'Legal Expertise on Tap' with Maha Deeb, Legal Locum Network (LLN)

The Legal Locum Network has made its name offering flexible career options for talented attorneys, and high quality services to clients. In this podcast, Maha Deeb chats to Tom Pearson about the company’s impact on the legal profession and its expanding footprint. Established in 2001, The Legal Locum Network (LLN) has been at the forefront of providing alternative and managed legal solutions, offering flexible career options for talented attorneys and tailor-made services for clients. It all started when Maha Deeb noticed that a raft of top tier firm lawyers, mostly women, were contemplating leaving the profession due to the punishing hours at work which made it almost impossible to attain a work–life balance. In stepped Deeb, the founder and CEO of LLN. She established the company as a way to retain highly skilled lawyers in a different, more flexible environment, where they could offer their services on a more balanced basis. LLN’s offerings are tailor-made for their clients. Deeb says many traditional law firms make use of their services, for example for assistance with due diligence exercises, certain projects such as in public–private partnerships, and with document management systems. They are also available to fill in for in-house counsel in corporates across industries, banks and mining houses. “We don’t need micromanaging, we don't need to be hand-held, we just jump right in and hit the ground running. And that is a very valuable and compelling offering for in-house counsel,” says Deeb, adding that LLN has different models to choose from that suit both their legal experts and their clients. “I've always believed that you don't need a full day's work to be able to get through a lot of volume efficiently. What you do need is an uninterrupted, head-down opportunity to do the work,” Deeb explained. With a firm footing in South Africa and with some multinational clients, including mining houses, LLN is poised to roll out their services globally. As remote work has become a norm rather than an exception, companies have understood the feasibility of working remotely with excellent productivity across geographies, and Deeb says there’s no reason why LLN shouldn't be venturing outside South Africa’s borders. “We have started dipping our toes into the UK market, into the Middle East, the UAE and into the rest of our continent,” she shared. “We are talking to the multinationals in South Africa that have footprints on the rest of the continent, and we are also talking to multinationals in the UK which are South African held. In this way we look for initial soft landings where we are known and well received. I'm very pleased to say that we are progressing well.”

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