Associates Will Never Be Fully Satisfied Without Work-Life Balance
Associates said they would leave their firms thanks to a loss of flexibility associated with office attendance policies.
Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
They’re not chasing the almighty dollar, they’re saying we want recognition for the work and the toll that it takes on our lives.
What comes across loud and clear from the data is that this is a very engaged set of associates, contrary to how they’re sometimes represented. They are committed to their firms, their colleagues and their careers, and they’re willing to put in the time and effort to develop. They’re just looking to do so in a sustainable way.
— Fiona Trevelyan Hornblower, president and CEO of the NALP Foundation, in comments noted by the American Lawyer on the results of NALP’s inaugural report, “Should I Stay or Should I Go? Key Factors Driving Law Firm Associate Retention.” The two factors that associates rated as the most important in keeping them at their current job were earning a high base salary and maintaining work-life balance. “Associates were not at all keen for firms to retrench on flexibility and remote work opportunities,” Hornblower said, citing that post-pandemic change as one of the top reasons associates said they would leave their firms.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
