Why do law firms only engage with fee earners when recruiting?

Posted by David on 21 December 2009

When a press release reached us at LSN about DLA Piper's new UK graduate recruitment microsite, it got me thinking.

My big question
Why is it law firms spend all this money on attracting graduates when support staff represent a significant enough percentage of the make up of any law firm to warrant similar investment, yet so rarely - if ever - have I seen the equivalent platform designed to attract 'support staff'? Just to qualify the terminology 'support staff', in my world that's anyone in Finance, IT, HR, Marketing, General Management, Knowledge Management or any of the operational/non-fee earning areas within a law firm, and depending on the size of your firm you could be some or all of the above.

Answers on a postcard
My assumption in respect of the arguments 'for' the spend will be along the lines that graduates represent the future fee earning capability of the law firm and that the spend is justifiable in order to attract the highest calibre graduates. It is also from these graduates that firms are most likely to make the biggest margins when it comes to charge rates, so again the expenditure becomes more easily justifiable against a clear return on investment.

However, I pretty convinced - and have been for some time - that support staff quite frankly get a bit of a poor deal when it comes to seeking out new opportunities and researching future employers.

As an ex-recruiter, albeit some time ago now, when the world of social media, photos on websites, video, podcasts and even websites were still 'coming into fashion', building a picture for a candidate of what it would be like to work at a prospective employer was challenging. Now however, with the evolution of multiple media channels and tools, like video, firms are able to create compelling reasons to prospective employees why they should join them.

And my point?
Well, my point being that whilst a few law firms have embraced the evolution of engaging with people outside their firm, many are still to do so, and when firms do engage on a recruitment level, its always driven by the need for fee earning staff. How often have I gone to a law firm website only to find out what its like to work for them as an lawyer, or associate or paralegal - whatever happened to what its like to work for them as a Legal Cashier or IT Analyst or Marketing Manager and so on.

Surely if one of the reasons that law firms engage with graduates via graduate recruitment sites is because of the potential costs saving proposition, then the same rule must apply to support staff? I can't believe that the so called 'war on talent' applies only to lawyers and fee earners, for I know many firms who strive to recruit the highest calibre support staff, primarily as they know that in order to provide the highest level of service externally, you have to establish the highest level of service internally.

My goal during 2010, and without wishing this to sound like a crusade, is to convince law firms of the merits of engaging directly with prospective employees who will populate the support/operational areas of their firm.

Roll on 2010

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