Associates
Report Notes ‘Swelling of Unproductive Associates’
Posted Nov 26, 2008, 09:17 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Productivity at the top 100 law firms was down 6.5 percent in the third quarter, indicating that there are too many associates with too little work to do, according to a new report.
Mark Medice, the national manager of the West Peer Monitor Index, told the National Law Journal that the index’s measure of legal market conditions found that a recent slowdown in legal hiring isn't enough to make up for reduced demand.
The index found that associate hiring is down 6 percent over last year and equity partner growth is half of the level of last year.
"In spite of the various reports of layoffs and firm contractions, the factor that looms largest is the swelling of unproductive associates in firms," said the report (PDF). "This is especially true with the large firm segment, which is experiencing the lowest productivity in the industry. Addressing this issue may be a key challenge in the months ahead."
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Posted by B. McLeod - 1 month, 1 week, 5 days, 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
Amazing how those unproductive SOC8s went and swelled like that. What were they thinking?? Completely different than if the firm management in these 100 big firms had lost site of workloads and staffing needs, or made incompetent decisions. Blame the SOC8s for being there, and “swelling.” They should have asked enough questions to discover that they needed to decline the offers. It was hardly fair of the SOC8s to leave the firms completely at their own risk for these decisions. That being said, what “challenge”? We all know this ends quickly and boorishly, with a pack of SOC8s rounded up to hear the pitch that begins, “The good news is, you will all be paid to the end of the week. . .”
Posted by CJT - 1 month, 1 week, 4 days, 23 hours, 25 minutes ago
Maybe it’s just that companies are starting to realize that they can get the same legal advice / services for less than what these large firms bill. I see it all the time with my friends in large firms. They meet potential clients all the time, but have to turn them down due to their not being able / willing to pay $300 an hour for the work of a 1st or 2nd year associate. On the other hand, midsize specialized firms are in a unique position to capture this business. I think there wll always be a place for both in the legal arena, but coupled with the economic downturn a drop in legal work in certain practice areas is to be expected.
Posted by Tim - 1 month, 1 week, 4 days, 21 hours, 10 minutes ago
It’s not hard to look unproductive when your measuring stick for “average” is a 75-hour workweek. These data could’ve been spun the other way - “Look at these great bosses, recognizing the error in browbeating & overworking the young associates!” Why not that report instead?
Posted by B. McLeod - 1 month, 1 week, 4 days, 20 hours, 21 minutes ago
Hmm. Because they’re not great bosses, and the only “error” was not having enough billable work to generate a 3x cost recovery on all the SOC8s they hired? Just a guess, based on how things really are and have been for a long time with large firms and their SOC8s. In typical law firm philosophy, if 1,050 of the people on the Titanic had been SOC8s, the ship would have had enough life boats.
Posted by Joe Lawyer - 1 month, 1 week, 4 days, 19 hours, 41 minutes ago
Maybe if the ABA would start looking out for us rather than the interest of law schools and big business then this wouldn’t happen.
The ABA has destroyed the legal profession. There are just too many schools. Then the ABA, in their infinite wisdom, permits legal outsourcing. Thanks ABA for wasting my time.
Posted by Tim - 1 month, 1 week, 2 days, 13 hours, 8 minutes ago
Joe - I completely agree. The ABA has done less than nothing to protect the profession though all of this. The organization is worse than useless- they’ve deliberately made things worse.
Posted by Tom - 1 month, 6 days, 1 minute ago
“They meet potential clients all the time, but have to turn them down due to their not being able / willing to pay $300 an hour for the work of a 1st or 2nd year associate.”
No big firm associate can compete in today’s market. I can outsource my legal work to a 20 year securities partner who bills at $275 in a 8 person firm or his first year who bills at $150. Why would I pay a first year $300 an hour and then $800 for his boss to look over his work.