The Gig Economy & the Future of Employment and Labor Law
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The Gig Economy & The Future of
Employment and Labor Law
By ORLY LOBEL*
Sharing, Share-washing, & Gigs: Who's Afraid of On-Demand
Employment?
ON-DEMAND EMPLOYMENT, also known as the Gig Economy, is
growing at a rapid rate along with the supply of gig-workers who pro-
vide their labor on a short-term basis via digital platform technologies.
In the United States, Uber alone has nearly half a million drivers in its
fleet.' Uber's dazzling success further inspires gig-based business mod-
els. Venture capitalists report hearing dozens of pitches every week
formulated as Uber but for X.'2 In each instance, the digital platform-
the web of companies which utilize web technology-serves as the
readily accessible meeting ground offering the performance of ser-
vices by connecting workers to hirers to perform them. Gig workers
are drivers, delivery-people, personal assistants, handymen, cleaners,
cooks, dog-sitters, and babysitters, but increasingly are also more spe-
cialized professionals, including nurses, doctors, teachers, program-
mers, journalists, marketing specialists and, well yes, lawyers too. For
example, the rising startup InCloudCounsel, offers an army of lawyers
providing on-demand, routine legal services.3 The technology is here:
as long as you have the time, skill, knowledge, an empty couch, an
unoccupied vehicle, or an idle lawnmower, you can swiftly become a
* Don Weckstein Professor of Law, University of San Diego. Thanks to Tristin
Green, Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Rachel Arnow-Richman, Camille Rich, Leticia Saucedo,
and Michelle Travis for their helpful thoughts. I thank Keia Atkinson and James deHaan
for excellent research assistance. 12TH ANNUAL PEMIERTON LECTURE AT THE 9TH CIRCUIT
COURT OF APPEALS.
1. Alex Rosenblat, The Truth About How Uber's App Manages Drivers, HARV. Bus REv.
(Apr. 6, 2016), https://hbr.org/2016/04/the-truth-about-how-ubers-app-manages-drivers
[https://perma.cc/THB3-D7E8].
2. Micha Kaufman, 4 ways the on-demand economy will evolve in 2016, VENTUREBEAT
(Jan. 2, 2016, 11:00 AM), http://venturebeat.com/2016/01/02/4-ways-the-on-demand-
economy-will-evolve-in-2016/ [https://perma.cc/PS5A-E5PZ].
3. See Company, INCLOUDCOUNSIL (Sept. 25, 2016, 2:08 PM), https://www.incloud
counsel.com/company [https://perma.cc/82A2-LSRG].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/usflr51&div=6&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Gig Economy & the Future of Employment and Labor Law
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