LAW FIRMS · PROJECT LAWYERS · LEGAL SECONDMENT · MASS LITIGATION
Project lawyers for law firms: legal secondment in Germany, Switzerland and Austria for deals, mass claims and capacity peaks
Alpinum Solutions provides law firms with legal secondment in Germany, Switzerland and Austria: project lawyers for due diligence and transactions, mass litigation, large review projects and capacity bottlenecks in a practice group. Lawyers range from junior to senior level and work via staff leasing or freelancing, part-time or full-time, individually or as a team. The mandate, client contact and signature stay with your firm.
Law firms staff their teams for average utilisation. A signing date, a wave of claims or a data room with thousands of documents breaks that plan, and new associates cannot be hired for a few months. Project lawyers close the gap: they work inside the firm’s team, to its instructions and quality standards, and leave when the project is done. Law firms and legal services are among the sectors where Alpinum has placed professionals over the last 24 months. Alpinum is not a law firm and does not advise clients.
The scenarios below are examples of typical assignments, not individual matters.
Typical assignments for project lawyers in law firms
Legal due diligence before signing
The data room is open and the report is due a few weeks later. Project lawyers review corporate records and financing, supply and employment contracts against the firm’s grid, flag change-of-control clauses and consent requirements, and draft sections of the report. Duration: a few weeks. Workload: full-time, frequently a small team.
Mass litigation for defendants or claimants
Many similar claims arrive within a short time. A team of project lawyers analyses files, drafts pleadings from the firm’s templates, maintains the case database and prepares hearings. The firm’s admitted lawyers review, sign and appear in court. Duration: several months to years, in waves. Workload: full-time, team size depending on incoming volume.
Contract analysis after an acquisition
After closing, the client wants to know which contracts need amending or renegotiating. Project lawyers analyse the portfolio by clause type and prepare amendment drafts and letters for the firm to approve. Duration: a few weeks to months. Workload: full-time or part-time.
Capacity bottleneck in a practice group
Associates are on parental leave while a large arbitration is running. An experienced lawyer takes on research, draft memos and pleading preparation until the team is back to full strength. Duration: several months. Workload: part-time or full-time.
Legal secondment into the firm for a specialist topic
A matter needs experience in an area the firm rarely handles, such as banking supervision or data protection. A senior professional joins the team for the duration of the matter and contributes that expertise. Duration: as the matter requires. Workload: part-time or full-time.
Legal secondment for law firms: where project lawyers contribute and where the line is
Working inside the firm’s team
Project lawyers use your firm’s systems, templates and review grids. A responsible partner or associate assigns the work, reviews the output and releases it to the client.
Transactions and deal support
Deal support for law firms means data room review, due diligence reports, disclosure letters, signing and closing checklists, post-closing implementation. For in-house teams, the practice area corporate law, M&A and governance covers the same phases from the legal department’s side.
Mass litigation and review projects
File analysis, template-based draft pleadings, case data maintenance, deadline control. Document review on an eDiscovery platform and internal investigations have their own page: document review lawyers for litigation and eDiscovery.
The line to practising as a lawyer in Germany
Where lawyers are placed via temporary agency work (Arbeitnehmerüberlassung), the Federal Court of Justice holds that the agency, not the hirer, is their employer for professional-law purposes; in the case decided, the hirer was a law firm (BGH, Urteil vom 20.03.2023 – AnwZ (Brfg) 12/21, para. 53; section 46 BRAO). The court regards back-office work without acting as a lawyer externally as unobjectionable under professional law (para. 75). Alpinum therefore plans placements as support for your lawyers, without acting towards clients or courts (as of 30 October 2026).
Confidentiality and conflicts
Every professional signs the confidentiality agreement your firm requires. Before the start you receive the details of previous roles you need for your conflict check; the check itself is done by your firm.
Project lawyers at every level: junior, experienced, senior
Junior (0–2 years)
Reviewing data room documents against a grid, capturing contract data, analysing files in mass litigation, researching individual questions.
Experienced (3–6 years)
Drafting sections of a due diligence report, adapting template pleadings, resolving queries in the review team, handling a sub-area independently.
