Side hustle for lawyers: 6 options compared, and the rules that matter
Side hustles for lawyers compared on pay, time and risk: paid calls, contract review, teaching, writing, startup advising, plus Rules 1.6, 1.7, 5.5 and insurance.
The best side hustle for lawyers to try first is paid expert calls on legal and regulatory topics, because an expert call is set up as general information that makes nobody your client, and that keeps most of the heavy professional rules out of it. Contract review freelancing pays more steadily, but it is representation: it brings conflicts checks and a malpractice exposure your firm's policy probably does not cover.
This post compares six options on pay, time and risk, then goes through the three ethics rules that decide most of it (conflicts, confidentiality and practicing where you are not admitted), firm and agency outside activity rules, and insurance.
This is general information, not legal advice. You know that sentence well; it applies to you too.
1. Price your side hours against your billable hour first
A side hustle should pay more per hour than your job, since it comes out of your evenings. The Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the May 2025 median pay for lawyers at $159,670 a year, or $76.76 an hour, and counts 11% of lawyers as self-employed.
If you bill clients, your firm's rate for your time is a second benchmark, and usually a higher one. The consulting side hustle guide covers pricing and setting money aside for tax.
2. Decide first whether the side work makes someone your client
Every option on this list falls on one side of a line. On one side, you share general knowledge with someone who is not your client. On the other, you advise a specific person on their specific problem, and they become your client with everything that brings.
The Model Rules do not draw that line themselves. The Scope section of the ABA Model Rules (in an excerpt reprinted by the American Inns of Court) says that substantive law outside the rules determines whether a client-lawyer relationship exists, and that it "may be a question of fact." So the safe habit is to make the line explicit in writing every time.
Expert networks do this for you. GLG's usage terms tell clients that network members who are lawyers "have no attorney-client relationship with you" and "may provide general legal information, but they cannot provide legal advice." That is why calls are the first option on this list.
3. Learn the three rules that decide most lawyer side work
Each state adopts its own version of the ABA Model Rules, so read your state's text. The Rule 1.6 quote below is the ABA Model Rule itself, from the excerpt linked above. The other rule quotes in this post come from Minnesota's adopted rules, one state's version, so your state's wording may differ.
Rule 1.6, confidentiality. The Model Rule says a lawyer "shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client" without informed consent or another exception. That covers far more than privileged communications. On an expert call, it means no client matters, even with the names removed, if the details could point back to one.
Rule 1.7, conflicts. Minnesota's Rule 1.7 finds a conflict where there is a significant risk a representation will be "materially limited" by duties to another client or "by a personal interest of the lawyer." A side business is a personal interest. Under Minnesota's Rule 1.10, conflicts of one lawyer in a firm generally bar the others, so a side client can block your firm from a matter.
Rule 5.5, unauthorized practice. Minnesota's Rule 5.5 opens: a lawyer "shall not practice law in a jurisdiction in violation of the regulation of the legal profession in that jurisdiction." Its comment adds that a presence "may be systematic and continuous even if the lawyer is not physically present." Regular remote contract review for clients in a state where you are not admitted is the kind of presence that comment describes.
Short version: keep calls general, keep client facts out of everything, and only represent people under the law of a state that admitted you.
4. Read your firm's or agency's outside activity rule before the first engagement
Firms care about side work for a reason built into the rules above: your conflicts become the firm's conflicts. Expect a firm to want every outside matter run through its conflicts check, and expect many to require approval for any outside legal work at all. Read your partnership agreement or employee handbook, and see the moonlighting policy post for how to find the clause and ask.
Government lawyers have written rules. Federal ethics rules say an employee may not take outside pay for teaching, speaking or writing that relates to official duties, with an exception for teaching a multi-session course at an accredited institution. A federal employee also may not serve as an expert witness in a federal proceeding where the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest, unless the agency authorizes it.
In-house lawyers should check two things: whether the company allows outside practice at all, and what insurance covers it (next section).
5. Get your own malpractice coverage before you take a side client
Your firm's policy almost certainly does not follow you home. ALPS, a lawyers' malpractice insurer, says on its blog that "the coverage you have at your firm will not extend to the moonlighting work," because "your personal clients are not clients of the firm." That is an insurer's article, but the logic holds for any policy that names the firm as the insured.
Two states make coverage mandatory. Oregon lawyers in private practice get primary coverage through the bar's Professional Liability Fund, with limits of $300,000 per claim and in aggregate, and the PLF says Idaho is the only other state that requires legal malpractice coverage. California takes a different route. Its Rule 1.4.2 requires a lawyer without professional liability insurance to tell the client in writing, unless the representation will not exceed four hours. Its exemption for in-house lawyers applies only when they advise their employer in that capacity, not their side clients.
