Genetic engineering

Law firms attempting to woo, and hang on to, Britain’s brightest assistant lawyers have generally followed three paths. Some put out vague messages about the importance of work/life balance. Others tout the introduction of new career paths to hint at career progression. And some simply throw money at the problem in the form of dramatic salary increases or bonuses (usually accompanied by the condition that the assistant works harder). However, if the 2,225 assistants responding to this year’s Legal Business Assistant Survey are correct, firms would do better to concentrate most of their energy on the first, work harder on the second and largely leave the third alone.

Assistant attrition – and its flipside, retention – are massive issues for the industry. For all firms, assistants constitute their engine rooms, or their ‘DNA’ as one assistant puts it. In the current economic climate, assistants are a sufficiently scarce resource that replacing them mid-career is far from straightforward. Current assistant turnover rates for the LB100, the UK’s largest 100 firms by revenues, are at approximately 15% per year. For the largest firms, the figure is nearer a quarter. This represents an enormous cost.

Though precise figures are hard to calculate, the direct cost of an assistant leaving at the wrong time and having to be replaced is certainly in excess of 25% of the salary of the incoming assistant, which is what a recruiter will typically charge to find a replacement. There are, however, further costs to be factored in. Partners will spend time recruiting, work might have to be forgone whilst the role is unfilled, and there is a cost of bringing new recruits up to speed, which can take anything from six to 18 months. All told, the total cost to the business of an assistant leaving is probably nearer to a full year’s salary for that assistant. On this basis, it doesn’t take many unwanted departures before a per cent or two is shaved off a firm’s profit margin.

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