'They'll run away': Lawyers chase a good life, not just the money

Katie Walsh

Oct 25, 2017 – 11.59pm

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Money is no longer the biggest motivator for lawyers and firms risk losing their top talent unless they provide flexibility and a good work-life balance, a national survey reveals.

Some warn that failing to heed the message could have a more permanent consequence than lawyers simply moving to another firm.

"If they don't have work-life balance, they'll just move on," said University of Adelaide entrepreneurship, commercialisation and innovation centre director Gary Hancock.

Lawyers will walk away from their roles - or even the law - unless they can get the work-life balance they want, says one educator. Louise Kennerley

"It's not moving on to another law firm or another practice. It'll be to a new career path, a new profession, something completely different. They'll form their own app and run away from law altogether."

The LexisNexis survey, polling more than 500 lawyers from various sized firms nationwide, found good work-life balance was viewed as the best retention strategy for young people, at 24 per cent. Opportunities to grow (22 per cent), flexible working arrangements (15 per cent) and competitive compensation and incentives (12 per cent) followed.

A "strong sense of purpose" (6 per cent) ranked higher than challenging work assignments (4 per cent); while access to senior leadership (5 per cent) marginally outdid encouraging innovation (4 per cent).

Dr Hancock said his students were being taught how to "disrupt" firms.

"They are coming out of university thinking 'how can I make a legal firm obsolete'?"

Emily McCarthy, head of talent at 'newlaw' firm lexvoco which provides lawyers on contract and strategic advice, said studies "come up all the time saying money used to be the number one factor when people were looking at their jobs and their careers".

LexisNexis Australia general manager Simon Wilkins: millennials aren't the only ones demanding balance. JON YATES

"It's really had a shift towards satisfaction and work-life balance."

Millennials drive change

Highlighting how technology is blurring the lines between work and life, yet enabling greater flexibility, the survey found almost half of the lawyers accessed their desktop and emails from home, and around 37 per cent reviewed documents and 31 per cent read legal and commercial publications from their own personal device.

Almost a third felt working remotely would improve work-life integration.

In addition to its survey the research group held a series of panel discussions across Australia, bringing together 24 panellists and 250 audience members from across the legal industry.

LexisNexis Australia general manager Simon Wilkins said there was "great agreement" that society generally was elevating the importance of balance and fulfilment.

"It's not just a generational shift, it's not just millennials who feel organisations need to respond to this and provide flexibility," he said.

"But I do think millennials drive change. Maybe they've opened the path for those questions to be more readily asked."

That shift was reflected in results about the indicators of a successful career: peer recognition as an expert (29 per cent), having professional standing (25 per cent) and positive work-life balance (20 per cent) all out-ranked annual income (10 per cent) and a profitable business (4 per cent).

"People are still absolutely the biggest asset, but the kind of incentives that will work for them will change," he said.

"What gets them through the day isn't thinking about the profit of the firm."

Almost all — 90 per cent — of respondents thought continuing professional development programs should include "wellbeing" education.

The report notes a shift towards focusing on quality and value of the work done, over billable hour targets, would "encourage mental health wellbeing".

Census data released Monday showed the proportion of managers working overtime has gradually decreased over the past decade with anecdotal evidence a desire for balance is a driver. Last year Deloitte estimated up to two thirds of millennials plan to leave their employer within two years