On LinkedIn News, Kelli Nguyen published an article on lawyers' demand for permanent flexible arrangements about where they will work. In five hours, that article had received 18,246 page views.
Obviously, for law firms, as for myriad other organizations, flexibility is the issue. Law firm chairpersons such as Kim Koopersmith at Akin Gump who are providing that flexibility are being positioned and packaged as the right kind of leader.
But within that story there is emerging another story. And it's coming from where trends of all kinds originate: BigTech. There, reports MarketWatch, the talent is fleeing.
Burnout is, yes, a driver. But not the only one. Others as important or more important are:
Demand for more flexibility in where they can work. They are even balking about hybrid arrangements. Incidentally Koopersmith is only offering hybrid, not full-time remote.
Perception that their employer is a closed system, in which change happens at a glacial pace. Of course, that mirrors many of the cultures in BigLaw.
Resentment of not having more control. A common beef of associates is not having meaningful work. Instead what is usual is that the partners develop the strategy. Then the "project" is divided into parts which in essence consist of predicable grunt tasks. Lawyers I have coached have even complained about doing copy-and-paste tasks.
Unhappiness with working at an organization that is receiving lots of criticism from the outside. For BigTech that is coming in the form of antitrust initiatives. The gallows humor about BigLaw is that it's operated by thugs in good suits.
These drivers for job change in BigTech are pushing workers to give up the prestige of being with a major brandname. Where those workers are primarily landing are in startups and young public companies.
Could this kind of disruption spread to BigLaw? Flexibility may just be the price of entry for accommodating what junior lawyers want. And, as in BigTech, hybrid might not cut it for long.
Law firm chairpersons who assume that have taken a giant step in improving management-labor relations with agreeing to flexibility might find that the natives could return to being restless soon enough. Where they could head for are midsized law firms, boutiques, and even their own solo practices.
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