In a new blog series, Legal Talent Deep Dives, we will examine the data that points to several strategies that law firms can pursue to increase their bottom line

In today’s legal environment, as law firms try to move through the post-pandemic environment and navigate to something they see as closer to normal, the issue of legal talent remains a hot button topic for firms of all sizes.

Indeed, the number of lawyers considering leaving their current firm is eye-opening. Our research indicates that 21% of those lawyers (mostly partners) that have been nominated as stand-out lawyers by their clients, and 46% of associates are either unsure, somewhat likely, or highly likely to leave their current firm within the next two years.

Not surprisingly, when law firm managing partners get together, the talk is about why their lawyers are leaving — either to competitors, in-house positions, or most troubling, to no position or plan at all. These leaders also discuss how the time and process to replace lawyers that leave has become much longer, more expensive, and more complex.

What is becoming clear in this scenario is that law firms need to find a way to create workplace environments from which lawyers won’t want to leave — an increasingly complex endeavor, that involves addressing issues that are removed from the compensation picture altogether.

To help provide an answer to this dilemma, ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ’ recent legal talent research illuminated several pathways that law firms can follow to arrive at a successful talent strategy in the post-pandemic era, including what can be done to retain their stand-out lawyers, and how a focus on engagement and culture — rather than just matching compensation — can make a great deal of difference in firms’ retention efforts.

Our market research study took an in-depth look at more than 2,400 stand-out lawyers — those nominated as such by clients in ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ’ ongoing, randomly sampled global — and what can push them to leave their current firms and what can be done about it. Previously in this series, we saw how having just three stand-out lawyers on a firm’s roster can make a great deal of difference to clients and can lead to a four-fold increase in the portion of clients’ legal spend the firm might gain; and what stand-out lawyers see as value within themselves. Now, we turn our attention to the part of our research that detailed how lawyer retention strategies are becoming a much bigger piece of law firms’ profitability puzzle.

Strategies to retain the best lawyers in your firm

During this time of stiff competition for in-demand legal talent, it is more important than ever for firms to guard against high lawyer turnover. Our research underscores the fact that associates are at especially high flight risk right now; and while they themselves told us that compensation is their main concern, our research shows that a host of other factors also contribute to better associate retention. Indeed, these factors are typically cultural, such as flexible working schedules, better communication and engagement, and support for mental well-being — all of which were impacted by the pandemic’s forced pivot to remote working.

For example, remote work meant that mentoring had to be addressed differently and became much more challenging. Without the chance for partners to more regularly have those difficult questions and conversations that can help shape a younger lawyer’s career, law firm leaders had to struggle to sell the idea of becoming a partner more than ever before. There may be two main reasons for this. First, given the lessons of the pandemic, many lawyers (of all ages and status) are more circumspect in how they spend their working hours, whether they’re willing to endure long commutes, and how they balance their work with their life outside of work. And second, the rise and growing reputation of new roles within many law firms involving technology, legal operations, talent management, and more have offered side steps off the partnership ladder that now also can provide different kinds of rewards and recognition.

The power of firm culture

As we looked more widely at stand-out lawyer retention in our research, it appears that many law firms overlook the role their own leadership and strategy-setting plays in either pushing lawyers away or keeping them within their firms. Firms need to genuinely engage and communicate with lawyers at all levels to ensure firms don’t leak great talent.

As the research shows, those lawyers that regarded themselves as most satisfied in their current roles at the firm felt that cultural issues were much more important than did those lawyers who considered themselves least satisfied with their jobs. In fact, the most satisfied lawyers cited people and colleagues, workplace culture, and the quality of work they’re given as the top three areas that give them the most satisfaction.

Least satisfied lawyers, on the other hand, cited people and colleagues, independence or freedom, flexibility, and quality of their team or practice as top areas of satisfaction.

Building toward an inclusive culture

Given that firms’ efforts toward creating this more accommodating work culture for their lawyers can pay dividends in retention and — just as importantly — curb the hiring cost of recruiting, hiring, and on-boarding new talent, the key question becomes one of how can firms create an atmosphere in which their top lawyers want to remain?

Focusing on several aspects of culture — such as enhancing the overall tenor of working life, making all lawyers feel included and visible, and ensuring that all lawyers and staff are being treated in a manner that’s friendly and respectful — is a great place to begin. Couple that effort with clearly articulated opportunities for career progression, advancement, and professional growth, and firms will have significantly contributed to higher employee engagement among stand-out lawyers and others.

