Every organisation .

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the law firm is no exception .

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has a personality, a character, a mentality.

And just as with individuals, an organisation can be psychologically well adapted or troubled to the point of being psychotic.

Some of the more progressive law firms in this country are beginning to take staff morale very seriously.

And they reason that a spell on the proverbial couch, with help from an expert, may be necessary either to tackle already established feelings of malaise or to stop such feelings taking hold.

If nothing else, there is a growing realisation that disenchanted, pessimistic staff are much less productive and give off undesirable signals to existing and potential clients.

The body blows dealt by the economic recession have contributed to a wealth of p aranoia within law firms, according to Catherine Berney, an expert in organisational psychology and a former solicitor.

'What is happening in the legal profession is no different to anywhere else.

People are anxious about their career prospects.' Gone are the halcyon days of the 1980s when partnerships were doled out freely.

'So,' Ms Berney points out, 'when the career structure is either you make [partnership] or you don't, it is understandable that people feel very anxious about their prospects when the gates start closing.'With the best will in the world, there is no way that management can erase all the uncertainty.

Partners in law firms are in no better a position to know what the economic future holds than leaders of any other sector.

But, says Ms Berney, by ensuring that their staff are properly informed, they can put a halt to the galloping paranoia.

'The emphasis must be on communication.

The more people are informed and understand the issue, the more they can be responsible for their own part in the proceedings.' According to Ms Berney, law firms are 'light years' behind the business world in managing human resources.

The tendency to rate staff on their legal ability first and last, coupled with the tough competition for partnership, has had a dehumanising effect, she says.

The long-established tenet of the business world .

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that it is people who make organisations work .

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is only beginning to impinge on law firms.

But even those firms which are addressing the problem may not be achieving good results.

'The problem is that firms are being managed by people who are busy being lawyers,' says Ms Berney, adding that the common practice of appointing a managing partner does not provide a complete answer either.

The fact is that people require to be managed within their own groups.

According to her, the key to making staff feel valued is 'participative management'.

Simply keeping staff informed through memoranda or E- mail is not enough.

Indeed, she points out, E-mail can actually exacerbate the sense of isolation felt by some staff members who do not readily take to this new method of communication.

The only effective answer is actively to involve employees, consulting them on direction and policy.

Only in this way will the feelings .

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real or imagined .

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of being kept in the dark be banished and the debilitating 'them and us' regime, fuelled by a destructive unofficial grapevine, be cancelled.

The idea, says Ms Berney, is not to erase hierarchy but to give people a sense that they are working in a team and their contribution is important.

Ms Berney points out that the flat structure of law firm management .

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partners, assistants, support staff .

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makes it very well suited to participative management.

But the growing size of law firms means that it must be worked at.

'Communication does not happen naturally in any firm, but where you have a firm of over 700 people, you really have to make it happen.' The evidence that firms are aware of the need for a different approach .

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to involve their staff more .

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is beginning to emerge.

Clifford Chance recently appointed someone to be solely responsible for internal communication.

And Ms Berney has been retained by two large London firms .

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one to look at communication within the firm, the other to address the problem of stress.

She is talking to several other firms with the same issues at stake.

Interestingly, many firms are beginning to address internal communication as part of a drive to improve their marketing to potential clients.

In co nsidering how to impress outsiders, the firms find themselves drawn inwards to assess how staff present themselves.

And the way that staff present themselves is dictated to a very great degree by how valued they feel by the firm's management.

Increasingly questions are being raised about the current partnership structure and the hunt is on for alternatives.

Ms Berney believes the need is urgent for a tiered structure which would greatly improve scope for development.

Such a structure could include equity partners, salaried partners, perhaps assistant partners.

Another tier could be filled by strategic decision makers.

A career path with more markers on it would go some way to improve upon the 'make or break' nature of the current partnership structure.

But, ultimately, says Ms Berney, the future psychological health of law firms will depend on how well they are managed .

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on how well the managers succeed in viewing their employees as people first and lawyers second.