The landscape of staffing in the world of ‘Big Law’ has been considerably impacted in recent times by layoffs and ongoing attrition. To add to the challenges, a lower demand for services, increasing costs, and tightening policies surrounding hybrid work are pushing law firms to reassess their strategies for staffing.
According to a recent study by legal tech company BigHand, a notable 63% of surveyed law firms are anticipated to make changes in their support staff structure in the next two years. These changes involve centralizing teams, raising the ratio of secretaries to lawyers, and exploring avenues of outsourcing.
With the forced exits and continual staff attrition happening in firms, concerns are being raised over whether these actions could erode the quality of the support structure. This, in turn, could potentially compromise the depth and breadth of both skillsets and experience available within these firms. Ultimately, such a scenario could fundamentally change how law firms function.