Senior (7+ years)
Coordinating a team of project lawyers and assuring quality, delivering complex draft memos and pleadings, bringing specialist knowledge into a matter.
What your firm controls
Matter management, client contact, legal assessment, signature and court appearances stay with your lawyers. Under staff leasing you direct the work and the professional is part of your team. Under freelancing they handle a defined work package, such as part of a due diligence, independently within the agreed mandate.
Engagement models for law firms in Switzerland, Germany and Austria
Whether one professional for a practice group or a team for mass litigation: workload ranges from 20 to 100 % and can be adjusted by agreement when a matter moves into a new wave. Professionals who work in your team over a longer period are usually engaged as temporary legal staff via staff leasing; a clearly defined package suits freelance lawyers.
Switzerland
Your contracting party is Alpinum Solutions AG, via staff leasing (Personalverleih) or freelancing.
Germany
Your contracting party is Alpinum Solutions GmbH, via temporary agency work (Arbeitnehmerüberlassung) or freelancing; see above for the professional-law boundary. More on the framework is on the page interim lawyers in Germany.
Austria
Project lawyers for law firms in Austria work as freelancers or via staff leasing through the German or the Swiss company.
Limits
Alpinum provides lawyers but takes on no mandates and does not advise your clients. Professional responsibility as a lawyer lies with your firm.
Process: from enquiry to project start in your firm
01 · Describe the project
Area of law, languages, volume, deadlines, place of work and experience required. For teams, also who handles quality control.
02 · Profiles within 48 hours
Alpinum proposes selected profiles within 48 hours, usually two to four per search. You and Alpinum agree the start of the assignment together; no start date is guaranteed.
03 · Onboarding
Conflict check, confidentiality agreement, access, review grid and contact person in the firm. After two to four weeks you discuss with Alpinum whether staffing and workload fit.
04 · Project end or hire
The assignment ends with the project. If you want to hire a project lawyer permanently afterwards, a move into your team (temp-to-perm) is possible.
Costs of project lawyers for law firms
Daily rates by level, excl. VAT, as of 18 October 2026. Austria applies the German ranges.
- Junior (0–2 years): CHF 600–800 (Switzerland) · EUR 480–720 staff leasing, EUR 720–960 freelancing (Germany, Austria)
- Experienced (3–6 years): CHF 800–1'200 · EUR 720–960 staff leasing, EUR 960–1'360 freelancing
- Senior (7+ years): CHF 1'200–1'800+ · EUR 960–1'440+ staff leasing, EUR 1'360–2'000+ freelancing
In review projects and mass litigation, several juniors often work under one senior professional who assures quality. How rates are made up and how they compare with permanent hiring is explained in the guide cost models in interim legal & compliance.
FAQ from law firms on project lawyers
What does the 2023 Federal Court of Justice judgment mean for project lawyers in German law firms?
Under the BGH, Urteil vom 20.03.2023 – AnwZ (Brfg) 12/21 judgment, in temporary agency work the agency, not the law firm, is the employer within the meaning of section 46 BRAO (para. 53). Back-office work without acting as a lawyer externally remains unobjectionable under professional law (para. 75). Pleadings are therefore signed and hearings attended by your own lawyers (as of 30 October 2026).
How does a project lawyer differ from a freelance associate of the firm?
Under staff leasing the professional is employed by Alpinum and works in your team under your direction. Under freelancing they handle an agreed package independently. Which model fits depends on how closely the professional should be integrated into your processes.
How fast can a team for mass litigation be in place?
You receive first profiles within 48 hours. How quickly a whole team starts depends on size, languages and access; the start date is agreed between you and Alpinum.
Can project lawyers work remotely?
Yes, if your firm provides secure access. Your firm decides per project whether work is on site, remote or mixed.
Do project lawyers also go on legal secondment to our clients?
This page covers assignments in your firm. If a company needs support in its own legal department, it can contact Alpinum directly; your firm then remains responsible for the mandate.
Related services: document review and litigation support · backlog, review and investigation · peak workload support. All practice areas and occasions: interim legal support for companies and law firms.
Discuss your needs: project lawyers for your firm
Tell us the type of matter, area of law, volume and deadline. We propose suitable profiles for your firm within 48 hours.