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Explore sophisticated strategies for overcoming the legal talent shortage. Learn how elite law firms can strategically source, attract, and retain top-tier talent in today’s competitive market.
The current lawyer shortage isn’t a blanket statement—depending on location (particularly metropolitan areas), sectors, client profiles, and other issues, talent availability may or may not be a current struggle for your firm’s operations.1
When it comes to hiring and retention, however, these stressors on attorney demand are issues that firm leaders are paying attention to. Factors affecting the perspective of potential candidates include changing employee expectations, the desirability of a career in law, and the reality of debt load in the current economic climate. All of these have created a drag on the pool of available talent, but we’ll examine the situation—and solutions—below.
At 5%, the projected job growth for lawyers covering 2023 – 2033 exceeds the average rate, equaling an average of about 35,600 openings per year over this decade.2 Industry leaders anticipate a continuing shortfall of lawyers to fill those openings, with many states and counties reporting critical shortages, leading to delays in the justice system.
The talent shortage doesn’t just mean upping your new hire offers or leaving positions unfilled for longer. It could pose significant risks to law firm operations including:
These all have the potential to restrict or even reverse firm growth and long-term outlook. And in certain specialties—like insurance—the effects may be compounding; increased demand for attorneys following increased claims and processing requirements puts further strain on an already taxed workforce contending with growing departures. Although some firms have experienced recent hiring surges, they must increasingly shrink profit margins to sustain it.1
In spite of challenges, there are ways to cut through the competition and secure top legal talent for your firm. Consider the following approaches.
Leading firms are incorporating emerging technology to optimize the processes of talent acquisition. Tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics now contribute to refining hiring processes, including via:
Beyond the hiring stage, invest in emerging tech that contributes to productivity with upstream impacts (and helps reduce burnout risks). Implementing AI and other tools to streamline client intake and communication, legal research, and discovery can all help maximize effective work hours across your staff at their highest levels—meaning that:
When law firms face talent shortages and increased competition to expand their rosters, it’s well worth considering alternative innovations and investments. For example, a firm might invest more in developing a talent pipeline that draws on its network across law schools, alumni connections, professional associations, and legal recruiters.
By leveraging partnerships, sponsorships, or engagements with law schools and student organizations, in particular, firms may be able to connect with potential hires before they even hit the open market.
Diversifying your staff demographics will also expand potential advantages in talent acquisition. Rather than a compliance issue, embedding diversity and inclusion in core values and organizational processes can increase your competitive edge by positively impacting firm culture and reputation among younger candidates—simply expanding your sourcing and hiring pool.
Practical approaches may include:
The recruitment and interview process is a two-way street, and firms that elevate their brand position can more easily attract top candidates. Build your brand identity within the industry and beyond through:
Once you’ve landed the attorneys you want, retention is the next challenge. So, how do you keep your team loyal and hungrily looking for upward advancement instead of lateral moves elsewhere?
Aim to be the company that your employees are proud to be associated with. That means identifying and showcasing how your attorneys benefit by staying more than they would by leaving for another firm. This can include:
Compensation is obviously an important driver, but it’s not purely about the bank balance. Financial compensation actually comes in at a distant fourth in surveys on why lawyers might leave their current firms.3
Consider implementing compensation models that employ one or more of these features:
Perhaps most importantly, establish a written compensation policy for your firm that4:
As with many professionals, attorneys in the post-pandemic and digital-first workplace are often prioritizing opportunities that allow them to work in hybrid or remote roles and/or have more flexibility with their working days and hours.
These options can boost your hiring power, but hybrid work models introduce new challenges. This especially factors into ensuring these new employees receive an equivalent sense of involvement and investment in a firm as those who completed on-site onboarding or still perform in-person roles.
So long as they intentionally pursue team-building, committee assignment, and other actions to counterbalance the potential downsides of working off-site, leading firms can use flexible working arrangements as a strategic tool to attract and retain elite talent.
Attracting and retaining legal talent is a larger issue than simply beefing up your hiring processes and benefits packages.
When demand grows while the graduate pool shrinks, problem-solving needs to occur at an industry-wide level. Your firm can benefit from participating in larger and longer-term efforts to boost legal scholarship and align it more closely with demand.
Consider pursuing:
Consider your ultimate goals in developing and utilizing this influence and connections, such as:
Preserving your law firm’s culture, values, and future existence and success requires a proactive succession plan that incorporates talent acquisition and retention. Strategic succession planning can help attract future leaders by including:
Most of all, showcasing a clear, transparent, written succession plan that details these efforts and values adds weight to your interview process and subsequent offers to new hires.
Attracting and retaining top legal talent proves more challenging than ever in today’s market. It requires innovation and a willingness to try new approaches that advance your firm’s attractiveness as an employer.
For more than 40 years, E.P. Dine has been helping law firms and corporations across the nation identify, secure, and retain attorneys. We leverage innovative strategies and technological advances alongside our far-reaching network of connections, from top law school grads to senior attorneys at partner and C-executive levels.
With our connections and expertise, we provide legal recruiting services and find the perfect fit for your organization’s goals and company culture. Connect with us today for more on how we tailor a recruitment plan to your needs and deliver results.
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At E.P. Dine, we are committed to delivering content that is not only relevant and insightful but also rooted in professional integrity and expertise. To achieve this, every article published on the E.P. Dine blog undergoes a meticulous review process by qualified professionals with deep knowledge and experience in the legal field and legal recruitment.
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