What’s On The Minds Of Legal Professionals On Law Firms?

The Indian law firms need to urgently act on building and strengthening cultures that are fair, equitable and focused around the well-being of their professionals in order to retain exceptional people, according to legal search and consulting firm Vahura.

The firms will continue to expose themselves to a high degree of attrition if they fail to strengthen their culture, and the Indian law firm domain on the whole risks losing exceptional people to other jurisdictions and segments, Vahura said in a study, which represented over 300 law firms in India.

The Vahura Best Law Firms to Work Study 2022 was conducted to understand the perspective of law firm professionals on the best law firms to work for in India, as well as their opinions on the prevailing state of culture within their law firms. More than 1,450 professionals, including some equity partners and law students, participated in the survey.

Vahura’s survey focused on areas such as culture, firm leadership, prestige, satisfaction, rewards and recognition as well as work-life balance.

The study was categorized into firms with 10-50 professionals, firms with 51-250 professionals and firms with over 250 professionals. The respondents were mainly from Delhi-National Capital Region, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad, with women accounting for about 46% of the participants.

Following are the key findings of the Vahura Best Law Firms to Work Study 2022:

GOOD NEWS

Positive Developments At Workplace

• Around 89% of the professionals surveyed rated their firms as positive workplaces. Reputation and compensation are perceived as key motivators for professionals working in firms with more than 250 professionals.

• Culture and growth prospects are seen as more important motivators for professionals working with firms with 10-50 and 51-250 professionals.

Increased Trust Among Peers & Leaders

• Over 70% of professionals reported that their partners trust them to do a good job without being micromanaged.

• Even with the trust factor improving, only a small number of professionals, particularly in firms with over 250 professionals believe they have a say in decisions that affect their work environment.

Increased Camaraderie & Cohesiveness

• Over 70% professionals across firms feel they can have straightforward conversations with colleagues, count on them to work jointly to meet impending deadlines and are willing to go the extra mile to get work done.

• However, 53% professionals reported that their firms did not do enough to ensure a smooth transition to remote working during the pandemic.

• A majority of the professionals strongly believe that moving forward, their ideal working model will be hybrid, with 83% of professionals reporting that their ideal working model is either hybrid or fully-remote.

Professionals Feeling More Empowered

• About 78% of professionals reported that they are given a lot of responsibility at their firms. Of this, over 75% of professionals were very satisfied with the quality of work assigned to them, as well as the degree of autonomy and authority related to their work.

• Despite reporting that work cultures were largely positive, only 60% of such professionals feel that the firm was invested in their growth as a professional.

BAD NEWS

Law Firms Remain At High Attrition Risk

• Around 50% of law firm professionals do not see themselves continuing to work with their current firms in the long-term.

• About 10% of these professionals are considering moving to a different firm within the same practice area, while 40% of professionals wish to discontinue working in law firms altogether.

• Professionals at the associate level, particularly in the firms with 10-50 professionals, were looking to move to other law firms.

• Professionals at the principal associate level, primarily in firms with over 250 professionals were more inclined to move to in-house roles.

• The survey also indicated that salaried partners at firms with 51-250 professionals are not keen to move to a different firm, thereby reflecting their intention of staying with their current firm for the long haul.

Working Unsustainable Hours

• Around 87% of the professionals reported that they work upwards of eight hours a day on a typical workday, with around 44% of professionals stating that they worked upwards of 10 hours per day on average.

• Around 45% of professionals, who work between 10-12 hours a day, reported that they routinely felt stressed and tensed during a workday. The problem appears to be even more acute for professionals, who reported working over 12 hours a day.

• Less than 50% of professionals working in firms with fewer than 250 professionals believe that they are adequately compensated for the work they do and reported being dissatisfied with the performance-driven variable pay compensation.

• Dissatisfaction with compensation appears to be lower amongst professionals working with firms with more than 250 professionals. Around 60% of such professionals feel they are adequately compensated.

Feeling Stressed & Anxious

• Only 39% of those professionals working between 10-12 hours a day reported that their firms encouraged them to strike a balance between their personal and professional commitments.

• The lack of work-life balance is particularly striking for those working in excess of 12 hours a day. Only 18% of such professionals reported that their firms encouraged professionals to maintain work-life balance and only 44% of such professionals reported that their firm allows them to take time off work, whenever necessary.

• Professionals, particularly those in junior positions, are anxious about the exact nature of their roles and contributions to the team due to inefficient project management by partners and lack of effective communication between stakeholders.

• Professionals, particularly those in mid-senior roles, reported spending several hours reworking drafts or waiting for actionable feedback from clients or seniors within the firm, thereby increasing the number of hours they work on a daily basis.

Vahura said that a few law firms are implementing measures to develop fair and equitable workplaces, but much remains to be done. The consulting firm suggested some steps that they can implement to address the identified pain points and improve the work culture at law firms.

Steps For Better Work Culture

• Law firms must invest in ensuring that their partners develop the people management skills that are critical towards building, growing and leading a great team, a practice that is common within global law firms.

• Constituting partner-led committees on professional wellness and engagement, and mandating this committee to become the custodian of the firm’s culture could benefit firms immensely as they seek to better their workplaces and increase their Talent Experience Index. They should work closely with human resources team, who can work as change agents, helping the committee implement, monitor and review these policies.

• Create safe spaces and touchpoints for professionals to voice their concerns on the causes, as well as the physical and mental impact of stress and bring in external experts to address such concerns.

• Begin recognizing the importance of mental health and build cultures that prioritize the mental health of their professionals. A simple framework that could be potentially useful to imbibe the importance of mental health into the firm’s culture is: Listen, Evaluate, Redesign, Communicate and Empower.

• Firms can distinguish themselves as a “workplace of choice” by building compensation packages that creatively combine the traditional offerings such as fixed pay, variable pay with non-traditional compensation packages such as training opportunities, workplace flexibility options and other perks.

• Continue to invest in brand equity by offering excellent learning and development opportunities to enhance talent attraction and retention.

• Consider moving to a hybrid work model as most professionals appreciate the flexibility to work remotely and are, therefore, increasingly expecting a work model that does not involve them being in an office full-time.

Vahura said in firms with over 250 professionals, JSA, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co. and Trilegal are the best law firms to work for in India in 2022.

King Stubb & Kasiva, Saraf and Partners, and S&R Associates lead the rankings in the firms with 51-250 professionals, while BTG Legal, Panag & Babu and Rajaram Legal are the best law firms to work for in firms with 10-50 professionals, it added.