2023 Bright Insight: The 2023 National Legal Sector Benchmark Survey Results

• The pandemic expedited legal sector workplace changes that many law firms were either considering or beginning to implement. Out of all firms surveyed this year, only 10% plan to keep their pre-COVID workplace unchanged with resistance to any change more prevalent among firms outside the Global 100/Am Law 200. • Remote work is a hot topic in workplaces across all industries including the legal sector but in office expectations vary across different roles and seniority levels within law firms. Half of attorneys that have made partner expect to work remotely at least three days a week but think associates and legal staff should be in the office three or more days per week. • Mentorship is important in all business, but it is paramount in the legal sector’s apprenticeship model. There are concerns among some firms that this learning and development model has not worked as well since

the beginning of the pandemic and that too little in-office interaction could lead to young associates falling behind. They may be capable of the job they are doing today, but not be getting the level of mentorship and informal training needed to do what is expected of them as senior associates or junior partners. Workplace strategy and in-office policies will have a large impact on the future of associates and law firms. • Aside from space reduction and cost management, law firms are adapting their workplace strategies to meet the wants of the new generation of associates. Associates surveyed placed immense value on flexibility and balance and are not as concerned about a private office as generations past. Additionally, it is growing common in modern law firm layouts to not place offices in corner locations but rather to utilize that as communal space (i.e., meeting rooms, informal seating, café / lunch areas, etc.).

TAKEAWAYS

THE 2023 NATIONAL LEGAL SECTOR BENCHMARK SURVEY RESULTS | 23