Travers managing partner Chris Carroll said: "We have become very busy and stretched but are cautious about going back into the recruitment market unless and until we feel the uptick has real legs. As such the ‘ItsMyLaw’ concept presents interesting possibilities for plugging the hole."

ItsMyLaw is also looking to work with a number of the top city firms to help them staff up with alumni to help assist with specific projects or other work.  More on this story can be found here.

In comparison hourly rates for Associates have remained comparatively static with newly-qualified averaging £250 per hour and Associates with 5 years PQE around £375 per hour in the ‘magic circle’ and £250 outside.

Given this dynamic, the continued emergence of alternative billing methods in particular fixed fees and the increasing pressure on bottom line profitability at the firms there will necessarily be an effect on the way in which firms staff their transactions. Furthermore the law firm leverage pyramid is a product of the hourly rate and so if this trend continues it may even possibly effect they way in which they structure themselves in the future. The need to maintain profitability whilst keeping overheads to a minimum is critical to any given firm’s future well-being and has led many of them to investigate staffing alternatives such as ItsMyLaw. 

Even more surprisingly, of the 500 fee-earners surveyed  48% thought that this ambition was achievable with their current firm compared with 40% in 2008.

Whilst it is widely accepted that the route to partnership is becoming tougher and tougher, particularly in the light of recent economic events, there is clearly a sense of renewed optimism amongst younger fee-earners.

Partnership is evidently still the logical career goal for the majority of professionals but as the opportunities to achieve this ambition continue to reduce lawyers will have to seek alternative career paths and goals

At Camerons, all lawyers apart from Partners will take a six week break with four weeks on 30% pay and two weeks unpaid. The scheme will be staggered so that there are assistants working in the department throughout the period.

The Travers scheme meanwhile is voluntary with staff being allowed to take up to two months on 20 % salary thus far 14 members of staff, of which not all are lawyers, have taken the offer.

Whilst these type of schemes are by no means commonplace it is worth noting that Norton Rose introduced a flexible working scheme in April across a number of groups and Hammonds has introduced enforced two month sabbaticals for corporate associates.

With overheads in mind therefore the firms are clearly looking at their fixed costs primarily their wages bills and how they can structure themselves to maintain the level of service to their clients whilst retaining their profitability.

One possible outcome will be the increasing use of contract resources at all levels by the firms on any given deal, this has certainly been borne out by the increasing interest ItsMyLaw has had for its services.

There’s only one story anyone is interested in at the moment: the goings-on at Clifford Chance. Yesterday the firm announced that it was axing up to 80 associates and putting 880 London lawyers in consultation.

The effects of the current market conditions are being felt everywhere and the law firms are not being spared.  In a survey by “The YouGovCentaur” its results show that the uncertainty has spread down all levels with only 9 per cent of associates felling strongly that they would be able to find another job easily.

Worryingly the ­figure slumped to just 6 per cent of those at firms with turnovers of between £25m and £50m, which roughly equates to the bottom half of the top 100 firms.

UK law firms are being pushed to reform hourly fee system which is coming under pressure from clients complaining of high fees at a time of soaring legal industry profits.

Many of the top firms are starting to offer alternatives to hourly rates and making more use of cost-cutting business practices, such as putting services offshore. 

ItsMyLaw is seeing a large number of firms retain our services to provide flexible, talented staff to help resolve the billing issues.  From the firms point of view this offers a way of controlling costs while maintaining exceptional quality.  While the talent pool is rewarded directly for the work completed. 

To find out more about the services on offer or the work available please contact John Cullen on 020 3239 9002.

Results just published are showing that trainee retention rates across the UK’s elite legal profession are holding steady, with many firms keeping hold of more than 90% of their intake despite a sharp dip in City lawyers’ overall business confidence.

Legal Week reports that:

The results come despite business confidence among the UK’s top lawyers recently faltering, as City partners anticipate the economic turmoil hitting the profession. Legal Week’s quarterly business confidence poll this week has shown just 30% of partners are expecting double-digit revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from last year’s high of 70%

They go on to report that

top national firms have shown the biggest rise in retention rates, with many of the firms which lost more than a fifth of their lawyers last year now maintaining more than 90%.

With magic circle partners sensing that the market direction is not clear for the coming months, firms are holding onto their talent. This is an ideal time to explore what ItsMyLaw can offer in terms of talent provision and risk mitigation.

Some say the popular belief that the life of a City lawyer is all about big bonuses, expensive holidays and flowing champagne is misguided and, in fact, the career is more likely to end in emotional or physical breakdown.

ItsMyLaw is pioneering a different route.  Having secured a number of prestigious roles from Magic & Silver circle firms we are looking to fill them with talented lawyers.  But he is the rub, these are all project based freelance positions.  We are seeking lawyers who want the challenging work, want to make a difference, want to make the money and want to have a choice.

The positions that we are filling are only for the most talented and very best, they cover a number of different areas and offer the lawyer a chance to secure contract work within the firm and also to take time afterwards to recover, recharge and enjoy a bit of life before we help them with the next project or contract.

So if this sounds interesting and you would like to know more please contact us and we will be happy to discuss this in total confidence.

Legal Week reports that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer UK corporate head Tim Jones has vowed to put alternative career paths at the top of his agenda in his new role as head of the firm’s London management group.

Career management is one of a number of projects Jones has singled out for attention since taking over from chief executive Ted Burke as chair of the firm’s City management team.

Jones is now discussing a number of proposals with the firm’s associate engagement group after Freshfields’ first ever associate away-day earlier this year highlighted career structure as one of the main issues concerning fee earners.

In particular, Jones will look to flesh out the role of counsel to give it more prominence and a clearer brief. The role is currently recognised in different ways in different jurisdictions — in some areas it has been a step to promotion, as was the case with former City counsel Stuart Grider who was this year made partner, as well as being viewed as an alternative to partnership.

Jones told Legal Week:

“I want to push the debate forward. A number of proposals are beginning to emerge and a lot of changes we make will be experimental.

“At the moment, the term ‘counsel’ is inconsistent and covers a multiplicity of different applications. We want to beef it up and we need to decide what it means in terms of participation in a management function.”

Provisional figures from the magic circle firm show PEP is up 25% from the £830,000 mark last year, with each of the firm’s partners pocketing on average £1,036,000. Meanwhile, the firm billed £987m, a 12% increase on last year’s figure of £882m.

Total profits, meanwhile, have risen 13% to £491m up from a figure of £433m last year. 

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