Camille Stell
BridgeTower Media Newswires
Nationwide, there were more than 8,000 openings for attorneys in the summer of 2021, greatly exceeding 2017-2019, when open job numbers were between 6,000 and 6,500.
Impacting the job market:
• Relocations driven by the pandemic
• Remote work driven by the pandemic
• Decreased importance of geography based on employer flexibility
• Rising revenues and profits in BigLaw leading to rising salaries and bonuses
• Several Am Law 200 firms have increased salaries in smaller cities to match or move closer to major market salaries
• BigLaw talent search puts a strain on small to mid-size firms as they struggle to compete for the best talent
Sara Bennett is the director of business execution for Pace Staffing Network in Bellevue, Washington, and she reported on the employment market in an August Forbes article.
“I frequently hear our small- and medium-sized employer clients lament the competitive challenges of our local marketplace—like more turnover than expected, losing many candidates to higher-paying opportunities, and the recruiting challenges of attracting high-quality talent in a marketplace filled with big brands looking for the same talent.”
“On a daily basis, my company and I have clients calling us to help them with unexpected turnover prompted by an employee finding ‘something better.’ No longer can employers expect employees to comfortably stay in their current jobs as they might have previously. Employee retention should be a focus right now for employers so they can avoid losing their best and brightest employees.”
You are one of these “best and brightest” and your employers should be treating you as such. As you approach your annual review with the idea that we are in an employee market, it’s time to concentrate on negotiation skills.
—————
5 tips for negotiating
• Don’t let the idea of negotiating overwhelm you. This is simply a conversation between you and your employer or you and a potential employer. You will enter this conversation from a place of mutual benefit. You will enter this conversation from the strength of your research. You’ve got this.
• Determine your market value. Salary negotiations are difficult because we keep salary discussions in a black box. Often our employers even forbid us from discussing salary within our offices or at least they frown upon it. Encourage your employer to provide transparency to the process by creating salary bands or bonus amounts that are tied to seniority, skillsets, job descriptions, as well as soft skills such as being a team player.
But if that fails, there are many resources for determining salaries. Check in with your paralegal program to see if they keep data on marketplace salaries. Recruiting firms such as Robert Half and Special Counsel publish free salary guides available for download from their websites. Look for salaries via online tools such as the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, salary specific sites such as salary.com, or company review sites such as Glassdoor, or job posting sites such as Indeed or LinkedIn. Research is a core skill for the legal professional so put that skill to use and come to the negotiation armed with knowledge.
• Begin the negotiation with mutual benefit in mind. Most employers’ top line expense is its work force. And every employer has a limit on what they can pay. But many times, you haven’t reached that limit, so negotiations are in order. Often our annual review and salary negotiations make us so nervous we want to get in and get out.
However, as you consider this conversation to be mutually beneficial, keep a record of your own successes during the year and how your employer was impacted by your work. Did you implement a new technology resource or create a process that eased operations for everyone? Do you have client comments or recommendations you can share? Do you have an idea for a client feedback
program? Most law firms have plenty of opportunities for improving systems and paralegals often have the exact skill set to identify the problem and create a solution.
• Practice makes perfect. Have a plan in mind before you walk into the review. Be prepared to think several steps ahead and be prepared for a variety of offers. Let’s imagine that during a pandemic review, your employer starts by saying “you know we haven’t made as much money this year, there will be no salary increases.” If you didn’t consider this as an option, you may sit in stunned silence.
But instead, you are prepared for this response.
If you have no role in the finances of the firm, you may be surprised by this news, so dig a little deeper. “This news surprises me. I know our caseload was halted earlier in the year, but once the courts re-opened, the client intake I have done seems on track with a normal year. Can you tell me more about our financial situation?” This starts a conversation where you can show empathy for the down financial picture while gaining more knowledge about the future prospects for the firm. With this knowledge perhaps your next step is to ask your employer to consider a salary review in six months rather than waiting another twelve months.
The concept is that you have thought through many scenarios, you are prepared to counter-offer, and you have a list of other items you are willing to negotiate rather than simply salary.
• Other consideration. What else is there to negotiate other than salary? As it turns out in the pandemic and post-pandemic world, there is plenty. Many companies and law firms are paying retention bonuses. These bonuses are in appreciation of employees who weathered figuring out how to move the office to the cloud, or how to work remotely, or how to work safely in an office space within pandemic protocols, or who worked hard to help keep the lights on and the revenues coming in.
During an employee market, there are many opportunities for good employees and a retention bonus is a way for your employer to show they value you and they don’t want you to leave. If you are considering a new job, signing bonuses are gaining popularity among rank and file employees, not just those in the C-suite.
Also, consider what is important to you. Would you rather work a reduced schedule, work a hybrid schedule, leave early one day a week, have more flexibility in your workday hours, more vacation or PTO, take on more tasks, take on different tasks, have access to a technology budget, or a CLE or professional development budget, or have an education reimbursement plan? Depending on the size of your employer, and your employer’s willingness to think outside the box, some of these options may end up being more important to you than a raise.
Good employees are hard to find and retain. But so are good employers. You may be working for the best firm in town, and you may have hit the top range of your salary and you are comfortable with that. You may be in a position where you know you are underpaid and you need to take steps to change that fact. Either way, by reframing negotiations as a mutually beneficial conversation, you may find yourself looking forward to your upcoming annual review.
—————
Camille Stell is the President of Lawyers Mutual Consulting & Services and the author of Designing a Succession Plan for Your Law Firm available from Amazon. Continue this conversation by contacting Camille at camille@lawyersmutualconsult ing.com or 800.662.8843.
