"Free Agency" is a concept that has come to apply to all "knowledge workers," and most especially lawyers. A lawyer who has managed her financial affairs wisely can afford to listen to the best offers that come her way.

Today, as perhaps never before, the combination of the growth of law firms, a client’s willingness to "hire the lawyer, not the firm," rising costs, stagnant hourly rates and the technology explosion that has leveled the playing field, a good lawyer, while perhaps not as valuable as Michael Jordan before he left basketball, is a hot commodity.

Law firms don’t just compete with each other and the ever popular alternative every lawyer has to start his own firm, they also have other competitors: government agencies, corporations and the "Big 5."

For example, Capital One, a credit card issuer, recently advertised it’s place as number 41 on Fortune Magazine’s 1999 list of 100 Best Companies to Work For in America. Dennis Liberson, Capital One’s senior vice president for human resources said "You have to consider employment opportunities like a product you’re selling. [We] are committed to being the best place to work in the Tampa Bay area."

Capital One advertises a list of benefits that makes nirvana look like hell and with which most law firms don’t even try to compete. Capital One provides all "associates" with medical, vision and dental coverage starting the first day on the job; 10 paid holidays, 3 family care days and 3 weeks of vacation in the first year; paid child care and "we go out and find it for everyone who needs it;" 401K plan; casual dress all week long; stock is available to everyone for purchase at a 15% discount; 100% tuition reimbursement; and every manager has a quarterly "fun budget" for every person they manage "to make sure work and play stay in balance."

Keep in mind, the Fortune list puts Capital One at #41 with all of these attributes, even though 93% of the people who work for Capital one are happy with their benefits, 90% voted it a fun place to work and 93% say they are proud to work there. This means there were 40 companies that were better than Capital One.

The point of this story is to show that every member of every law firm can choose from a great number of alternative work environments. No one is chained to the desk. Good lawyers are needed everywhere. Peter Helffrich, a recruiter with TenHoor & Helffrich, has estimated that it takes only six weeks for an associate to find a new job.

Many law firms are not in a financial position to offer the benefits lawyers can get at Capital One, or other companies like it. But the argument can be made that law firms never will be able to offer such benefits if they don’t grow their businesses.

Our hypothesis is that law practices, and particularly law firms, can be better places to work than they currently are. Improving the practice will make some lawyers stick with the firm, even in the presence of a better offer from businesses or consulting firms. For example, Columbus, Ohio’s, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, founded in 1909, boasted in the June 8, 1998, issue of The National Law Journal that no partner had left the firm to practice at another firm in the city in almost 90 years. Even if such a statement begs the question (partners have left to go in-house, change professions, become professors or moved out of town, and there are no comments about whether those who stay "lead lives of quiet desperation"), is there another firm in America that can say the same? Vorys’ associate attrition rate is also impressive: less than 10% per year, and Vorys perceives it as too high.

Vorys keeps its associates on the job with a five point plan many firms would be well to adopt. Salaries are at the high end of the firm’s local market, so associates can’t get much more money elsewhere and stay in Columbus. Feedback is provided in oral and written evaluations, and each associate is assigned a mentor. The firm still hires with the idea that every associate will make partner at the end of 7 ½ years. Although some don’t make it, there is no "up or out" policy. Billable hours are not circulated through the firm: only the managing partner knows how much each associate bills. And, the firm has instituted a time limit of one year on mentioning any associate’s mistake.

Firms have tried other methods for keeping associates on board. Such ideas always start with paying salaries that are at the top of the local market and move through flexible partnership tracks (at the direction of the associate), increased client contact, paid maternity/paternity leave of up to six months, telecommuting funded by the firm and creating regular forums for sharing their concerns.

It should be apparent that lawyers have many opportunities to work in environments where life is not as restrictive as it is in most firms. Lawyers are "free agents" today. As one senior lawyer put it, "Not every day is a good day. If they get a call from a head hunter on a bad day, they leave." The firm’s job is to make sure there are no better offers out there. Sometimes, it’s as easy as that.

İPeopleWealth March 1999