Not So Fast

This time last month the Bureau of Labor Statistics released their preliminary report for May, initially indicating an increase of 300 jobs added to the legal services sector. While not a large increase, any ray of sunshine is more than welcome these days.

Unfortunately, that report turned out not to be accurate. The adjusted numbers in the final report for May actually show a loss of 600 legal services jobs.

And it doesn't get any better, with June's preliminary report showing a decline of another 3,900 jobs last month.

All tallied, the unpleasant math totals more than 22,000 legal sector jobs that have been eliminated over the past twelve months.

This squeeze on legal staffing is also a primary driver for one of the most significant emerging trends identified in the Altman Weil survey we discussed last week.

More than 50% of those surveyed expect the use of external, non-headcount, contract-based attorneys (both domestic and international) to become a permanent part of their business models.

As The Legal Intelligencer noted this week, GC's face "increasing workloads, hiring freezes, and budget crunches that prevent significant use of outside counsel." And the solution for many is the strategic use of lower-cost project-based attorneys.

Increased reliance on contracting with outside attorneys on a project basis may be a timely solution -- born out of current necessity -- but it also seems to be one that will become an ingrained component of many firms' and departments' business models.