GigLawyer and/or BigLawyer? A grounded theory study of lawyer career craft
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20856/jnicec.4909Keywords:
Law, Grounded theory, Precarity, Gig work, Career theory, ConstructivismAbstract
This qualitative study explores the emergence of new gig working routes in the legal industry. Drawing on the nascent concept of ‘career crafting’, I crafted a constructivist grounded theory of ‘Craft My Own Way’ from the experiences of 15 lawyers. Participants’ experiences reflect agentic and emergent perspectives as part of inter-connected transition processes. A main finding of this study is that, whilst seeking change, participants experienced a paradoxically conflicting and synergistic relationship with their pasts. The findings offer a discussion framework for career professionals to help clients reconcile tensions by considering ‘craft’ as a theoretical lens to frame career transitions.
References
Akkermans, J. & Tims, M. (2017). Crafting your career: how career competencies relate to career success via
job crafting. Applied. Psychology, 66, 168-195. https://doi.org/10.1111/apps.12082
Arthur, M. B. & Rousseau, D. M. (1996). Introduction: the boundaryless career as a new employment principle. In M. B. Arthur, & D. M. Rousseau (Eds.), The boundaryless career (pp. 3-20). Oxford University Press.
Ashford, S.J., Caza, B.B., & Reid, E.M. (2018). From surviving to thriving in the gig economy: A research agenda for individuals in the new world of work. Research in Organizational Behavior, 38, 23-41 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2018.11.001
Ashforth, B. (2000). Role transitions in organizational life: An identity-based perspective. Routledge.
Aulakh, S. & Kirkpatrick, I. (2016). Changing regulation and the future of the professional partnership: the case of the Legal Services Act, 2007 in England and Wales. International Journal of the Legal Profession, 23(3), 277-303.
Barley, S.R. & Kunda, G. (2006). Gurus, hired guns, and warm bodies: Itinerant experts in a knowledge economy. Princeton University Press.
Barclay, S.R., Stoltz, K.B., & Chung, Y.B. (2011). Voluntary midlife career change: Integrating the transtheoretical model and the life-span, life-space approach. The Career Development Quarterly 59(5), 386-399. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2011.tb00966.x
Baruch, Y. (2004). Transforming careers: from linear to multidirectional career paths: Organizational and individual perspective. Career Development International, 9(1), 58-73. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430410518147
Bimrose, J., McMahon, M., & Watson, M. (2013). Career trajectories of older women: Implications for career guidance. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 41(5), 587-601. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2013.779639
Birks, M. & Mills, J. (2015). Grounded theory: A practical guide. Sage.
Bright, J.E. & Pryor, R.G. (2011). The chaos theory of careers. Journal of Employment Counseling, 48(4), 163-166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416213518506
Brott, P.E. (2001). The storied approach: A postmodern perspective for career counseling. The Career Development Quarterly, 49(4), 304-313. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2001.tb00958.x
Broughton, A., Gloster, R., Marvell, R., Green, M., Langley, J., & Martin A. (2018). The Experiences of Individuals in the Gig Economy, Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.
Bryant, A. & Charmaz, K. (2007). Grounded theory in historical perspective: An epistemological account. In Bryant, A. & Charmaz, K. (Eds.), The Sage Handbook of grounded theory, pp.31-57. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi. Singapore, Washington DC: Sage publications.
Burton, M. D., Sørensen, J. B., & Dobrev, S. D. (2016). A careers perspective on entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(2), 237-247. https://doi.org/10.1111/etap.12230
Carroll, E. & Vaughan, S. (2019). Matter Mills and London-Lite offices: exploring forms of the onshoring of legal services in an age of globalisation. Legal Ethics, 22(1-2), 3-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/1460728x.2019.1693169
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage publications.
Charmaz, K. (2017). Special invited paper: Continuities, contradictions, and critical inquiry in grounded theory. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 16(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917719350
Chin, E. (2016). Three strategies for law firms as NewLaw reaches a tipping point. Australasian Law Management Journal, pp. 1-9.
Clinton, M., Totterdell, P., & Wood, S. (2006). A grounded theory of portfolio working: Experiencing the smallest of small businesses. International Small Business Journal, 24(2), 179-203. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242606061843
Cohen, L. & Mallon, M. (1999). The transition from organisational employment to portfolio working: Perceptions of boundarylessness. Work, employment and society, 13(2), 329-352. https://doi.org/10.1177/09500179922117962
Corbin, J.M. & Strauss, A. (1990). Grounded theory research: Procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative sociology,13(1), 3-21. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00988593
Creswell, J.W. & Poth, C.N. (2016).Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage publications.
