Become an interim lawyer: how to get started

Short answer: To become an interim lawyer, you describe your experience as a clearly defined offer and choose an engagement model: staff leasing (employed by a staffing provider and placed with a client company) or freelancing (self-employed under your own mandate). Both models are available part-time or full-time, for lawyers and compliance professionals from junior to senior level. In Germany, an assignment to the same client is generally capped at 18 months (§ 1(1b) AÜG); Swiss law sets no maximum duration.

This guide is for lawyers and compliance professionals in Switzerland and Germany who are considering interim or project work. It explains who it suits, how the two models differ, what assignments look like, what drives pay and how getting started works in practice.

Who is interim and project work for?

Interim work suits professionals who settle into new teams quickly and want to deliver independently from day one. Companies usually bring in temporary support for a specific reason: a vacancy, parental leave or sick leave cover, a peak workload, a regulatory project, a transaction or a backlog. They need people who grasp priorities fast and hand over cleanly.

Typical starting points

Experienced in-house lawyers who want variety or need a bridge between two permanent roles.
Law firm lawyers who want to see a legal department from the inside (see From law firm to in-house).
Compliance professionals with experience in KYC, AML, sanctions, regulatory compliance or data protection.
Early-career lawyers who build practical experience in structured projects such as contract reviews or KYC file reviews.
Professionals returning after a break who want to start with a limited workload.

Interim work is less suitable if long onboarding periods, a fixed career ladder within one organisation or a stable team are your main priorities.

Staff leasing or freelancing: the two models

In staff leasing you are employed by the staffing provider and work inside the client's organisation; in freelancing you are self-employed and deliver an agreed service. In Switzerland, staff leasing is legally called Personalverleih (Swiss staff leasing); in Germany it is Arbeitnehmerüberlassung (German temporary agency work). The models differ in employment, social security, independence and risk.

Model	Employment	Social security	Independence	Risk
Staff leasing, Switzerland (Personalverleih)	Employment contract with the staffing provider (Art. 19 AVG)	The provider, as employer, deducts and pays contributions (Arts. 12, 14 AHVG)	Day-to-day instructions come from the client; you are part of the team	Low; for open-ended assignments, short notice periods in the first 6 months (Art. 19(4) AVG)
Staff leasing, Germany (Arbeitnehmerüberlassung)	Employment contract with a provider holding a licence (§ 1 AÜG)	The provider pays contributions; the client is liable as a guarantor (§ 28e(2) SGB IV)	Instructions from the client; 18-month cap per client	Low; equal treatment principle under § 8 AÜG
Freelancing	No employment contract; service or framework agreement	Your own responsibility; status checked by the DRV in Germany (§ 7a SGB IV) or the AHV compensation office in Switzerland	You work on your own responsibility within the agreed mandate	Higher: utilisation, insurance, false self-employment

Which model fits depends more on your situation than on the role. Your rights as a leased employee are covered in Staff leasing from the professional's perspective; self-employment is covered in Working as a freelance lawyer.

Typical assignments and how long they last

An interim assignment typically runs from a few weeks to several months or longer, depending on the reason. Cover roles often have a known end date; projects end with a deliverable.

Cover: parental leave, maternity leave, illness or a vacancy. You take on the day-to-day work of a legal counsel or compliance officer.
Peak workload and backlog: contract reviews, contract migration or open transaction monitoring alerts.
Regulatory project: implementing new requirements such as DORA, NIS2, the EU AI Act or AML/KYC rules.
Transaction: due diligence, post-acquisition integration, corporate housekeeping.
Taskforce: several professionals with a team lead, for example for KYC remediation.
Leadership role: interim head of legal or part-time fractional general counsel.

In Germany, earlier assignments with the same client count towards the 18 months if the gap between them is three months or less (§ 1(1b) sentence 2 AÜG).

Pay and terms: what drives your income

Pay depends mainly on seniority, practice area, languages, workload, duration and model. In staff leasing you receive a salary with social benefits; as a freelancer you invoice an hourly or day rate and cover insurance, pension and idle time yourself.

Seniority: for example junior (0–2 years), experienced (3–6 years) and senior (7+ years).
Practice area and sector: specialist knowledge, for example in banking and financial markets law or AML, is in demand.
Languages: in Switzerland, German, English and French often matter.
Workload and duration: part-time is possible if the task allows it.
Statutory floors: in German staff leasing, equal pay with comparable permanent staff applies in principle; a collective agreement may generally deviate on pay for no more than 9 months, or up to 15 months under a sector surcharge agreement (§ 8(1), (4) AÜG). In Switzerland, the generally binding collective agreement for staff leasing (GAV Personalverleih) does not apply to salaries above the maximum insured earnings of CHF 148,200 a year (2026, Art. 22(1) UVV).

For a freelance day rate, build your own calculation from target income, costs and realistic billable days. The method, with a worked example, is in Working as a freelance lawyer.

How working with Alpinum works

Alpinum Solutions provides legal and compliance professionals to companies in Switzerland, Germany and Austria through staff leasing and freelancing, part-time or full-time, individually or as a team. Its database holds more than 7,500 legal and compliance professionals who have been interviewed, assessed and vetted in its qualification process (as of 18 October 2026).

Create your profile: send your CV and preferred model via the careers page for legal and compliance jobs.
Interview and assessment: experience, practice areas, languages, workload and availability are discussed.
Matching assignment: an assignment comes about when your profile fits a company's specific need. Clarify the task, workload, duration and location in advance.
Contract: in staff leasing you sign an employment contract with the Swiss or the German Alpinum entity; as a freelancer you sign a service agreement.
Assignment and handover: in staff leasing the client gives day-to-day instructions; as a freelancer you work on your own responsibility within the agreed mandate. Raise extension, end date and handover in good time.

AlpinumHub is the portal of Alpinum Solutions. How to shape your CV for interim work is covered in CV and profile for interim assignments.

Frequently asked questions about interim and project work for lawyers

Do I need professional experience for interim assignments?

Not necessarily. Many assignments require experience because companies need impact quickly. There are also tasks for junior profiles with 0–2 years of practice, such as KYC reviews, contract reviews or documentation projects. There you work to clear guidelines and under professional supervision within the team. What matters is that your profile fits the specific task.

Can I work as an interim lawyer part-time?

Yes. Staff leasing and freelancing are both possible part-time or full-time. Part-time suits roles with a predictable volume, such as contract work, data protection or a fractional GC mandate. Agree fixed working days, availability and cover in advance. For cover roles with heavy day-to-day work, companies tend to expect a high workload.

Who is my employer in staff leasing?

In staff leasing, the staffing provider is your employer, not the company you work in. The provider pays your salary and social security contributions; the company gives you day-to-day instructions. In Switzerland the provider needs a cantonal licence (Art. 12 AVG); in Germany it needs a licence from the Federal Employment Agency (§ 1 AÜG).

Can I join the client permanently after the assignment?

Yes. In Switzerland, clauses that make it harder for you to move to the client are void (Art. 19(5) AVG). In Germany, agreements that prohibit a later hire are invalid (§ 9(1) nos. 3, 4 AÜG). The provider and the client may agree a fee for the transfer; in Switzerland only if the assignment lasted under 3 months and you move within 3 months of its end (Art. 22(3) AVG).

Next step

If you are considering interim or project work, create your profile and state your preferred model, workload and practice areas.

Last updated: 30 October 2026.

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A career in interim legal and compliance work

Interim and project work for lawyers: how to get started