There's much talk of the future of the legal profession these days, but it seems that the majority of lawyers working in the commercial sector – meaning the associates – see things rather differently to partners whose views are better-aired.

That seems to be the central finding of a new report from Legal Week Intelligence on the future of the profession, which suggests that associates in some cases have grappled more fundamentally with what seismic changes to the profession would mean.

In contrast, there is a trend for partners to view what law may look like in 2015 or 2020 through the prism of partner profits – meaning how the business can be reshaped so they'll still get to earn as much and have as much control.

The survey also picks up a clear theme from associates that, in a world where partnership is more scarce (admittedly an unproven assumption but one that many are making), then partners should be handing more management and client duties to the senior associates.

Separately, the research finds that associates have fallen out of love with the idea of specialisation, understanding after the last two years how vulnerable it can make them to violent moves in the market that can render skill sets and years of training redundant almost overnight. Forty-two percent of associate respondents said it was better to work as a generalist, while only 24% said they wanted to specialise in one practice area. In contrast, partners still view commercial law as a game for specialists, a stance which is easier to adopt when you're not surplus to requirements if things go wrong.

There is common ground from the 900 respondents. Everyone agrees that the assistant lockstep model is toast, with three out of four of the 400-odd participating partners saying associates should be paid on a 'performance-specific model', against only 7% favouring paying the juniors on a model based on strict post-qualification experience. Distrustful associates aren't quite as gung ho, seeing this as a Trojan horse to cut associate pay, but they generally believe the industry should and will move in that direction.

There is also agreement from both camps about the key skills that modern associates need, with that old favourite, commercial awareness, the top-ranked out of eight categories by partners and associates. This put it well ahead of technical legal skills. It is obviously important, but if it means instilling some industry nous and feel for business into the troops, it's not clear why law firms don't do better at something that is largely about common sense and taking an interest in the client. In client terms, partners still think outward and associates more about their own firm.