De Vos, A., Akkermans, J., & Van der Heijden, B. (2019). From occupational choice to career crafting. In H.Gunz, M. Lazarova, & W. Mayrhofer (Eds.), The Routledge companion to career studies (pp. 128–142). Routledge.
Dwyer, S.C. & Buckle, J.L. (2009). The space between: On being an insider-outsider in qualitative research.
International journal of qualitative methods, 8(1), 54-63. https://doi.org/10.1177/160940690900800105
Dey, I. (1999). Grounding grounded theory: Guidelines for qualitative inquiry. Academic Press.
Dinovitzer, R. (2011). The financial rewards of elite status in the legal profession. Law & Social Inquiry, 36(4), 971-998.
Dries, N. & Pepermans, R. (2008). “Real” highpotential careers: An empirical study into the perspectives of organisations and high potentials. Personnel Review, 37(1), 85-108. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480810839987
Duberley, J., Carmichael, F. & Szmigin, I. (2014). Exploring women’s retirement: Continuity, context and career transition. Gender, Work & Organization, 21(1), 71-90. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12013
Duberley, J., Mallon, M. & Cohen, L. (2006). Exploring career transitions: accounting for structure and agency. Personnel Review, 35(3), 281-296. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480610656694
Dunne, C. (2011). The place of the literature review in grounded theory research. International journal of social research methodology, 14(2), 111-124.
Ebaugh, H.R.F. (1988). Becoming an ex: The process of role exit. University of Chicago Press.
Ebberwein, C.A., Krieshok, T.S., Ulven, J.C. & Prosser, E.C. (2004). Voices in transition: Lessons on career adaptability. The Career Development Quarterly, 52(4), 292-308. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0045.2004.tb00947.x
El Hussein, M. T., Kennedy, A., & Oliver, B. (2017). Grounded Theory and the Conundrum of Literature Review: Framework for Novice Researchers. The Qualitative Report, 22(4), 1198-1210.
https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2661
Falcao, H. (2015). Protean career strategies. Asian Management Insights, 2(2), 60-65.
Fenwick, T.J. (1998). Women composing selves, seeking authenticity: A study of women’s development in the workplace. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 17(3), 199-217. https://doi.org/10.1080/0260137980170306
Fenwick, T.J. (2006). Contradictions in portfolio careers: work design and client relations. Career Development International, 11(1), 66-79. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430610642381
Follmer, E.H., Talbot, D.L., Kristof-Brown, A.L., Astrove, S.L. & Billsberry, J. (2018). Resolution, relief, and resignation: A qualitative study of responses to misfit at work. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2), 440-465. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2014.0566
Garth, B.G. & Sterling, J.S. (2018). Diversity, hierarchy, and fit in legal careers: insights from fifteen years of qualitative interviews. Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 31, 123-174.
Glaser, B.& Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine.
Gold, M. & Fraser, J. (2002). Managing self-management: successful transitions to portfolio careers. Work, employment and society, 16(4), 579-597. https://doi.org/10.1177/095001702321587370
Goodman, J., Schlossberg, N.K. & Anderson, M.L.(2011). Counseling Adults in Transition: Linking Schlossberg’s Theory with Practice in a Diverse World. 4th edition. Springer Publishing Co.
Gordon-Finlayson, A. (2019). Grounded Theory. In Forrester, M.A. & Sullivan, C. (Eds.), Doing qualitative research in psychology: A practical guide. SAGE Publications Limited.
Goulding, C. (2002). Grounded theory: A practical guide for management, business and market researchers. Sage publications.
Gubler, M., Arnold, J. & Coombs, C. (2014). Reassessing the protean career concept: Empirical findings, conceptual components, and measurement. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(S1), S23-S40. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1908
Gustafsson, S. & Swart, J. (2020). ‘It’s not all it’s cracked up to be’: Narratives of promotions in elite professional careers. Human Relations, 73(9), 1199-1225. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726719859404
Hazlewoods. (2018). Legal update: Number of UK platform lawyers up 29% in a year. Retrieved from: https://www.hazlewoods.co.uk/news/legal-update-number-of-uk-platform-lawyers-up (Accessed 7 September 2021).
Henwood, K., & Pidgeon, N. (2003). Grounded theory in psychological research. In P. M. Camic, J. E. Rhodes, & L. Yardley (Eds.), Qualitative research in psychology: Expanding perspectives in methodology and design (pp.131–155). American Psychological Association.
Ibarra, H. (2004). Working identity: Unconventional strategies for reinventing your career. Harvard Business Press.
Ibarra, H. & Obodaru, O. (2016). Betwixt and between identities: Liminal experience in contemporary careers.
Research in Organizational Behavior, 36, 47-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2016.11.003
Inkson, K. (2004). Images of career: Nine key metaphors. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 96-111.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-8791(03)00053-8
Judge, T.A. & Ferris, G.R. (1992). The Elusive Criterion of Fit in Human Resources Staffing Decisions. Human Resource Planning, 15(4), 47-67.
