Associate Starting Salaries Starting salaries for associates have risen faster in larger law firm than smaller firms according to a survey published by NALP. In fact the median starting salary for associates in firms with more than 250 lawyers have risen twice as fast as those in firms with less than 25 lawyers.
Flat is the New Up Our informal conversations with large and midsized law firms appear to support projections that 2011 was a relatively flat year for profits at most firms. Most firms’ cite management action and cost cutting as the primary sources of profit improvement. This is supported by reports from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics that the legal industry lost 1,800 jobs in December after two months of adding 400 jobs each in November and October. But, overall, the net loss of jobs by law firms in 2011 was 2,700.
Leap Year Expense Every four years law firms face the problem of having an extra day to account for. The biggest problem occurs with firms that pay weekly or bi-weekly (every two weeks). The normal year has 52 weeks with 52 or 26 paydays. But 52 weeks times seven days equals 364 days leaving one extra day every year and two days in a leap year. None of this makes much difference unless the extra day occurs on a Friday (or whatever day is a payday) which happens every seven years. The good news is that the extra days in 2012 fall on a Sunday and Monday which are not usual paydays for law firms and, in even the worst case scenario, there are only 26 Friday paydays in the year. However, there are 53 Sundays and Mondays in 2012 which, for some firms with unique systems for paying overtime or accruing vacation or sick leave, may produce a strange and expensive result.
Young Lawyers Less Ambitious? A common complaint among law firm leaders is that associates seem less enthused about becoming a partner. “It’s no longer the brass ring that every lawyer reaches for,” according to one managing partner. Several reasons are given for this apparent shift. From a societal perspective, young professionals today aspire more toward fulfilling family commitments than climbing the career ladder. A survey by Corporate Executive Board found that career opportunities ranked well behind family and avocational interests for young professionals. Also noted was the recognition by many young people that sacrificing family for career does not come with the financial reward it used to as companies tighten salary, bonus and stock option plans during the recession. For lawyers, it is particularly apparent that individuals with the highest financial ambitions are syphoned off to pursuits other than the private practice of law, most notably investment banking.
This raises interesting questions for law firms whose entire motivational construct is based on the assumption that every associate wants to become a partner. One of the most interesting is that, in a time when law firm profits are squeezed by under-leveraging their work force, firms could be unnecessarily promoting associates to partnership.
Bad Exit Interviews When law firms established the concept of exit interviews for departing employees, the idea was to both get credible feedback and to have employees leave with positive feelings about the firm. Unfortunately, in many firms, the process becomes a mechanical exercise, performed by someone who has never before met the terminated employee, and actually does more harm than good. One of our client law firms has redefined the exit interview process with the following rules:
-The final meeting with an employee (regardless of whether the termination is voluntary or involuntary) is conducted by a supervisor or manager who knows the terminating employee well – not by an HR staff member who may not know the employee at all.
-The final meeting is all about the employee – i.e., determining what the firm can do to help and support them.
-Don’t worry about getting non-essential property back. Demanding the return of a key card or personnel manual that the firm probably won’t reuse anyway just causes resentment.
-Make a follow-up call to the terminated employee a week after their last day when expectations are lowered and emotions have calmed. See how they are doing, ask what the firm can do to help and ask the exit interview questions.
-Follow the golden rule of exit interviews, “If something is awkward or embarrassing for you, it is probably awkward and embarrassing for the terminating employee – don’t do it.”
Batman vs. Superman Employers may be overlooking the best candidates by setting the bar too high on objective standards. The recession has caused some law firms to attract candidates with an academic and experience standard well above the pool they normally recruit from. In the rush to hire “Superman” they may be overlooking the personality and motivational traits they have traditionally found successful. For example, a firm passes over an experienced law firm CMO to hire a Marketing Director with an MBA from a top tier business school and experience as a product line vice president for a Fortune 100 company even though she doesn’t come across in the interview as being very enthusiastic about the job. Unfortunately, she lacks the sense of urgency that one needs to work effectively in a law firm and is disgruntled because she doesn’t have a free hand to run the firm’s marketing programs. Using a frequent football analogy, “Batman would win in a fight with Superman because, even though Batman doesn’t have any superpowers, he believes he can kick Superman’s butt.”
LegalTrends LegalTrends is a semi-monthly newsletter written and edited by Ed Wesemann, a Founding Partner of Legal Resource Group, LLC. Ed is also a management consultant and advisor to US and International law firms. In addition to being the author of LegalTrends, he also pens articles for EdWesemann.com that are emailed to thousands of subscribers around the world. In addition, he has written four books on legal management issues. For further information, visit the Legal Resources Group website at www.LRGLLC.com or Ed's personal website at www.edwesemann.com. He can also be reached at 1-912-598-2040 or by email at Ed@edwesemann.com
Legal Resource Group, LLC Legal Resource Group, LLC specializes in serving the Executive and Administrative recruiting needs of law firms. We maintain the largest data base of law firm Executive and Administrative staff in the world. This allows us to immediately identify the very best candidates. We find the best people, complete searches faster and have extremely reasonable fees. Simply-- Our Reputation Speaks for Itself.
For further information, visit our website at www.LRGLLC.com , contact us by e-mail at Bob@LRGLLC.com or by phone at 1-800-688-4147.
