Legal Secondment in Australia
A legal secondment places an experienced lawyer inside your organisation for a defined period — giving you the capacity and expertise of a senior hire, without the cost or commitment of permanent employment.
Also considering fractional legal support? It's a related but distinct model — part-time access to a senior lawyer on an ongoing basis.
What is a legal secondment?
A legal secondment is an arrangement where an independent lawyer — or a lawyer from a law firm — is embedded within your organisation's legal team for a defined period. The seconded lawyer works alongside your permanent staff, under your supervision, as an integrated member of your team.
Unlike engaging a law firm for specific matters, a secondee becomes fully embedded in your operations — attending meetings, contributing to strategy, and working on whatever matters need attention. They are paid a fixed day rate, with no billing by the hour for individual tasks.
Secondments typically run for three to twelve months, though shorter arrangements are accommodated for specific projects.
Who uses legal secondments?
Secondment vs. your alternatives
Legal secondment
Best value- • Fixed day rate — no hourly billing
- • Fully embedded in your team and processes
- • Flexible duration — end when the project ends
- • No recruitment cost or notice period risk
- • Managed via a simple platform with automated invoicing
Permanent hire
- • Available full-time long-term
- • Deep institutional knowledge over time
- • Higher total cost including super, leave and recruitment
- • Requires 3–6 month hiring process
- • Difficult to exit if work volume declines
Law firm engagement
- • Wide range of expertise available
- • Suitable for highly sensitive strategic matters
- • Typically 3–5x higher effective cost than a secondee
- • Work done outside your team and processes
- • No knowledge transfer when the matter ends
How a Synera Lex secondment works
Brief us
Tell us about the role — practice area, required PQE, duration and whether you need on-site, hybrid or remote. You can post directly or speak with our team.
Review candidates
We surface matched, pre-qualified candidates within 48 hours. View full profiles, PQE, practice area depth and previous engagement history.
Agree terms
Accept a candidate and confirm the day rate, start date and duration. The engagement agreement is signed digitally within the platform.
Manage easily
The secondee logs timesheets weekly. You approve, and invoices are generated automatically. All documentation is held on the platform.
What does a legal secondment cost?
Day rates include the platform fee. No recruitment fees, no agency percentages. For a detailed breakdown by practice area and experience level, see our full rate guide.
Ready to arrange a secondment?
Post your requirement and receive matched candidates within 48 hours. Or speak with our team first — we're happy to help you define the brief.