Biglaw

Biglaw Firm To Offer Reduced Work Schedule -- With Reduced Pay, Of Course

This shouldn't be a radical idea, but in Biglaw it is.

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work/life balance The girl is balancing between work and life. Career or family relationships. Choice. Vector illustration in cartoon styleBiglaw firms are known for their demanding workload and, at times, unpredictable hours. Sure, they pay you an awful lot of money, but that doesn’t always make up for it — that’s why burnout and associate turnover are a perennial issue in the industry. For a bunch of attorneys, the Biglaw juice is not worth the squeeze, which begets a thriving lateral job market where so-called “lifestyle” firms are able to attract quality candidates at a lower sticker price by offering a more reasonable schedule.

But what if that deal — reduced hours for reduced compensation — was available at a major law firm? Slaughter and May is betting on the appeal of exactly that.

As reported by Legal Cheek, the Magic Circle firm has had a pilot program since 2021 which allows its attorneys that flexibility:

The option, dubbed ‘Switch On/Off’, enables eligible associates to reduce to either a 0.9 or 0.8 full-time equivalent, with pay and holiday entitlement pro-rated accordingly. The firm has been trailing the system since early 2021.

Lawyers who take up the option will continue to work five days as week with non-working days taken in up to two pre-agreed blocks over a 12-month period. Associates remain on the scheme for a year.

After the success of the pilot program, the firm has decided to make the option a permanent one. As Slaughter and May chief people officer, Jonathan Clarke, said, “Following a successful trial period, we are delighted to introduce the Job Design Scheme as a permanent offering for our associates. The new working arrangement provides our lawyers with a different approach, which enables them to develop their careers and deliver value for our clients, whilst simultaneously having the time to pursue other interests and maintain a greater work-life balance.”

It’s great to see a major law firm thinking outside of the the bill, bill, bill mindset in an effort to keep talent.

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @Kathryn1@mastodon.social.

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