Law firms are learning that they are overstaffed in certain positions, especially at the legal administrative assistant (LAA) position. Several firm leaders and an academic weighed in on the issue, and all asserted that the decision on whether to release LAAs, during a pandemic nonetheless, is less about short-term economic preservation and more about preparing the law firm structure for the future in what is an interesting moment of confluence between differing generational skill sets, technology and new working conditions in a post-pandemic world. 

“The money … there are not real savings in the short term,” said one law firm leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “By the time you get through severance and continued health insurance, it’s not.”