The offices may be impressive, the website may be immersive, and the technology may be expensive, but remember, law firms only have one asset, their talent. This being so, we close out our series of lessons on 'people' by focusing on retention. It takes a lot of firm resources to take a graduate and make them a robust, effective, and fully-formed attorney. To have them leave is detrimental, not to mention inefficient. Hiring and losing lawyers is so much worse for everyone than not hiring at all.

As the Harvard Business Review has been saying for years "for employees to safely make a long-term commitment to an organization, the employer will need to give them good reason to stay." Law firms traditionally like to throw money at problems, and this was the knee-jerk reaction to the talent wars. But that's not working anymore. Firms have priced themselves up and matched each other, to the point where the enlarged salaries have become market-rate. Young associates now have the advantage, and can hold out for what they want in terms of working environment and flexible schedules.

So, what's the solution? To bring it back to lean law principles, it starts with a good culture and operating environment, epitomized by efficiency, effectiveness and transparency. Best practice is always a work-in-progress. For example, if an associate leaves, make sure that the exit interview is effective. Use it as a teachable moment to learn what the firm could have done differently to keep that attorney. Learn from past attrition, and implement change where needed.