Innovation in Human Resource Management in Law Firms

 

Innovation in Human Resource Management in Law Firms

Innovation in aspects such as the organizational structure itself, job stability, knowledge management and training, recruitment and selection, job evaluation, organic growth and career development policy, communication, leadership, the involvement of professionals in the corporate culture, the decentralization of decision-making and autonomy. And it is in this aspect that there is a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs in the sector!

These paradigm shifts, very present in most sectors, remain a pending issue in the legal sector. However, many firms have already identified them and are working hard to break with traditional structures and give workers what they are looking for.

The traditional model of medium and large offices in Spain and the surrounding area is based on a pyramidal structure based on the Carvath System and its up or out. The system is as follows. The best profiles of the most prestigious universities in the country are selected and incorporated. A minimum of three levels are established before becoming a partner of the firm: junior, associate and manager. These stages are defined and structured differently according to each firm. The objective of the professional? Reaching the top of the pyramid: becoming a partner.

The recent graduate is trained differently in each of the phases, giving him greater responsibility as he grows up the internal scale. As a junior, he has little autonomy and is not used to dealing directly with the client. After a few years, usually three, the professional is promoted to an associate position, where he has more responsibility, greater treatment with the client and certain functions of training and supervision of his hierarchical inferiors. Then to a managerial position to, in very few cases, reach the great dream: to be a partner in the firm.

But for this gear to work, an up or out system is structured. What does it consist of? In that if the professional does not have the knowledge, skills, attitude, capacity for sacrifice, to attract clients to the office, or any other required criteria, and they simply must abandon ship.

And another component is added: rotation. Especially in junior positions, there is high staff turnover. Many of those who enter leave the firm, due, in most cases, to the exorbitant number of working hours it requires, the lack of reconciliation between personal and professional life, high levels of stress, excessively mechanical work and little responsibility given to them.

In these lower stages, the recent graduate or graduate only seeks to obtain training and improve their curriculum so that, in one or two years, they change their job. The exits can be to go to another firm, to the legal department of a company, to undertake your own project or, sometimes, simply to leave the profession.

The Carvath System was introduced by Paul Cravath, an American jurist, in the year 1899, that is, more than a century ago, and has remained practically unchanged until today. Part of the concept of " law factory " (legal factory), which consists of applying the bases of chain production, which at that time flourished in the automotive sector, to the legal sector. Greater specialization, coordination, optimization of production and efficiency. Also strenuous work hours, limited liability to one part of the production chain, aggressive growth incentives and high turnover.

At the beginning of the last century, the foundations that Henry Ford forged to create his cars were applied to the Human Resource Management Solutions of firms in the legal sector. Business schools began to study this system, and law firms to think like a business. Hourly billing and area division by industry sectors multiply productivity and profitability.

The Carvath System has accompanied the expansion and growth of medium and large companies in the legal sector, nationally and internationally. It is a model that has brought enormous successes and high returns to firms around the world, and has demonstrated its strength and ability to motivate workers. But, with the new trends of the 21st century, will it continue to be the model for managing human resources in the companies of the future? We do not know. Although it is clear that companies have a fundamental challenge to attract and retain the best talent, offer them training, organic growth and also responsibility, creativity, a good work environment, teleworking and reconciliation of personal and professional life.

But without prejudging the benefits or weaknesses of any model, we must remember that we are not talking about machines or robots, but about people. And that a person, with their feelings, emotions, talents, weaknesses, illusions and frustrations, is the greatest asset of a company. Innovation in the management of human resources is the great challenge of the legal sector and also the great opportunity for entrepreneurs in the sector!

Many national and international law firms have identified the current challenge in retaining their employees, and are gradually introducing modifications to improve their working conditions. It is a generalized challenge for millennial, who no longer just want a good salary: they also seek reconciliation of personal and professional life, flexibility, autonomy, motivation and efficiency. And, if they cannot find it in a company, they will have no qualms about going to another that offers them better conditions.