Koch, M., Park, S. & Zahra, S.A. (2019). Career patterns in self-employment and career success. Journal of Business Venturing, p.105998.
Kristof, A.L. (1996). Person-organization fit: An integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications. Personnel psychology, 49(1), 1-49. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1996.tb01790.x
Kundi, Y.M., Hollet-Haudebert, S. & Peterson, J. (2021). Linking protean and boundaryless career attitudes to subjective career success: a serial mediation model. Journal of Career Assessment, 29(2), 263-282. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072720959782
Kunda, G., Barley, S.R. & Evans, J. (2002). Why do contractors contract? The experience of highly skilled technical professionals in a contingent labor market. ILR Review, 55(2), 234-261. https://doi.org/10.2307/2696207
Leiper, J.M. (1997). It Was Like Wow: The Experience of Women Lawyers in a Profession Marked by Linear Careers. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 9(1), 115-136.
Lipshits-Braziler, Y. & Gati, I. (2019). Facilitating career transitions with coping and decision-making approaches. In Maree, J.G. (Eds.), Handbook of Innovative Career Counselling, pp. 139-156. Springer.
Malhotra, N., Morris, T. & Smets, M. (2010). New career models in UK professional service firms: from up-or-out to up-and-going-nowhere? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(9), 1396-1413.
Mallon, M. (1998). The portfolio career: pushed or pulled to it?. Personnel Review, 27(5), 361-377.
Mallon, M. (1999). Going “portfolio”: Making sense of changing careers. Career Development International, 4(7),
-369. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620439910295727
Marler, J.H., Woodard Barringer, M. & Milkovich, G.T. (2002). Boundaryless and traditional contingent employees: Worlds apart. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 23(4), 425-453. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.148
Marshall, D.R. (2016). From employment to entrepreneurship and back: A legitimate boundaryless view or a bias-embedded mindset? International Small Business Journal, 34(5), 683-700. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242615581853
McAlpine, L. (2010). Fixed-term researchers in the social sciences: passionate investment, yet marginalizing experiences. International Journal for Academic Development, 15(3), pp.229-240.
McMahon, M. & Patton, W. (2018). Systemic thinking in career development theory: Contributions of the systems theory framework. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 46(2), 229-240. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2018.1428941
McMahon, M., Watson, M. & Bimrose, J. (2012). Career adaptability: A qualitative understanding from the stories of older women. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(3), 762-768. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.01.016
Ng, T.W., Sorensen, K.L., Eby, L.T. & Feldman, D.C. (2007). Determinants of job mobility: A theoretical integration and extension. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 80(3), 363-386. https://doi.org/10.1348/096317906X130582
Nicholson, N. (1984). A theory of work role transitions. Administrative science quarterly, 29, 172-191. https://doi.org/10.2307/2393172
Nicholson, N. (1990).The transition cycle: Causes, outcomes, processes and forms. In: Fisher, S, Cooper,
C.L. (Eds.) On the move: The psychology of change and transition. John Wiley, pp.83–108.
Osherton, S.D. (1980). Holding On and Letting Go: Mean and Career Change at Midlife. Free Press.
Peake, S. & McDowall, A. (2012). Chaotic careers: A narrative analysis of career transition themes and
outcomes using chaos theory as a guiding metaphor. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 40(4), 395-410.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2012.704350
Petriglieri, G., Ashford, S.J. & Wrzesniewski, A. (2019). Agony and ecstasy in the gig economy: Cultivating holding environments for precarious and personalized work identities. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(1), 124-170. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839218759646
Petriglieri, G., Petriglieri, J.L. & Wood, J.D. (2018). Fast tracks and inner journeys: Crafting portable selves for contemporary careers. Administrative Science Quarterly, 63(3), 479-525. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839217720930
Ponterotto, J.G. (2006). Brief note on the origins, evolution, and meaning of the qualitative research concept thick description. The qualitative report, 11(3), pp.538-549.
Pringle, J. & Mallon, M. (2003). Challenges for the boundaryless career odyssey. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(5), 839-853. https://doi.org/10.1080/0958519032000080839
Prospects. (2021). Career Prospects. Retrieved from: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-workexperience/job-sectors/law-sector (Accessed 7 September 2021).
Rab, S. (2019). Regulation of the legal profession in the UK (England and Wales): overview. Practical Law. Retrieved from: https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/7-633-7078?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true (Accessed 7 September 2021).
