It depends on your age. And retirement usually comes later in life, as opposed to the resignations that we see happen all around us now at earlier ages. The pandemic has prompted a reset for each of us in terms of expectations, values, dreams, desires, and whoever and whatever we hold dear. That’s a good thing. It makes us realize that no one is invincible, and that even if we think we are, someone or something is going to come along and knock us back on our heels. Especially in the early days of practice, although we have much to learn, we think that our trajectory is straight up. Au contraire. Detours and obstacles are all around us.
Not everyone has choices. As this BBC article points out, “we may only be seeing the Great Resignation through the eyes of those who have the privilege to quit, like top executives or financially secure workers. But the reality is that it’s hard to parse from the existing data which workers are quitting more and why, which can distort what’s really happening, and might encourage people to boldly quit and think everything will work out for them.” So, they may be right, but they could be wrong. Imagine a trapeze artist without a safety net.
Paul Krugman believes that the pandemic has, in his words, created a “Great Rethink.” Lots of us are doing just that.
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Where are we are as a profession in terms of staying or going? It’s no surprise that it depends upon age. Reuters reports that only about 6.5% of the Biglaw lawyers earned their JDs in the 1970s. (Depending upon what part of that decade you are looking at, it’s 50 years or damn close to it. I am part of that cohort, and the idea of nudging up on practice of 50 years is scary. I will always remember that day I was sworn in way back when, along with 2,000 of my closest friends in downtown Los Angeles. Some days just always remain in your mind, and that one does in mine. Most of my law school classmates are now inactive, as are many of my colleagues over the years, and there are those who didn’t make it.)
Some firms view senior lawyers as assets, mentoring the next generation of lawyers and providing continuity to clients in terms of representation. It is succession planning, something that every law firm and corporate law department must do. Even if the client remains the same, the corporate culture may not. It’s important to have bench strength, both for law firms and in house. Don’t try to predict client loyalty. I’ve heard more than my share of stories from outside counsel who were dropped like yesterday’s news when there was a corporate change and the in-house department had to accommodate new outside counsel most favored by new management.
And while the pandemic, hopefully at some point in the not-too-distant future, becomes endemic, there doesn’t seem to be any dispute that WFH has helped lawyer productivity. A recent survey so says. Almost all lawyers surveyed say that the technical proficiency needed during the pandemic has made them better lawyers. Two-thirds think that they are more productive.
The pandemic has taught us many things. We now know that there’s more than one way to practice law economically and efficiently. Some lawyers may now see some billable hours evaporate as the need to appear in person diminishes, but if the goal is to serve the client (at least that’s what I learned and that is the client’s expectation), then those billables should rightly disappear.
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Not only have lawyers’ expectations about working in a brick-and-mortar environment changed. Clients are now more than happy to collaborate with attorneys remotely.
To the great surprise of exactly no one, clients are happy campers using virtual technologies and techniques post pandemic. Sometimes clients look around the law firm offices and wonder how much of that they are paying for, and do they really care about that? Clients want advice and results, not law firm palaces, especially not when they are implicitly paying for them.
The results of a Wilson Elser survey align with what most lawyers and clients think about legal life afterward, in other words, in the endemic stage, not the pandemic we still are in. Continuing in the virtual world is here to stay. Strategy sessions, settlement conferences, and mediations will continue in the virtual world. As a mediator, I’ve always thought that having the insurance adjuster schlep out to the other side of the country, or wherever, was a waste of time and money, money that could be used to help resolve the case. Maybe others are now seeing it that way.
And in some Biglaw firms, it’s now taking longer to make partner, and even then, it may be a nonequity partnership, which may not be the worst thing to happen, if trying to have some work life balance is critical.
So, whether you’re considering retirement or resignation in light of what’s happened over the past 20 months, it’s time for you to do a “great rethink.” What is important to you? What matters most? The same two words we always tell clients apply to us as well: “it depends.”
Jill Switzer has been an active member of the State Bar of California for over 40 years. She remembers practicing law in a kinder, gentler time. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see dinosaurs, millennials, and those in-between interact — it’s not always civil. You can reach her by email at [email protected].