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The future of Aussie law firms: It’s in the numbers
Superficial, cosmetic and often specious, the change espoused by law firm leaders is like a new coat of paint on an old commodore; it’s bright, buffed and shiny again, but everyone knows deep down that nothing has improved underneath the bonnet, writes Travis Schultz.
Lauren Croft
After all, the decision-makers grew up with the sleek lines of the VH model and its horizontally slatted grill, lower front-end bodywork and 4.2-litre V8 engine. It ticked all the boxes when they were new to the profession, so why not give it an upgrade and roll it out of the garage once more?
Law firms now operate in a digital age with the challenges of artificial intelligence, digital technology and telecommuting, yet we so often seem to hold on to the practices of the past for grim death. Think time costing, performance appraisals, hierarchical structures and rainmaker reverence — all rusted-on attributes of successful law firms in the past that I’d argue have little relevance to law firms of the future.
If we reflect on the data, it’s quite apparent that the legal profession looks nothing like it did two or three decades ago. Perhaps our noble profession could avoid falling behind the curve by getting ahead of the numbers and landing on a strategy that takes into account the changing demographics of legal practitioners across the country and aims to meet the needs of the next generation of lawyers?
As the Baby Boomers retire, Generation X have become the decision-makers and leaders in a large number of Australian firms. But the “command-and-control” approach that so many of us grew up with isn’t going to fly with the Millennials or Generation Z. Even before the pandemic, younger lawyers were less interested in bonus schemes and high remuneration than they were in flexibility, work/life balance, constant feedback and authentic leadership. And if the researchers are right, it seems that for Generation Z, employers will need to plan to provide for their psychological safety at work, higher levels of pay, career progression and a firm culture of transparency, courage and entrepreneurship.
Dynamic and successful firms of the future will already be planning for the future look of the profession. And hints about the future shape of the profession can be mapped from the data contained in the National Profile of Solicitors, a report undertaken by Urbis and published every two years by the Law Society of NSW on behalf of the Conference of Law Societies. The next edition should be out soon, but there are plenty of useful indicators in the 2020 report (published in 2021).
To my mind, the key take-outs from the report are the growth in the number of females entering the profession, compared to males, and the sheer number of new lawyers taking out practising certificates. It was back in 2018 that women in the profession began to outnumber men, but strikingly, since 2011, the increase in women entering the profession has been staggering — a 67 per cent increase compared to 26 per cent for men. We know that in 2020, there were 83,643 lawyers across Australia and that there was an 8.79 per cent growth in numbers since the 2018 report. We also know that 67 per cent of the new entrants to the profession were women.
If we assume, for the sake of the exercise, that these trends continue in coming years, then the total number of lawyers and the number of females in law should be 127,460 and 73,687, respectively.
By my math, that means that women will account for 57.82 per cent of legal practitioners. And if the 8.79 per cent increase each year continues, we will have 43,817 members of the profession in that early-career stage. It will mean that these “early-career” lawyers will account for 34.81 per cent of the total profession.
So, what does that tell us?
If the future of our profession is going to be female-focused and weighted towards early-career lawyers, our firm’s culture, leadership, policies and approach to practice will need to evolve to meet the needs of these cohorts. April 2020 taught us that, in law firms at least, Darwinism is dead. No longer is it survival of the fittest, but survival of the most agile.
So, rather than sprucing up the old commodore, perhaps today’s law firm leaders should be focused more on planning to meet the needs of early-career and female lawyers in the next iteration of their business and strategic plan. And perhaps it’s opportune to inquire of the early-career and female lawyers in our firms as to what structural and cultural changes our firms should start planning for in order to attract, retain and inspire law firm leaders of the future?
Travis Schultz is the managing partner at Travis Schultz & Partners.
Lauren Croft
Lauren is a journalist at Lawyers Weekly and graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Macleay College. Prior to joining Lawyers Weekly, she worked as a trade journalist for media and travel industry publications and Travel Weekly. Originally born in England, Lauren enjoys trying new bars and restaurants, attending music festivals and travelling. She is also a keen snowboarder and pre-pandemic, spent a season living in a French ski resort.
