AlixPartners Case Study

As a former Vario myself and now a client of theirs, I can’t speak highly enough of them. The Vario team have always been fantastic to deal with and offered an extremely high level of customer service. The Vario team take the time to explore their clients’ requirements and offer appropriate solutions. When working as a Vario, the professional indemnity cover provided, the use of the firm’s knowledge systems and the access to a professional support lawyer all proved to be invaluable to me. I look forward to working with Vario in the future, the next time we have a need for flexible legal resource.
- Sean Keaveney, Head of EMEA Legal

Situation

AlixPartners is a leading consulting firm, with 25 offices spread across three continents, employing some 1600 people. As with most in-house legal teams, workload can vary enormously, depending upon the requirements of the business at that time. In addition to this, finding legal resource has always proved challenging, due to the high-quality expectations of any lawyer working at AlixPartners. When AlixPartners were particularly busy and needed additional legal support, they were keen to find a flexible solution, with the potential to offer resource quickly and at a proven quality.

Steps taken

As a client of Pinsent Masons, AlixPartners already had an existing relationship with
the firm and in 2014, they were keen to utilise one of Pinsent Masons’ latest innovative solutions, Vario. They required a senior legal counsel to join them for a five month period. They were looking for a commercially minded individual, someone that could quickly understand the unique cultural requirements of the organisation. The Vario team took a detailed brief, which focused on the technical and behavioural qualities required to succeed in this assignment.

A 10 year plus PQE lawyer was presented by Vario. Having already been through the rigorous assessment process required to join Vario, this individual was quickly interviewed by AlixPartners and was immediately offered to start. Their assignment was extended to a total of eight months and at the end of it, the individual opted to join AlixPartners on a permanent basis. This further strengthened the relationship between AlixPartners and Pinsent Masons, ensuring it has remained beneficial to all since then.

Results

Since working with Vario in 2014, AlixPartners has used the Vario service on three further occasions in 2015, 2016 and 2018. All assignments were extended beyond their original length and received positive feedback, with another one of the Varios also choosing to join on a permanent basis. The first Vario is still in post over four years on and has since been promoted to the role of Head of EMEA Legal.