These efforts will require, of course, a dedicated initiative that enlists management, offers management training, and instills more flexibility than firms may be used to offering. However, firms must ensure these foundations are in place to maintain an engaged workforce and defend against other firms poaching their stand-out talent. Indeed, our findings indicate that, almost one-half of lateral moves of top lawyers are instigated by the hiring firm — and this figure is even higher among recruits who were not actively considering a move.

Today, no law firm can pursue strategies to enhance profitability or ensure stability if they do not have a strategy in place to retain their best lawyers and avoid the cost and disruption of new hires and constant turnover. Keeping their best lawyers satisfied and engaged within a welcoming workplace culture is the surest way law firms can keep that talent at the firm.

You can learn more about how your firm can better understand the value of its stand-out lawyers as part of its , here.

In a new blog series, , we will examine the data pointing to several strategies that law firms can pursue to increase their bottom line

As law firms worldwide try to move past the deepest impacts of the pandemic, many are looking for ways to use the lessons of the recent crisis to create improved work strategies that will reflect the value they place on their best lawyers.

To this end, firms will go to great lengths to determine which professional attributes are viewed most highly by clients in the lawyers they hire; however, this leaves one side of the equation unanswered: What are the most valuable attributes that lawyers see within themselves?

To provide a better answer to this, ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ’ recent legal talent research illuminated several pathways that law firms can follow to arrive at a successful talent strategy in the post-pandemic era, including determining and enhancing the value of their top lawyers. Our market research study takes an in-depth look at more than 2,400 stand-out lawyers — those nominated as such by clients in ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ’ ongoing, randomly sampled global — and what makes them stand out in clients’ minds.

Previously, we saw how having just three stand-out lawyers on a firm’s roster can make a great deal of difference to clients and can lead to a four-fold increase in the portion of clients’ legal spend the firm might gain. The research also revealed a lot of characteristics about stand-out lawyers themselves, including what can push them to leave their current firms, what can be done to retain them, and how engagement, culture, and compensation can make a great deal of difference in firms’ retention efforts.

What makes a stand-out lawyer stand out?

To get a better idea of the question of a stand-out lawyer’s value, firms usually first seek to ascertain what makes those particular lawyers stand-out in the minds of clients. More revealing, however, may be determining whether these are the same high-quality characteristics these lawyers see within themselves.

Clients tend to view their stand-out lawyers as valuable if they can offer proactive, business-savvy advice; deliver exceptional client service; and integrate well within the client’s current legal team. And while the results are similar to that of clients, stand-out lawyers’ views of their own ability differ in emphasis in that they are most likely to believe that service factors strongly drive their stand-out status.

In our recent survey, almost two-thirds (64%) of stand-out lawyers said it was their service ability — specifically around areas of responsiveness, service quality, and communications — that made them stand out in their clients’ minds. In fact, that response rose eight percentage points compared to last year’s survey, a greater climb than any other response.

Interestingly, attributes such as having a strong business acumen and keen legal expertise were ranked much lower — 49% and 38%, respectively, than was service, even though clients themselves ranked these attributes much higher when naming stand-out lawyers. It is also worth noting that having a close relationship with the client was cited by 56% of stand-out lawyers as a reason for their status; however, that response dropped by five percentage points since last year.

There is likely a logical reason for all this. Lawyers, even those with highly regarded expertise and skill, are surrounded every day by other technical experts and legal specialists. Thus, they are much less likely than their clients to perceive their legal expertise as the source of their unique value. Rather, they see their ability to deliver beyond the core technical offering — excelling on service and relationship factors — as what sets them apart.

As stand-out lawyers strive to give clients more beyond clients’ expected norm of technical expertise, the lawyers begin to expand their own horizons by, for example, moving into areas of specialized knowledge.

According to these lawyers, this growing shift in the importance of their service factors reflects clients’ expectations in the post-pandemic world, as stand-out lawyers are generally very well-tuned to what matters most to their clients and must continually adapt to accommodate changes in demand.

If you examine these lawyers’ perception deeper, it sheds some interesting light on what lawyers themselves see as is expected of them as lawyers, and where, in their minds, their true value lies. As stand-out lawyers strive to give clients more beyond clients’ expected norm of technical expertise, the lawyers begin to expand their own horizons by, for example, moving into areas of specialized knowledge.

It makes sense. By seeing their technical and legal expertise as mere table stakes, at least among other lawyers, stand-out lawyers are striving for more — honing their existing skills and acquiring additional abilities — in order to better serve their clients. This then creates a mutually beneficial relationship between client and lawyer that serves both sides well.

