INTERIM LEGAL · PROJECT LAWYERS · GERMANY · SWITZERLAND · AUSTRIA
Project lawyers for legal departments and law firms: junior to senior, individually or as a team
Project lawyers are fully qualified lawyers or business law graduates who join a legal department or law firm for a defined project and a limited time, for example contract review, due diligence, data protection or regulatory change. A project lawyer joins your team through staff leasing (temporary agency work in Germany) or freelancing, part-time or full-time, individually or as a project team; your company directs tasks and priorities. Alpinum Solutions, the leading provider of interim legal & compliance in the DACH region, provides project lawyers to companies in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and presents selected profiles within 48 hours.
Companies bring in a project lawyer when a project with a start and an end creates legal work that the in-house team has no time for: a backlog of supplier contracts, a data room before signing, a new law with a deadline. Project lawyers work in your systems and to your instructions, deliver review notes, drafts and documentation, and leave once the project is complete. Responsibility for legal decisions stays with your legal department; Alpinum does not provide legal advice.
This page is written for legal and compliance functions in companies. Practice groups in law firms will find their own page on project lawyers for law firms. The four scenarios below are examples of typical projects, not individual client cases.
Typical assignments for project lawyers in companies
Clearing a contract backlog
Several hundred supplier and customer contracts are waiting for review because the legal department is busy with day-to-day work. Two project lawyers work through the backlog against your playbook, pass deviations to the responsible in-house lawyer and record terms and deadlines in the contract register. Duration: a few weeks to a few months. Workload: full-time.
Due diligence and contract changes after an acquisition
The data room is open and signing is a few weeks away. A small team reviews contracts against the deal team’s grid, records consent requirements and termination rights on a change of control, and stays after closing to amend the acquired company’s contracts. Duration: from the data room into integration. Workload: full-time during review, reduced afterwards.
Implementing new regulation in contracts and policies
DORA, NIS2 or the EU AI Act require amended service provider contracts, new policies and evidence. A project lawyer with regulatory experience lists the affected contracts, drafts the amendments and agrees them with IT, procurement and compliance. Duration: several months. Workload: part-time, often full-time towards the end of implementation.
Reorganisation affecting many employment contracts
A restructuring touches employment contracts, internal agreements and letters to staff. Project lawyers prepare the documents as instructed by HR and legal, keep the case overview and track deadlines. Duration: a few weeks to months. Workload: full-time or part-time, depending on the number of cases.
What is a project lawyer? Definition, types of assignment and how the role differs
Definition in two sentences
A project lawyer is a fully qualified lawyer or a business law graduate who works in a legal department or law firm for a limited time on a specific project. Unlike cover for an absence, the project lawyer does not step into an existing role but takes on a work package with a goal and an end date, which is why project lawyers are often deployed as a team.
Types of assignment
| Assignment | What project lawyers take on | Practice area |
|---|---|---|
| Contract review | Reviewing and negotiating contracts against a playbook, clearing backlogs, maintaining the register | Contract review |
| Due diligence | Reviewing the data room, recording findings against the review grid, amending contracts after closing | M&A and corporate law |
| Data protection | Data processing agreements, records of processing and IT contracts | Data privacy and IT law |
| Employment law | Preparing employment contracts, agreements and documents for restructurings | Employment law |
| Regulatory | Gap analyses, contract amendments and policies for new requirements | Regulatory change |
| Document review | Coding documents against a review protocol, flagging borderline cases, checking samples | Document review |
Source: Alpinum Solutions, as of November 2026.
Project lawyer, interim manager, syndic lawyer or law firm secondment?
| Role | Task | Contract and integration | Fits when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project lawyer | Work package with a goal and an end date | Staff leasing or freelancing through Alpinum | a project needs capacity but no position is vacant |
| Interim manager, e.g. interim head of legal | Leading the legal function with management and decision-making responsibility | Staff leasing or freelancing; your company sets the powers in the mandate | a leadership position is temporarily vacant |
| Syndikusrechtsanwalt (in-house lawyer admitted to the bar, DE) | Acting as a lawyer in the legal matters of their own employer | Employed by the company, own admission under section 46(2) BRAO | you are filling a permanent position |
| Law firm secondment | A lawyer from a law firm works in the company for a set period | Remains employed by the law firm, billed through the firm | you need a particular firm’s know-how in-house |
Source: Alpinum Solutions, as of November 2026; section 46 BRAO according to Alpinum’s register of legal sources (retrieved 30 October 2026).
Project lawyer at junior, experienced or senior level: what your project needs
Junior (0–2 years’ experience)
Reviewing standard contracts against a playbook, recording documents in the data room, keeping registers and deadlines, compiling documents – guided by an experienced lawyer from your team or the project team.
Experienced (3–6 years)
Negotiating contracts independently, owning a work package such as amending a contract portfolio, answering questions from the business. In Alpinum’s experience, experienced is the most common level for interim assignments.
Senior (7+ years)
Leading a team of project lawyers, setting the review grid and escalation rules, preparing borderline cases for your decision, bringing specialist knowledge in regulation or transactions and coordinating with outside counsel.
Individually or as a team
Larger projects mix levels: a senior sets the rules, experienced profiles handle the demanding cases, juniors the volume. Alpinum Solutions builds such teams from 7’500+ legal & compliance professionals who have been interviewed and vetted in its qualification process.