Expert calls are set up as general information with no client relationship, which is the second reason they come first. For contract review or any other representation, buy a policy or confirm in writing that an existing one covers the work.
6. Compare the six options on pay, time and risk
| Option | What it pays (sourced where possible) | Time shape | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid expert calls | A rate you set | One call, often within days | Confidentiality (Rule 1.6) |
| Contract review freelancing | Your rate | Days to weeks per matter | Conflicts, insurance, admission |
| Teaching and adjunct work | Law teachers earn a $128,500 median; most postsecondary teachers work full time | A semester, fixed hours | Low |
| Legal writing | Mostly bylines and reputation | A few evenings per piece | Client confidences |
| Advising startups | Usually equity | A meeting a month | Business transaction rules (Rule 1.8) |
| Expert witness on legal practice | Hourly, set by you | Months per case, uneven | Rare demand, cross-examination |
The sections below take each row in turn.
7. Start with paid expert calls, because buyers pay for how the law works in practice
Investors, consultants and companies pay to understand how a regulation is enforced, how long a type of approval takes, how in-house teams choose outside counsel, or how a court has been treating a kind of claim. A lawyer who does that work every day has the view they want.
GLG says on its network members page that you set your own rate and are paid at it when the project is complete. Guidepoint's expert page says each invitation shows scope, time commitment and compensation up front, and that its compliance team checks each engagement against your employer's rules. Pick your number with the method in expert call rate.
Here is a made-up example. Theo is an associate who spends his days on food labeling rules. An investor asks for an hour on how a new labeling requirement is likely to be enforced and what it costs a mid-size brand to comply. Theo explains the rule, the agency's public guidance and the usual compliance steps. He does not mention the three clients who asked him the same question last month, and he declines when the investor asks what a named company is doing. That call is general information, and it pays.
If a call drifts toward a public company your firm advises, stop. The post on material nonpublic information explains why, and expert network compliance covers how to decline a question in the middle of a call.
8. Take contract review work only where you are admitted and insured
Freelance contract review is real representation. Run a conflicts check, sign an engagement letter that limits the scope, and confirm the client and the governing law sit in a state that admitted you. Then buy coverage, using section 5.
The work pays steadily, and it is the option most likely to collide with your firm. Do not take it while employed at a firm unless the firm has approved it in writing. The consulting agreement post covers what a written scope should include.
9. Teach a course when you want reputation more than money
The BLS postsecondary teachers page puts the May 2025 median for law teachers at $128,500, and notes that most postsecondary teachers work full time. Adjunct pay is set by each school, so ask the school for its rate in writing. The same BLS page says part-time work is common and that some part-time teachers keep a full-time job in their field, such as a lawyer teaching an evening course.
Teach a course next to your practice area. It builds the reputation that later brings paid calls and referrals. (A weekend spent grading exams is also excellent motivation to raise your call rate.)
10. Write for reputation, and never from your files
Legal writing, from bar journal articles to practice guides, pays mostly in reputation. It is low risk as long as you write about the law and not about your matters. Rule 1.6 reaches "information relating to the representation," so a war story with the names removed can still be a problem if a reader could identify the client.
11. Advise a startup only when you are not also its lawyer
Startup advisors are usually paid in equity, and the post on startup advisor compensation covers typical grants. For a lawyer, the risk is mixing roles. If the company is also your client, taking equity is a business transaction with a client under Minnesota's Rule 1.8(a), which requires fair terms disclosed in writing, written advice to get independent counsel, and the client's signed informed consent.
Business advice can also pull in the rules. Minnesota's Rule 5.7 applies the rules of professional conduct to "law-related services" unless the person getting them knows they are not legal services. Say so in your advisor agreement. Advise as a business person, and send the company to its own lawyer for legal questions.
12. Treat expert witness work on legal practice as rare
The clearest need for a lawyer as an expert witness is a legal malpractice case, because someone has to explain the standard of care to the jury. The Connecticut Supreme Court in Bozelko v. Papastavros, citing an earlier case, says that as a general matter "expert testimony is necessary in legal malpractice cases in order to establish the standard of care." Demand is narrow, though, and cases take months.
Do it once you have the seniority to hold up under cross-examination, and never against a client or a firm you have worked with. How to become an expert witness covers the CV and the deposition, and expert witness pay covers rates and retainers.
Where Instant Expert fits
On Instant Expert, a buyer invites you to a specific paid call or a written or voice answer and sets the amount up front. You receive the full amount offered, and you can reply with a higher price. You can claim your profile or see open paid requests on the request board.
Today, write down the one area of law you could explain for an hour without opening a client file. That is the topic of your first paid call.