Wednesday WIP with Yao Yao: Lawyers as customer service representatives? Deprofessionalized identity of lawyers in the gig economy

Abstract: The online gig economy disrupted many occupations in the past decade, but only more recently has it shown impact in professional fields. The recency of this trend indicates a need for better understanding professional workers in the gig economy. The present study focuses on the changed professional identity of lawyers who provide legal services on an Uber-like platform in China. Based on inductive analysis of interview data, I hypothesize that when providing online service, lawyers have a stronger service orientation and a weaker belief in professional autonomy and prestige. Moreover, lawyers’ experiences of client control and platform control are the two major contributors to such identity change. I propose to use survey data to test the hypotheses.

Please RSVP to director.cirhr@utoronto.ca