The new service models, dubbed PeopleBridge by William Fry and William Fry Connect, bring a business model increasingly common in the UK to a major Irish law firm for the first time, the firm believes.

PeopleBridge by William Fry aims to solve short-term legal and tax staffing needs of businesses by providing professionals on a flexible, fixed/short-term basis but with the backing and support of a full-service firm.

William Fry Connect is a flexible working model aimed at senior lawyers and tax advisers seeking greater control of their work schedule whilst having the backing and brand of a full-service law firm to enable them to grow their practice.

Managing partner Owen O’Sullivan said: “PeopleBridge by William Fry will be very attractive to businesses in all sectors that, due to time-sensitive workload challenges or employee leave purposes, need to resource staff for fixed terms or at short notice without having to deal with lengthy recruitment processes.

“Clients will take comfort in that fact that lawyers and tax advisers placed on short-term assignments through PeopleBridge have been vetted by a leading law firm and have access to the support and resources of William Fry.

“William Fry Connect will give senior lawyers and tax advisers with established practices the opportunity to join a leading law firm on fully flexible terms.

“[This] is innovative in that it is the first time that a top tier firm in Ireland is offering established professionals the ability to join a leading practice, not as a partner or consultant in the traditional way, but as a consultant to practice as much or as little as they wish on terms which work for them.”

He added: “By providing a wider pool of talent to clients and providing flexible terms for those who want to work in a more versatile way, we are taking a market-leading approach that benefits all parties.”

The projects are being led internally by Matthew Cahill, who returned to William Fry as a partner last year after over two decades of practice in Japan, the Middle East and the UK.

Mr Cahill, who has first-hand experience of these models in the UK, said: “Covid-19 has been a great disrupter to how we work and our new fully-flexible contract is the next step in the evolution of flexible working at top-tier firms and will bring many back to the workplace and allow those at the later stages of their careers to keep practising.”