Despite a lot of talk about abandoning law school recruiting in favor of laterals, on-campus interviewing by law firms has consistently increased over the last three years. According to NALP’s annual report on recruitment, 56% of law schools saw and increase of 5% or more in the number of employers interviewing on campus. And this came on the heels of increases of 39% in 2006 and 50% in 2005. The greatest growth has been in the number of smaller schools visited.

We are starting to see a trend within law firms to use Wiki software on firm extranets to manage procedural manuals and processes. Wikis allow participants to make changes and additions to a centralized text. It can become a way for firms to create a bank of internal knowledge that is self-administered. For example, a recent Wiki we recently saw at law firms included an interactive firm directory where employees could update their own information and a health insurance claims processing site that not only explained the process for appealing the denial of a claim but recommended pushing 9-3-1-1-1 to navigate the menu and get to a live claims representative. Someone added to the site the recommendation to ask for Ms. Morgan who was more helpful than other representatives. To learn more about how Wikis work, click or paste the following into your web browser. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY

A new law in the District of Columbia requires employers to provide nursing mothers reasonable daily unpaid breaks and a sanitary place to express breast milk. Washington joins 13 states that have similar laws. However, because this law is in the form of an amendment to Washington’s Human Rights Act, it is being interpreted to provide women the right to breastfeed anywhere they have the right to be with their children, regardless of whether it is public or private. 

The statistics are clear; about one in three U.S. residents is a minority but minorities make up just over 10% of the legal profession according to the ABA. The problem has been traditionally viewed to be at the law firm level and a function of unwillingness to change. But even “calls to action” by such high profile clients as Wal-Mart and Sara Lee have not resulted in significant change in minority hiring and retention. 

However, the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession believes the problem goes beyond hiring. Law school requires a significant amount of time and money, and many minority children don’t get the quality education and support needed to get through high school and college, let alone law school. Additionally, an estimated 13% of the male African-American population is permanently disqualified from bar admission due to felony convictions. The Chair of the Commission notes, “Many of these reasons are beyond the ability of the legal profession to change in and of itself.” 

Within many business organizations, including law firms, there is a bias (both by males and females) that the ambitions of employees are significantly affected by their marital status and dependents. A new study released this month, however, shows that this difference may be a myth. When female respondents were asked if they aspired to a higher position (partner, executive, etc.), 77 percent said yes. But the study found no correlation between the respondent’s aspirations and family commitments. Of the “yes” respondents, 69% were married and 63% had children. Conversely, of the 23% who said no, 63% were married and 59% had children. Contact us (Erica@LRGLLC.com) for a complete PDF of the study, The Ambition Divide: Differences Define Women’s Career Aspirations.

The recent rollercoaster ride of the stock markets have caused many law firm administrators and HR Directors to serve as quasi-investment advisors for contributions to defined contribution pension plans. The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances shows that the average U.S. household invests 55% of its 401(k) assets in equities (common stocks and stock funds). This balanced approach is deceiving because the report also shows that there is a wide diversity among participants leading to an all or nothing approach. 20% of households allocate nothing to equities while 25% allocate their entire pension investment to the stock market. The group that avoids equities risks inadequate capital growth to fund their retirement while the full equity investors tend to make short term decisions that result in “buying high, selling low.”   Indeed, income and education have a direct correlation to allocation decisions with educated and higher salaried workers being more likely to have large equity investments. For a list of the characteristics of investors with heavy equity investments in their defined contribution pension plans contact Erica@LRGLLC.com.