Rhodes, S.R. & Doering, M. (1983). An Integrated Model of Career Change. Academy of Management Review, 8(4), 631-639. https://doi.org/10.2307/258264
Schlossberg, N.K. (1981). A model for analyzing human adaptation to transition. The counseling psychologist, 9(2), 2-18. https://doi.org/10.1177/001100008100900202
Smith, W.K. & Lewis, M.W. (2011). Toward a theory of paradox: A dynamic equilibrium model of organizing. Academy of Management Review,36(2), 381-403. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2009.0223
Sommerland, H. (2016). “A pit to put women in”: professionalism, work intensification, sexualisation and work–life balance in the legal profession in England and Wales. International Journal of the Legal Profession, 23(1), 61-82. https://doi.org/10.1080/09695958.2016.1140945
SRA. (2020). Solicitors Regulatory Authority: Population of solicitors in England and Wales. Retrieved from
https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/research-publications/regulatedcommunity-statistics/data/population_solicitors/ (Accessed 7 September 2021).
Stengard, J., Bernhard-Oettel, C., Berntson, E., Leineweber, C., & Aronsson, G. (2016). Stuck in a job: Being “locked-in” or at risk of becoming locked-in at the workplace and well-being over time. Work and Stress, 30(2), 152–172 https://doi.org/10.1080/02678373.2016.1163804
Stokes, A. (2021). Masters of none? How cultural workers use reframing to achieve legitimacy in portfolio careers. Work, Employment and Society, 35(2), 350-368. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017020977324
Sullivan, S.E. & Al Ariss, A. (2019). Making sense of different perspectives on career transitions: A review and agenda for future research. Human Resource Management Review, p.100727. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.100727
Sullivan, S.E. & Al Ariss, A. (2021). A conservation of resources approach to inter-role career transitions. Human Resource Management Review, p.100852. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2021.100852
Super, D.E. (1980). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. Journal of vocational behavior, 16(3), 282-298. https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-8791(80)90056-1
Tims, M. & Bakker, A.B. (2010). Job crafting: Towards a new model of individual job redesign. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 36(2), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.4102/sajip.v36i2.841
Tomlinson, J., Muzio, D., Sommerlad, H., Webley, L. & Duff, L. (2013). Structure, agency and career strategies of white women and black and minority ethnic individuals in the legal profession. Human relations, 66(2), 245-269. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726712460556
Trevor-Roberts, E., Parker, P. & Sandberg, J. (2019). How uncertainty affects career behaviour: A narrative approach. Australian Journal of Management, 44(1), 50-69. https://doi.org/10.1177/0312896218775801
Vidwans, M.P. (2016). Exploring Career Success with the New Paradigm of Career Crafting, (PhD). Lincoln University, Christchurch. Retrieved from: http://researcharchive.lincoln.ac.nz.ezproxy. otago.ac.nz/handle/10182/8040 (Accessed 7 September, 2021).
Vidwans, M.P. & Du Plessis, R.A. (2020). Crafting careers in accounting: redefining gendered selves. Pacific Accounting Review. 32(1), 32-53.
Wanberg, C. R. & Kammeyer-Mueller, J. (2008). A selfregulatory perspective on navigating career transitions. In R. Kanfer, G. Chen, & R. D. Pritchard (Eds.), Work motivation: Past, present, and future, pp.433–469. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Wise, A.J. & Millward, L.J. (2005). The experiences of voluntary career change in 30-somethings and implications for guidance. Career Development International, 10(5), 400-417. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430510615328
Wrzesniewski, A. & Dutton, J.E. (2001). Crafting a job: Revisioning employees as active crafters of their work. Academy of management review, 26(2), 179-201.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 1. In submitting an article, the Author hereby grants to NICEC the exclusive first publication right to the paper submitted by him / her for inclusion in the publication named above and the non-exclusive rights thereafter to publish and authorise the publication of all articles and all parts, adaptations and abridgements thereof in all forms and media throughout the world. 2. In consideration for the above grant of rights, and subject to delivery of acceptable material, NICEC hereby undertakes to prepare for publication and publish the paper unless prevented by circumstances beyond its control. 3. The Author agrees that NICEC may make minor changes to areas such as formatting, spelling, referencing, layout or punctuation, to ensure quality and uniformity of style. 4. NICEC agrees that the Author may share the final published PDF of their article (e.g. publication to the Author’s web profile, or institutional repository). 5. The Author warrants to NICEC that in respect of the paper submitted: (i) it does not infringe any existing copyright or licence; (ii) except where the Author, at the time of submission of the paper, notifies NICEC, the paper is original; (iii) the Author has the full power to make this assignment and that this assignment does not infringe the rights or licence of any other person, and that where there a co-author, the co-author also fully agrees to the terms in this document; (iv) the paper contains nothing defamatory or otherwise unlawful and no information has been obtained in contravention of legislation currently in force (v) submission of the paper demonstrates acceptance of all these conditions.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.