Just a quarter of law firm associates aspire to be partners at their firm in the next five years, a survey of the profession has found.

The LexisNexis survey of more than 500 associates and senior leaders found reluctance to pursue promotions among qualified solicitors. Nearly half (49%) of leaders had also noticed a decline in the number of associates aspiring to make partner. The figure rose to 63% for leaders at large firms.

‘The current generation of workers are disruptors, not conformers,’ said Stuart Greenhill, director of segment strategy at LexisNexis. ‘If they see something they don’t like, they’ll push back. To meet growth goals and retain a feasible talent pipeline, law firms will need to find a middle ground. They cannot rely on what has worked well in the past, especially with the AI revolution well on its way.’

The survey found a difference in attitudes over loyalty between senior leaders and associates. More than two-thirds of senior leaders (72%) agreed that the current generation of legal associates are less loyal, which increased to 81% among leaders at medium and large firms.

But the survey found that 75% of associates want to stay in private practice in the next five years, with 58% wanting to stay at their current firm. Only 12% said they plan to leave private practice in favour of career paths such as in-house or academic roles.

Of those who were looking to move, 71% of associates said work-life balance was the most important factor, while 74% of leaders thought they were chasing higher compensation packages.

The reluctance to pursue partnership was put down to a lack of ambition by just 26% of leaders. They were far more likely to believe associates wanted a better work-life balance.

One senior associate told researchers that being a partner came with too many drawbacks and burdens, citing the mantra of ‘clients come first’ as being off-putting.

Elizabeth Rimmer, chief executive of legal mental health charity LawCare, commented: ‘Junior solicitors are no longer aspiring to be partners. They will likely take one look at the lifestyle of current partners and be put off.’

Meanwhile, a senior City lawyer has urged the profession to address the problem of burnout and the culture of long hours.

Colin Passmore, chair of the City of London Law Society, said this was not about introducing a nine-to-five culture but instead about giving lawyers’ welfare the same priority as meeting client expectations.

‘We must properly discuss with clients - and our colleagues - the impact of client work, we must instil and enforce monitoring systems in law firms (and chambers), to ensure we have senior staff who are responsible for noting and intervening when the pressure on an individual is in danger territory,’ said Passmore.

City fare were acutely aware of these matters and not shying away from them, he said, but more is needed from the profession to foster a working environment where it is possible to seek help. ‘While a number of lawyers may feel sufficiently resilient and sufficiently supported to get by, it is not good enough to assume that this is the case for everybody. In short, my sense is that we have to effect a step change about the way we work.’

 

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