Unhappy law partners are copping the worst of the pandemic fallout

Law firm partners have borne the brunt in the reshuffle of workloads brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The combination of increased hours and responsibilities contributed to a lowered sense of wellbeing in law firm partners.

Law firm partners have borne the brunt in the reshuffle of workloads brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many firms recorded a significant jump in partner billable hours relative to other fee earners, according to the 2022 Australia: State of the Legal Market Report from Thomson Reuters Institute. The report includes financial data from 16 firms operating in Australia, including some of the largest by lawyer headcount in the region, as well as other global data.

“Clients demanded more direct access to partners to address their most pressing issues. Remote working made delegation to less experienced team members more clunky, and partners were keen not to overburden their at-capacity senior associates.”

There has not been any reversion to the pre-Covid norm. Average billable hours worked by partners was 3.6 per cent higher than for all lawyers in 2021-22.

Partners have also had to step up the time they spend recruiting new staff with the attendant interviews, selection, remuneration negotiations, induction and team integration.

“Partners are finding themselves bearing a load that is seemingly heavier every year … under greater pressure than ever to master an evolving role which is evermore emphasising developing technologies and leadership in addition to their role as lawyers.”

The report includes a mix of other global data, including from the Thomson Reuters Stellar Performance global survey of 2457 “standout” lawyers (as nominated by clients). Among the 98 Australia-based standouts, of whom 90 were partners, the combination of increased hours and recruitment responsibilities contributed to a lowered sense of wellbeing.

On four of five other measures, including progress towards personal goals, working life and sense of purpose, they were below global averages; the exception was income, for which 60 per cent rated satisfaction high, compared to the 49 per cent global average.

Partners felt less “stuck” to their firms than other standout lawyers around the world, and were significantly less likely to be highly satisfied with their firm’s direction and strategy, the current leadership of the firm. They were also less likely to be highly satisfied with the firm’s reputation.

They also had much lower satisfaction scores for their firms’ IT, innovation and knowledge management teams compared to the global averages and US averages. In the case of IT, only 26 per cent were highly satisfied compared to the global figure of 34 per cent and the US figure of 44 per cent.

There is also dissatisfaction among associates, whose turnover as averaged across all firms in the sample was 31.6 per cent in the past year. The report speculates they had a sobering view of their prospects of promotion and that climbing “into the upper ranks of the law firm is becoming more difficult and that reaching the pinnacle (equity partnership) is even more so”.

“Many associates today may not aspire to the ranks of equity partnership, [so] this may not pose too great a threat. However, firms would be well cautioned that a demonstrated lack of career progression can be a major factor that drives associates’ decisions to leave their current law firms.”