A recent Major Lindsay & Africa Survey shows a startling gap between law firm management and law firm associates. Major Lindsay & Africa is a legal search firm that conducted its study at the beginning of 2023.
Here are some results that should cause management to take notice:
60% of the associates surveyed say their firms are doing little to nothing to keep them at their firms. 25% say they do not plan to stay at their firm for over a year. 92% say they have yet to be asked to participate in an interview to give feedback on their experience at the firm.
These are pretty sad statistics when you think about it. In addition to offering an encouraging workplace, management should look at associates as investments. Let’s face it: firms spend a lot of time formally or informally training associates. If an associate leaves, that training investment is for naught. Not to mention the work disruption and the difficulty in filling the position by someone else who must then get up to speed. And, of course, it’s axiomatic that happier, more satisfied employees do better work.
As Kate Reder Sheikh, a Partner with MLA’s Associate Practice Group puts it, “It’s often shocking for the partners and managers of a firm to hear an associate they admire is leaving with no perceived warning. While these moves are sometimes unavoidable, they are often caused by factors that could have been addressed proactively by the partners who managed and mentored the associate.”
As the Report further observes: “Hiring and onboarding take an incredible amount of time and resources, and although not every hire is going to be a long-term success, there are many who will or should be. We