Lola Dawson

Smelling the sweet roses of life.

Apr 10, 2019

Junior Lawyer Lola decided to forego the traditional career in law and became a freelancer instead. She’s now reaping the rewards.

After the traditional route into law – studying at university, LPC and training contract at a large prestigious law firm – Lola relished the life of a high-flying lawyer when she finally qualified. Working for an international law firm, she was given the opportunity to travel, a secondment and to work on high profile deals. Soon after, she qualified in the firm’s disputes team and continued to thrive there.

After working in the department for a while, Lola became frustrated continually performing the same type of work, typical of a large scale traditional law firm. She wanted flexibility and a wider scope of work; “I wanted to work on lots of different types of disputes. I was also very tired. I had been working non-stop for years and whilst it gave me great exposure and confidence in my capabilities as a lawyer, I was ready to slow down and take some time out occasionally to smell the sweet roses of life!”

After moving to a slightly less demanding firm for 2 years, Lola decided it was time to look into becoming a freelance lawyer for even further work liberty, “I came across Vario and to be honest, I couldn’t believe that such a progressive way of working existed in the legal industry! I immediately applied and here I am!”

Upon applying to Vario, Lola was entered into the robust selection process which evaluated her qualifications, experience, personality to ensure she was the right fit to become a Vario. Lola was accepted into the Vario hub joining a hive of other freelancing lawyers of equally high calibre. Upon acceptance into the hub, Lola was consulted and guided by the Vario team frequently. Lola notes; “The Vario team really know the legal industry and they have excellent resources to support you on and off of assignments. The account managers are friendly and really work hard to get you the best from your assignments.”

Lola’s most recent assignment is still on-going has been highly rated by both client and Lola, extended by the client on numerous occasions. The close relationship maintained between the Vario Accounts team and Varios means that Varios are only put forward for assignments which they are confident the Varios will excel in. “The assignment has been a really good match for me and what I want to achieve in my career at present so I’m really grateful” Lola comments.

Since joining Vario, the change in Lola’s work life balance has been like night and day; “Working as a Vario lawyer has given me the flexibility to curate my life. I have been able to effectively work and play when I want. It does take some planning because you need to ensure that you save whilst working in order to be able to take off a month here and there, but it is easily doable.” She adds, “You essentially have a lot of control over your life which is something most people don’t get until retirement.”

Outside of work, Lola has been making the most of her newly-found spare time, “I run a youth group at my church which is pretty demanding as it involves teaching children and young adults, from ages 7 to 23 years old, how to dance, act and sing!” Lola also has a passion for exploration; “I also love to travel and sometimes you need a bit more than the traditional annual leave allowance! In my first year of working freelance, I planned my contracts so that I could spend August in beautiful Ibiza!”

Lola gives a little nugget of advice for other lawyers thinking about freelancing with Vario;” Try to find out as much as possible about the lifestyle of a freelance lawyer and the types of work that you might be offered in your practice area.” She also advises to save an emergency fund for peace of mind and to pay bills before your first assignment.

Life is certainly much sweeter for Lola now as a Vario.

Does this sound like the lifestyle you desire? Get in touch with the Vario team and see whether you could find better work life balance as a Vario.

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