Choosing the Right Employer for your Legal Career
I am often asked about how to choose the right employer for a legal career. Financial compensation and incentives may be a significant starting point; however, there are often little differences in compensation for the position you are eligible for, so it is difficult to determine the right path. This is not only the case when searching for a position at the start of a legal career but also midway through. The adage on the employer side is “hire slow, fire fast”; but as far as I’m aware, there does not seem to be a similar adage for employees. I have met too many lawyers who apply to (or switch to) firms with the promise of higher compensation but find out quite quickly it was not as they hoped. I am hoping this article can provide some other considerations to think about besides (or in support of) compensation offered.
Addressing Employee Turn-over in Law Firms
Many law firm owners I speak to are having difficulty growing their practice, and a major reason for this they reason is lack of retention and the overall issue of employee turn-over within the firm. There are many articles that address this issue in the legal industry and in other industries as well – usually blaming this on the millennials and generation Z. The argument goes that this current generation of lawyers focus on social media and the next best job offer, find themselves jumping to new firms after several years, and there are few that maintain loyalty with the same firm over a longer period of time.
Bedside Manner – what they don’t teach you in law school
Many lawyers have a difficult time not only in acquiring clients, but also in keeping clients or achieving client referrals. Many times, this is the case despite the quality of the work, the speed produced, or even the price charged. One large reason for this comes as a result of a lack of “bed-side manner” – a term typically used for doctors and patients but extremely applicable in the legal industry. Bed-side manner refers to the manner in which a doctor explains advice and consequences to a patient at his or her bedside.
Opinion: Why Law Society Rules Should Serve as Guidelines, Not Strict Mandates
I am currently about to write the MPRE (multi-state professional responsibility exam) for licensing in the United States and this allows me time to review the ABA standard rules of professional responsibility for lawyers in the United States, which are substantially similar to the Law Society of Ontario’s Rules of Professional Responsibility. As a lawyer who has been practicing for close to 10 years, I find it interesting to go back and review these Rules in extreme detail and relate them to the realities of practice.
The Great Discontent of Law Firm Power Dynamics
I often hear from colleagues about a general discontent in working for a standard law practice and its culture. There is often resentment and politics between the different classes of employees – Partners, associates, articling students, law clerks and operation staff. The reason for this discontent is typically due to a perceptive hierarchy that does not reflect practical reality. In order to foster a more positive culture in a law practice, it is the responsibility of the leaders of the firm (ownership group or managing partner) to fracture the perceptive hierarchy and be as transparent has possible as to the firm and its goals.
Navigating the Sale of Your Legal Practice
The Law Society has begun to mandate succession planning for lawyers. This makes sense as an initiative to provide clients with certainty for when a lawyer wishes to retire or passes away suddenly. I have heard many stories of clients who have phoned up their prior lawyer who was in possession of their will, only to find that the doors have been closed for some time. Having a lawyer succession plan makes plenty of sense and one efficient avenue that some lawyers may want to consider is to sell their practice.
Lawyer Year End 2024 and Upcoming Legal Challenges 2025
As 2024 comes to an end, it is important to reflect on the year that went by and look forward to challenges faced by legal professionals for the upcoming year.