CHARLOTTE, NC — While we are not fully “post-pandemic,” let’s consider for today’s discussion that we are moving into a post-pandemic phase as far as employment goes, and in this phase the battle for talent continues to intensify.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 12 percent from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations. About 43,000 openings for paralegals and legal assistants are projected each year, on average, over the decade.
Nationwide, there were more than 8,000 openings for attorneys in the summer of 2021, greatly exceeding 2017-2019, when open job numbers were between 6,000 and 6,500.
Impacting the job market:
• Relocations driven by the pandemic
• Remote work driven by the pandemic
• Decreased importance of geography based on employer flexibility
• Rising revenues and profits in BigLaw leading to rising salaries and bonuses
• Several Am Law 200 firms have increased salaries in smaller cities to match or move closer to major market salaries
• BigLaw talent search puts a strain on small to mid-size firms as they struggle to compete for the best talent
Sara Bennett is the director of business execution for Pace Staffing Network in Bellevue, Washington, and she reported on the employment market in an August Forbes article.
“I frequently hear our small- and medium-sized employer clients lament the competitive challenges of our local marketplace—like more turnover than expected, losing many candidates to higher-paying opportunities, and the recruiting challenges of attracting high-quality talent in a marketplace filled with big brands looking for the same talent.”
“On a daily basis, my company and I have clients calling us to help them with unexpected turnover prompted by an employee finding ‘something better.’ No longer can employers expect employees to comfortably stay in their current jobs as they might have previously. Employee retention should be a focus right now for employers so they can avoid losing their best and brightest employees.”
You are one of these “best and brightest” and your employers should be treating you as such. As you approach your annual review with the idea that we are in an employee market, it’s time to concentrate on negotiation skills.
—————
5 tips for negotiating
• Don’t let the idea of negotiating overwhelm you. This is simply a conversation between you and your employer or you and a potential employer. You will enter this conversation from a place of mutual benefit. You will enter this conversation from the strength of your research. You’ve got this.
• Determine your market value. Salary negotiations are difficult because we keep salary discussions in a black box. Often our employers even forbid us from discussing salary within our offices or at least they frown upon it. Encourage your employer to provide transparency to the process by creating salary bands or bonus amounts that are tied to seniority, skillsets, job descriptions, as well as soft skills such as being a team player.
But if that fails, there are many resources for determining salaries. Check in with your paralegal program to see if they keep data on marketplace salaries. Recruiting firms such as Robert Half and Special Counsel publish free salary guides available for download from their websites. Look for salaries via online tools such as the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, salary specific sites such as salary.com, or company review sites such as Glassdoor, or job posting sites such as Indeed or LinkedIn. Research is a core skill for the legal professional so put that skill to use and come to the negotiation armed with knowledge.
• Begin the negotiation with mutual benefit in mind. Most employers’ top line expense is its work force. And every employer has a limit on what they can pay. But many times, you haven’t reached that limit, so negotiations are in order. Often our annual review and salary negotiations make us so nervous we want to get in and get out.
However, as you consider this conversation to be mutually beneficial, keep a record of your own successes during the year and how your employer was impacted by your work. Did you implement a new technology resource or create a process that eased operations for everyone? Do you have client comments or recommendations you can share? Do you have an idea for a client feedback
program? Most law firms have plenty of opportunities for improving systems and paralegals often have the exact skill set to identify the problem and create a solution.
• Practice makes perfect. Have a plan in mind before you walk into the review. Be prepared to think several steps ahead and be prepared for a variety of offers. Let’s imagine that during a pandemic review, your employer starts by saying “you know we haven’t made as much money this year, there will be no salary increases.” If you didn’t consider this as an option, you may sit in stunned silence.
But instead, you are prepared for this response.
If you have no role in the finances of the firm, you may be surprised by this news, so dig a little deeper. “This news surprises me. I know our caseload was halted earlier in the year, but once the courts re-opened, the client intake I have done seems on track with a normal year. Can you tell me more about our financial situation?” This starts a conversation where you can show empathy for the down financial picture while gaining more knowledge about the future prospects for the firm. With this knowledge perhaps your next step is to ask your employer to consider a salary review in six months rather than waiting another twelve months.
The concept is that you have thought through many scenarios, you are prepared to counter-offer, and you have a list of other items you are willing to negotiate rather than simply salary.
• Other consideration. What else is there to negotiate other than salary? As it turns out in the pandemic and post-pandemic world, there is plenty. Many companies and law firms are paying retention bonuses. These bonuses are in appreciation of employees who weathered figuring out how to move the office to the cloud, or how to work remotely, or how to work safely in an office space within pandemic protocols, or who worked hard to help keep the lights on and the revenues coming in.
During an employee market, there are many opportunities for good employees and a retention bonus is a way for your employer to show they value you and they don’t want you to leave. If you are considering a new job, signing bonuses are gaining popularity among rank and file employees, not just those in the C-suite.
Also, consider what is important to you. Would you rather work a reduced schedule, work a hybrid schedule, leave early one day a week, have more flexibility in your workday hours, more vacation or PTO, take on more tasks, take on different tasks, have access to a technology budget, or a CLE or professional development budget, or have an education reimbursement plan? Depending on the size of your employer, and your employer’s willingness to think outside the box, some of these options may end up being more important to you than a raise.
Good employees are hard to find and retain. But so are good employers. You may be working for the best firm in town, and you may have hit the top range of your salary and you are comfortable with that. You may be in a position where you know you are underpaid and you need to take steps to change that fact. Either way, by reframing negotiations as a mutually beneficial conversation, you may find yourself looking forward to your upcoming annual review.
—————
Camille Stell is the President of Lawyers Mutual Consulting & Services and the author of Designing a Succession Plan for Your Law Firm available from Amazon. Continue this conversation by contacting Camille at camille@lawyersmutualconsult ing.com or 800.662.8843.
