The Ostensible Vacation

By Erin Giglia

Over the summer, I took a call from an attorney who was looking for help preparing an opposition to a motion. He said, “I’m ostensibly on vacation, but I’ve been working the entire time because I can’t seem to get out from under this litigation. Opposing counsel keeps filing motions. It hasn’t stopped, and my family is getting upset. Do you have someone who can help me?” I really felt for him because I’ve been there myself, many times, and it’s awful. This scenario is not uncommon. Attorneys often struggle to take personal time away from work because their duty to their clients never stops. It is especially difficult for solo attorneys to get away without extreme planning, and even then, opposing counsel may be uncooperative. Attorneys may ask the court to intervene to enforce vacation time, but even that is not always successful.

Wouldn’t it be nice if a vacation was a real vacation rather than an “ostensible vacation,” where we can unplug and let someone else take the laboring oar for a few days? The good news is that this is very possible. It may take a little bit of planning, but bringing in a freelance attorney to assist can give lawyers the freedom they need to step away for a few days.

Imagine this scenario: You have a planned trip to Hawaii next month, and you have five active litigation matters. You can notify opposing counsel, but you can also bring in a freelance attorney to assist you with your cases. Get them up to speed on your matters by having them work the files for a few weeks, and that way they will be able to handle issues that come up while you’re away. You’ll be able to be more present on your trip, and will come back recharged. As a bonus, now you’ll have the freelance attorney to help you with your cases going forward, so you can spend your time running your firm, doing high-level strategy, developing more business, or simply working less.

Lawyers are human too. We all need time away from work to rest. Freelance attorneys can help put an end to the ostensible vacation, so you can take care of yourself (your family, your friends, your health, your associates).  Montage Legal Group is here to help.