The survey reports that law firms are in the process of determining how to institutionalize large scale changes to both how firms are staffed and how work is delivered.
In terms of staffing, the survey found that:
- In 2009, 44 % percent of the firms laid off associates
- 53% reduced or discontinued hiring first-year associates
- 64% shrank their summer associate programs
For 2010:
- 10% of the firms plan to cut associates
- 38% plan to reduce or discontinue hiring first-year associates
- 54% plan to shrink their summer programs
In terms of how work is executed and delivered:
- 39 percent of the law firms used contract lawyers in 2009, while 53 percent may in 2010, and 52 percent expect that contract lawyers will become a permanent part of their staffing plans.
- Nearly 10% of firms outsourced or offshored legal work in 2009, and 28% of law firms expect outsourcing of legal work to be permanently adopted in the future.
But, as the survey itself notes, this level of resistance that some firms feel towards outsourcing is similar in nature to the resistance firms previously felt towards alternative fee structures.
So, how do firms now feel about those alternative fee structures they once opposed? According to the survey:
- 94.5% of law firms offer some alternative fee arrangements (AFAs), and all firms with 150 or more lawyers do so.
Combine that historic precedent with the fact that last year 67 % percent of law firms made cuts in support staff, 43% cut paralegals, and 44% cut associates. Since much of the legal work that is successfully outsourced is associate-level work, additional movement on outsourcing seem likely.
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