There was an interesting posting by an Allen & Overy partner on legalweek.com’s Career Clinic section the other day. The partner was responding to a question from an assistant who was wondering what to do about the fact that she had been asked to cancel her holiday five times in a row. The partner accompanied his advice with the following remark: “If the magic circle firm you are at is my firm… this [advice] applies just as much if not more. This sort of practice is completely against everything we stand for, so please help us put a stop to it.”
Presumably, this is just the type of partner Linklaters managing partner Tony Angel had in mind when he penned a thought-provoking article on the recruitment and retention challenges facing law firms that appeared in last week’s issue of Legal Week. While acknowledging that there were structural factors making it harder for solicitors to follow the traditional trainee-solicitor-partner career path, Angel claimed these were somewhat over-egged. He placed greater emphasis on the different expectations and motivations of a new generation of lawyers who are more savvy about what they want from their employers and who will not stick around if firms are failing to meet their needs.
