In the previous lesson, we talked about law firm health & hygiene, and how important it is in cultivating repeat business from clients. This week we move from client retention to talent retention, and consider what it takes to keep lawyers happy.

Let's start with what lawyers want from their firms. Ask any lawyer what they like about their job and you'll likely get a list of complaints. It turns out that lawyers are very good at knowing what they don't want.

This much was confirmed in Lisa Shuchman's story for Law.com International. There's a fine balance here. Lawyers don't want the prestige of a life in Big Law, but neither do they want to be irrelevant or be on the periphery. They don't want to sacrifice their life outside of work, and yet they don't want to do meaningless work. They don't even want the smoothie makers and yoga classes which Big Law offered in response to the wellbeing crisis.