Work Life Balance and Attorney Retention Also Issues at British Law Firms
American law firms are not the only ones experiencing attorney retention problems due to work life balance issues. A recent article in Legal Week (a publisher of news and analysis for lawyers in the UK) references a recent survey of 2,500 lawyers in which work/life balance was voted as the most important factor in their working lives — coming above salary, billable hours targets and part-nership prospects. The survey also found that only half of respondents cited partnership at their current firm as an aspiration, with that figure falling further for the most junior solicitors and for female lawyers.
To address such trends, several major British law firms have implemented various work life balance initiatives such as sabbaticals, job sharing and flex time schedules. New alternatives to partnership are also being created to accommodate lawyers working part-time schedules. American law firms - take notice!
See further details here.
-- Clearly, being rewarded for hard work and long hours is a good thing, but it may make it more difficult for those enjoying the high salaries to argue about working hours. James Roome, London managing partner of US firm Bingham McCutchen, which this year has the highest newly-qualified salary in London at £87,500, comments: "Like it or not, higher pay does bring with it higher expectations. It is hard to divorce the issues." --
Not really. When gas prices went up, you didn't hear me complaining that the octane in the gas hadn't been increased.
Posted by: Anonymous | Oct 17, 2006 3:01:23 PM