

However, UK-listed firm DWF axed its flexible resourcing arm, DWF Resource, last July as part of a cost-cutting programme designed to save £15m.