The Burning Issue: Efficiency Should Accompany the Associate Pay Raises
With the talent war at its height and Big Law raising associate salaries to never-before-seen levels, clients are feeling the stress and looking for ways to justify (or not pay) the expense for new lawyers. One of those ways is to demand that your outside counsel show an efficient work process. Efficiency can be broadly defined as the time it takes to complete a given task. This highlights that although an associate’s time may be on the bill, that line item won’t reflect efficiency. It’s always on the firm to take the steps to train them to work in an efficient manner. It’s important to remember that efficiency is not innate and it should be learned on the firm’s dime. To help you understand the levels of associate efficiency within your law firms, you can ask them for details of their associate training and mentoring plans.
