We May Not Be Lawyers, But We Are Professionals

If you’ve worked in legal for any length of time you are familiar with the divisive terminology “lawyer and nonlawyer.” It’s a phrase that no one seems to really like, but it is somewhat descriptive and often used. I think it’s safe to say the terminology, or rather the attitude it promotes, is something that progressive firms have been trying to break down and eliminate for years.

On Sept. 30, Law Technology News ran an article by Zach Needles, ” Culture Shift, Technology Lead to Staff Cuts.” (It first ran in ALM’s The Legal Intelligencer.) In that piece, Boston-based legal consultant Jeff Coburn was quoted as saying, “The ratio of nonprofessionals to professionals is going to continue to go down. It’s all part of law firms becoming businesses.”

I’m not going to debate that culture and technology are impacting job roles inside law firms. I’m not going to comment on whether ratios are changing or should change (at least not now). But I am certain that I am not the only reader who took issue — severe issue — with the term “nonprofessionals.” Even without the context, I knew exactly who Mr. Coburn was referring to — the nonlawyers. Other less offensive phrases in the post included “traditional clerical functions,” “nonlawyer staff,” and “support staff.” As part of my disclaimer, I should say I don’t know Jeff Coburn. I sincerely hope it was just a poor choice of words on his part and not representative of an attitude or belief that he holds.

The new normal is changing the way law firms do business. The article itself argues that culture, technology, desire for greater efficiencies and higher profits are changing the roles of law firm employees. But last time I looked, in addition to the lawyers, law firms required technologists, Help Desk staff, library specialists and researchers, litigation support teams, marketing personnel, financial experts, paralegals, secretaries, human resource staff, and other administrative experts in order to run. Merriam-Webster defines “nonprofessional as “being such only for recreation” or “lacking or showing a lack of expert skill.” It offers up synonyms of amateur and unskilled. It goes on to define professional as “relating to a job that requires special education, training, or skill.”