Annual Survey Shows the New Reality of Associate Life

Four facts -- from too few lawyers to too many sent packing -- set the stage for the latest war for talent

Aric Press

The American Lawyer

August 01, 2007

Image: Photodisc Red

Put aside the conventional wisdom. Here's the state of associate life.

Associates aren't miserable, except perhaps in certain high-pressure New York precincts. The average satisfaction score hit a record high this year: 3.81 on a five-point scale.

Associates don't plan on staying. Despite the high level of job satisfaction, only 44.9 percent of the respondents predicted that they would be at their firms in five years, and only 11.7 percent expected that they would become equity partners at their current firm.

Despite all the hand-wringing over associate retention, law firms report that in nearly half the associate departures -- 49 percent -- the firms were either neutral about the departures or happy to have the associates leave. (This statistic comes from the latest survey by the National Association for Law Placement.)

There may not be enough lawyers to feed the hiring appetite. According to our survey of summer associate hires, Am Law 200 firms expect to bring on roughly 10,000 associates next fall. That astonishing number equals about one-quarter of all the students who will graduate from U.S. law schools next year. To put it another way, the top 20 law schools will only produce about 6,500 graduates.

What do these four facts mean? For law firms, at least three things. First, in the short run, the war for talent will become more ferocious. Second, the cost of talent will only increase. And third, the need for firms to differentiate themselves will become apparent even to the hidebound.

This year's famous hike to $160,000 in starting pay for first-year associates did not buy hiring firms anything in terms of separating themselves from their competition. The firms that can afford to pay more will pay more; but there is a price point that not all Am Law 200 firms will be willing to match. We're confident that that number begins with a 2.

As costs rise, the price of a mistake only grows. The feverish but unsystematic, even casual, recruiting habits of firms seem painfully inadequate now. Firms will sharpen their techniques or start losing ground to others who have grown weary of viewing recruits through a glass darkly.

As we have argued before, firms are not all alike and do themselves and their potential associates little good by pretending otherwise. Firms need to define themselves and then make their distinctive qualities known to the job market.

A word for potential associates: Enjoy! The seller's market will last until the next downturn -- by which time most of you will be on to something else.

Related articles:

Is This Any Way to Recruit Associates?

Ask law firm recruits, particularly those from elite schools, about the summer associate recruiting experience, and the stories are fairly similar: Short interviews, shallow questions and a sheaf of boilerplate marketing materials. For law firms, the process is expensive and time-intensive -- and still results in low acceptance and high attrition rates. Some firms are experimenting with more sophisticated interview strategies used by other professional services firms. But resistance to change is fierce.

Methodology

Related Charts (free registration required:)

Associates Survey ResponsesFirms Listed A to Z -- 2007

Grading the Firms

On the Local Level

Relatively Speaking

The American Lawyer's annual survey measures the satisfaction of third-, fourth-, and fifth-year associates employed by the nation's top law firms. Firms are scored based on associate responses to 11 questions, which assess the firm's qualities, including interest and satisfaction levels with the work; benefits and compensation; relations between associates and partners; training and guidance; openness about finances and strategies; billable hours policies; and associate retention. Purchase the Electronic 2007 Midlevel Associates Survey from ALM Research.

Editor's note: For related information on British law firms, see Legal Week Intelligence's third annual Employee Satisfaction Survey.