But what does this mean for law firms? These survey results should give law firms a great starting point to better understand the qualities that they should seek and nurture as they hire and retain what clients see as the most-valued types of lawyers. In addition, it would be wise for firm leaders to better understand where their lawyers see their own value, and then offer ways in which they can enhance or expand that value.

Pursuing a strategy such as this would allow law firms to join in on this beneficial relationship by giving clients more of the kind of lawyers they want, while pushing their best lawyers to make themselves even better.

You can learn more about how your firm can better understand the value of its stand-out lawyers as part of its , here.

In a new blog series, , we will examine the data pointing to several strategies that law firms can pursue to increase their bottom line

The impact of the pandemic continues to heavily influence the way we work today, and within the legal industry, these changes are still strongly felt. Now, many law firms are looking to leverage any lessons they can from the past two years to better craft successful post-pandemic work strategies, even as the market for legal talent continues to be frothy.

³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ’ recent legal talent research closely examines various ways that law firms can build a talent strategy in the post-pandemic era that will elevate their lawyers while increasing efficiency and enhancing their effectiveness in the eyes of their clients.

Our market research study takes an in-depth look at more than 2,400 stand-out lawyers — those nominated as such by clients in ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ’ ongoing, randomly sampled global — and what makes them stand out in clients’ minds. Indeed, one important finding demonstrated that having just three stand-out lawyers on a firm’s roster can make a great deal of difference to clients and can lead to a four-fold increase in the portion of clients’ legal spend the firm might gain.

Further, the research revealed what can push stand-out lawyers to leave their current firms, what can be done to retain them, and how engagement, culture, and compensation can make a great deal of difference in firms’ talent strategy, especially around retention efforts.

The difference stand-out lawyers make

Indeed, the research showed that as one key way to optimize revenue from existing clients, law firms should strive to have at least three stand-out lawyers on the client team. Such notable and recognized lawyers are capable of driving up the share of clients’ legal spend four-fold, the research revealed. These stand-out lawyers are characterized by notable technical expertise and superior commercial, service, and client relationship skills.

Clearly, these client-nominated stand-out lawyers can make a difference to a firm’s bottom line, given their attractiveness to a large majority of legal clients, but the question remains: How can firms boost their bank of stand-out lawyers?

However, this strategy doesn’t just mean adding to the number of stand-out lawyers a firm might employ, but also includes ensuring these lawyers’ visibility across those client accounts that have the greatest potential for growth. Given the crucial nature of the stand-out lawyer strategy, law firms need to pay special attention to the types of skills and qualities that clients prize above all others; and, then logically, should be seeking, nurturing, and retaining those lawyers who demonstrate the ability and talent in these areas. For example, firms might want to guide their training and career development plans to recognize and reward the right qualities and assets, beyond a simple focus on books of business or large originations.

This kind of understanding can give firms insight into the crucial symbiosis between their high-performers and the support that firms give them, making it more likely that additional lawyers can move into the stand-out category.

What makes a lawyer stand out to clients?

It will come as little surprise that to stand out, a lawyer needs notable technical strength. However, law firms should look beyond simple technical expertise to understand what makes an individual lawyer stand out over others, according to the latest data. In fact, technical prowess has become a sort of table stakes for many clients, and a lawyer without strong technical skills — along with legal expertise and good communication traits — may fall behind others who are similarly situation, but demonstrating these commons skills, in the eyes of clients.

Indeed, it becomes evident that real stand-out lawyers are distinctive because, in combination with their technical competence, they offer business savvy advice, deliver exceptional service, or integrate well with the client team. Between one-quarter and one-third of clients cited each of these stand-out factors in our Sharplegal survey.

Yet, specialized individual ability can make a difference as well — almost one-fifth of clients reported nominating a stand-out lawyer because of a working style, such as diligence, that is particularly valued by many clients, especially those involved in litigation and M&A.

Most importantly, law firms should seek to understand what their clients want to see in terms of the skills and attributes of stand-out lawyers and move to infuse those components into the talent development efforts of the firm, including the firm’s mentoring and sponsorship program, its business development training, and its firm marketing activities. These factors should also be part of firms’ measurable performance metrics and compensation reviews.

Remember too, that firm management can encourage better performance in their lawyers by focusing on recognition and appreciation of the efforts and contributions made by individual lawyers. Even an informal acknowledgement of the work of firm lawyers on both a day-to-day basis and for more substantial achievements contributes a lot to both cementing an inclusive culture and retention. Seemingly small changes — even a simple, Thank you! —  can build positive feelings that ensure your firm can keep its most prized lawyers.

You can learn more about how your firm can increase its base of stand-out lawyers as part of its , here.