Stewardship 101: Making the Most of Our Human Resources

There is a lot that has been said and, in some respects, is entirely self evident about this recent
article in the "New York Times" about the dearth of women in partnership and leadership roles in major law firms. (The same can presumably be said about visible minorities...) What remains unspoken, and is consistent with one of the premises of this blog, is the invocation to all of us - as stewards of the careers of the attorneys we work with and also of the economic interests of the clients we serve - to be constantly pushing this issue with our clients. The absence, within a uniformly strong talent pool, of the whole range of opinions and points of view (including - and maybe especially - those grounded in our genetic differences) can only be viewed as a tremendous loss to legal employers and society as a whole. Moreover, the ever increasing competition for talent creates a critical economic imperative for legal employers to employ greater creativity in retaining their most essential human asset. The obvious starting points, in Lawcruiter's opinion, is the partnership agreement and the firm's efforts in institutionalizing client relationships. The more flexibility in the agreement, the easier it is to implement individualized relationships with its most valued human resources. Likewise, the greater a firm's success in client institutionalization (and thus the elimination of the "critical lawyer" in favor of the "team") - the easier it becomes for law firms to support the individual life needs of their partners and associates. What comes first of all, however, is a culture change. What motivates this culture change will be pure economics.