The practice of law is not a petroleum dependent business but high gas prices have a major impact on attorneys and staff. The primary effects seem to retention, commuting practices and work/life balance. A new survey done by Manpower, Inc. found that 31 percent of employees are considering finding a job closer to home. Considering is, of course, different than doing and our telephone survey of large law firm indicates no significant increased attrition caused by commuting costs.   However, our conversations with law firms did reveal a much increased interest among staff and associates about telecommuting, firm organized car pool programs and discounted bus and rail passes.

 

The biggest impact, however, seems to be work/life balance. The Manpower survey found that 76 percent of respondents say gas prices are impacting their time away from work:

            65% Reduced spending on entertainment and hobbies

            64% Dining out less

            55% Reducing summer travel

            29% Canceling summer travel plans

            29% Fewer extracurricular activities for children

The internet and the popup of so many background checking companies has made a criminal records check a routine part of many firms’ selection processes. But some law firms wonder if they are not better off not knowing. The high percentage of drug related offenses among candidates under the age of 40 can limit the hiring pool. Plus, because conflictions are disproportionately high among African American’s and Hispanics, policies of not hiring felons may work against diversity efforts. On the other hand, firms worry about liability or adverse publicity if they hire a candidate despite their knowledge of a criminal record.

 

The advice from most HR professionals is to pre-establish acceptance criteria both in terms of the number of convictions and the type of conviction. For example, a drug conviction may be acceptable for some positions but a crime involving honesty may not. One tip is to especially look at convictions in relation to age. Even multiple convictions during teenage years may not accurately reflect their dependability or honesty in their late 20’s.

The employer share of health insurance is a major cost for law firm budgets. Culpepper Consulting benchmarks health insurance cost for technology companies which, we have found, closely parallels the benefits offered by law firms. Accordingly we hope you find these brand new cost comparisons useful. For complete survey results including percentile survey results, office visit co-pays and prescription drug co-pays, send us an e-mail requesting our “Report on Health Insurance Benefits Survey Results.”

 

Coverage	POS	HMO	PPO
Employee	$346	$295	$344
Employee + Child	$656	$606	$657
Employee + Spouse	$747	$653	$729
Family	$1,022	$910	$1,025

 

Coverage	POS	HMO	PPO
Employee	82%	80%	83%
Employee + Child	79%	76%	77%
Employee + Spouse	79%	76%	76%
Family	79%	75%	74%

 

	POS	HMO	PPO
In-Network Deductible
§ Per-person	$283		$382
§ Per-family	$808		$976
Out-of-Network Deductible
§ Per-person	$518		$610
§ Per-family	$1,424		$1,544
In-Network Out-of-Pocket
§ Per-person	$1,682	$1,650	$1,841
§ Per-family	$4,182	$3,300	$4,268
Out-of-Network Out-of-Pocket
§ Per-person	$2,738		$3,301
§ Per-family	$7,053		$7,549

As more workers telecommute and technology reduces the interaction of lawyers and staff within law offices, firms are learning the importance of coffee rooms as a gathering place. Surveys of home-based workers find the greatest drawback is the loss of routine interaction with peers. In fact a recent survey by California based Office Team found that 40 percent of workers find they are more productive when there is a routine gathering place to bond with co-workers. In law firms the coffee rooms in work areas tend to serve this purpose more readily than do full-fledged break-rooms. In fact, sophisticated law office designers look to create coffee rooms that are convenient to people offices and work areas and where they feel comfortable gathering. According to one administrator, “the key is for the rooms to be slight out of main traffic patterns but not too secluded. And absolutely no places to sit; that limits peoples’ time in the coffee room to a couple of minutes.” Another administrator told us that one of the values of the by-the-cup coffee brewing machines is that it provides just the right amount of interaction time. According to that administrator, people need the opportunity to interact but don’t want to feel they are wasting time or goofing off.