What your company directs
You set the goal, scope, priorities and approvals and name an internal contact. Legal decisions are made by your legal department. Alpinum handles selection, contract and administration and remains your contact during the assignment.
Project lawyers via staff leasing or freelancing in Germany, Switzerland and Austria
Both models suit most projects, with a workload between 20 and 100 %, for a single professional or a project team. What matters is how closely the project lawyer is integrated into your processes: with temporary legal staff via staff leasing, professional direction generally lies with you and the professional works inside your organisation. As freelance lawyers, they deliver an agreed package independently within the mandate.
Germany
The contracting party is Alpinum Solutions GmbH: temporary agency work (Arbeitnehmerüberlassung) under a licence from the Regionaldirektion Hessen of the Federal Employment Agency, or freelancing. Locations, roles and contacts in Germany are described on our page about interim lawyers in Germany.
Project lawyers in temporary agency work: admission and acting externally
In its judgment of 20 March 2023 (AnwZ (Brfg) 12/21), Germany’s Federal Court of Justice held that in temporary agency work the agency, not the hirer where the lawyer works, is the employer within the meaning of section 46 BRAO (paras. 35, 53, 57). Admission as a Syndikusrechtsanwalt for the assignment is therefore ruled out. The court describes the deployment of agency lawyers in a law firm’s back office, i.e. without acting as a lawyer externally, as unobjectionable under professional rules (para. 75). Project lawyers on agency assignments therefore review, draft and prepare, but do not represent your company externally as an admitted lawyer. Source: Federal Court of Justice, judgment of 20 March 2023 – AnwZ (Brfg) 12/21, retrieved 11 November 2026.
Switzerland
The contracting party is Alpinum Solutions AG: staff leasing, also called Personalverleih, with a cantonal licence and a SECO licence for placements abroad, or freelancing.
Austria
Project lawyers for work in Austria are engaged as freelancers or via staff leasing through Alpinum’s German or Swiss company.
Limits
Alpinum is not a law firm and does not take responsibility for the outcome of your project. Alpinum provides project lawyers; direction and approvals stay with your company.
Process: how quickly project lawyers are available
01 · Describe the project
Task, volume, areas of law, languages, systems, place of work and workload. This shows whether one project lawyer is enough or a team with a lead makes sense.
02 · Project lawyer profiles within 48 hours
Alpinum Solutions usually presents two to four profiles per search, within 48 hours of the briefing call. This does not yet commit to a start date.
03 · Interviews, decision and start
You talk to the proposed candidates and choose. The start date is agreed with Alpinum and depends on availability, contract and system access.
04 · Check-in and close
After two to four weeks you review with Alpinum whether staffing and workload fit the project. At the end, the project lawyer hands results and open items to your team. If you want to hire them permanently afterwards, a move into your team (temp-to-perm) is possible.
What does a project lawyer cost?
Daily rates by level and model, excl. VAT, as of 18 October 2026. Assignments in Austria are priced on the German ranges.
| Level | Germany, staff leasing | Germany, freelancing | Switzerland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior, 0–2 years | EUR 480–720 | EUR 720–960 | CHF 600–800 |
| Experienced, 3–6 years | EUR 720–960 | EUR 960–1'360 | CHF 800–1'200 |
| Senior, 7+ years | EUR 960–1'440+ | EUR 1'360–2'000+ | CHF 1'200–1'800+ |
Source: Alpinum Solutions, as of October 2026.
Where an assignment falls within the range depends on the area of law, languages, workload and duration. In mixed teams, junior and experienced profiles lower the average daily rate. The guide cost models in interim legal & compliance has worked examples and compares interim rates with permanent hiring.
Case study: senior legal counsel for a cross-border transaction
FAQ on project lawyers
What is a project lawyer?
A project lawyer is a lawyer who works on a defined project for a limited time, for example a contract review, a due diligence or the implementation of new regulation. Project lawyers work in legal departments and law firms and leave once the project is complete.
What is the difference between a Volljurist and a lawyer in Germany?
In Germany, a Volljurist (fully qualified lawyer) is someone who has completed law studies with the first examination and the practical training with the second state examination and has thereby acquired the qualification to hold judicial office (section 5(1) DRiG, retrieved 11 November 2026). “Jurist” is the broader term and also covers business law graduates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree. You define the qualification your project needs in the requirements profile.
What does a project lawyer cost?
In Germany, daily rates range from EUR 480–720 for junior profiles via staff leasing to EUR 1'360–2'000+ for senior freelancers; in Switzerland from CHF 600–800 to CHF 1'200–1'800+, excl. VAT in each case (as of 18 October 2026). The table above shows the rates by level.
How quickly are project lawyers available?
Selected project lawyer profiles reach you within 48 hours. When a project lawyer starts depends on availability, contract and system access and is agreed jointly; Alpinum does not guarantee a start date.
Does Alpinum also place project lawyers with law firms?
Yes. For due diligence, mass litigation and review projects in law firms, the page on project lawyers for law firms describes scenarios, limits and costs. This page covers legal and compliance functions in companies.
Related pages: project lawyers for law firms · legal subject matter experts for projects · interim lawyers in Germany. Overview of all practice areas, occasions and roles: interim legal and compliance support for companies and law firms.
Discuss your needs: project lawyers for your project
Tell us the project, volume, deadline and workload. You receive selected profiles of project lawyers within 48 hours; we agree the start together.