Why Law Firm Staff and Partners Are Ready to Quit: The Morning Minute
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April 18, 2022 at 06:00 AM
6 minute read
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WHAT WE'RE WATCHING
RAISING AN ISSUE - It's Monday morning, so let's talk about quitting! If this were "Family Feud" and the challenge was to "name a reason people quit their jobs," the top answer would have to be something like "survey says: overworked and underpaid." Unfortunately, law firms are about to find that out in a much less fun-filled, Steve-Harvey-hosted way. Nearly two-thirds of legal workers plan to ask for a pay raise in 2022, according to a survey from staffing outfit Robert Half, with respondents pointing to a higher cost of living and added job responsibilities. Robert Half this week said that 59% of legal employees plan to ask for a raise this year and that more than a quarter of them (29%) will look for a new job if they don't get it. Jamy Sullivan, executive director of Robert Half Legal, told Law.com's Andrew Maloney that the number of workers saying outright that they will look for another job if a certain condition isn't met is "exponentially" higher now than it has been in the past. "I can't quote you an exact number. But I've been in the business 20 years, and I've personally not seen this kind of quit rate in my tenure here," she said.
EARLY EXITS - Feeling underpaid is obviously a major reason why people leave their jobs. But what about feeling the exact opposite way? Turns out that can have a similar effect. As Law.com's Dan Roe reports, some partners, having raked in plenty of money in recent years and facing a potential return to the office, are deciding to reduce their commitment to the firm or quit the profession altogether before "retirement age." California legal recruiter Larry Watanabe said law firm partners are reconsidering their careers after years of exceptional partner profits. "A lot of partners are going to end up retiring because they never envisioned earning this kind of money early in their career," Watanabe told Roe. "They've told me that point-blank—it wasn't long ago that $1 million was a reasonable level of income. That's a starter today. People's drive and motivation to continue practicing is going to change a lot because their wealth has increased so much."
WHO GOT THE WORK?℠ - Allyson R. Bennett and Joseph C. Gratz of Durie Tangri have entered appearances for Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and other social media platforms, in a pending copyright infringement class action. The action, filed March 23 in California Northern District Court by Squitieri & Fearon and attorney Mario Iskander, contends that Facebook did nothing to stop the embedding of copyrighted videos or pictures on its platform from 2013 to 2021. The suit also claims that Facebook a mechanism for copyright owners to discover and prevent public display of their works. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer, is 3:22-cv-01847, Logan v. Meta Platforms, Inc. >>Read the complaint on Law.com Radar and check out the most recent edition of Law.com's Who Got the Work?℠ column to find out which law firms and lawyers are being brought in to handle key cases and close major deals for their clients.
FAT WALLETS? - Pomerantz LLP and Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman filed a securities class action Friday in California Central District Court against Fat Brands, franchisor of Johnny Rockets and other casual dining restaurants, and certain top executives. The complaint contends that the defendants have released annual reports since 2017 that neglect to disclose that certain Fat Brands executives have made financial transactions "for no legitimate corporate purpose." Counsel have not yet appeared for the defendants. The case is 2:22-cv-02541, Chipman v. Fat Brands Inc. et al. S tay up on the latest deals and litigation with the new Law.com Radar.
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