November 1, 2007
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Established in 1966 by the ABA, the ABA Retirement Funds’ program (the “Program”) provides full-service, cost-effective
retirement plans solutions to law firms of all sizes, including 401(k), profit sharing and defined benefit plans. The Program
is administered by State Street, a global leader in serving institutional investors, and operated with its affiliate, CitiStreet LLC.
ABA Retirement Funds
P.O. Box 5142
Boston, MA 02206-5142
Phone: 1-877-955-2272
abaretirement@citistreetonline.com
www.abaretirement.com
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ALA Currents is a free newsletter about law firm management trends and innovations
provided exclusively upon request to members of the Association of Legal Administrators.
News & Views
STARTING SALARIES FOR LEGAL PROFESSIONALS TO INCREASE
Average starting salaries for legal professionals in the United States are projected to rise 4.2 percent,
according to the just-released Robert Half Legal 2008 Salary Guide. The largest increases in base
compensation are expected for first-year associates and attorneys with one to three years of experience
at large law firms.
“The need for professionals with specialized expertise, coupled with a declining supply of law school
graduates, has created a competitive hiring environment. As a result, many law offices are willing to pay
higher salaries for in-demand skill sets,” said Charles Volkert, Executive Director for Robert Half Legal. “Job
seekers will see the greatest gains in compensation at large law firms, many of which are intensifying their
recruiting and retention efforts.”
Positions in Demand
According to Robert Half Legal research, average starting salaries for attorneys are expected to rise 5.4
percent in 2008. First-year associates at large law firms (those having 75 or more attorneys) will see the
greatest gain in compensation. Average base compensation for this role is expected to rise 9.1 percent, to
the range of $111,750 to $137,000 annually.
Licensed attorneys with one to three years of experience at large law firms will earn between $114,000
and $147,500 per year, an 8.2 percent increase over 2007 projections, the research reveals. Senior
attorneys with 10 or more years of experience at large firms will see starting salaries rise 7.9 percent, to the
range of $167,500 to $234,000 annually.
Paralegals can expect average starting salaries to rise 3.4 percent in 2008. The base compensation of
midlevel paralegals with four to six years of experience at large law firms is expected to increase 4.4 percent,
to between $48,000 and $64,500 annually. Senior executive legal secretaries with 12 or more years of
experience at large firms will see starting salaries in the range of $55,750 to $69,500, a 6.1 percent increase
over 2007 levels.
Average starting salaries for legal administrators and office managers in large law firms are expected to
increase 4.2 percent, to the range of $84,750 to $130,500.
Corporate Attorneys
In-house attorneys will see average gains of 3.8 percent over 2007 levels. First-year associates can expect
annual base compensation to rise 4.9 percent, to between $63,750 and $91,000. Average starting salaries for
licensed attorneys with 10 or more years of experience will rise 4.1 percent, to the range of $126,000 to
$210,750 annually.
Other key findings from the Robert Half Legal 2008 Salary Guide include:
- Automated litigation support managers will see average starting salaries increase 5.7
percent, to the range of $52,500 to $85,750 per year.
- Salaries for librarians are projected to rise 5.6 percent, to between $43,000 and
$69,500.
- Compensation for contract administrators with four or more years of experience is
anticipated to increase 5.3 percent, with starting salaries averaging $55,500 to $88,250.
- In-house midlevel paralegals with four to six years of experience will see average base
compensation increase 5.1 percent, to the range of $47,000 to $61,500.
- In corporate legal departments, starting salaries for senior executive legal secretaries
with seven or more years of experience are projected to rise 5.1 percent, to between
$48,250 and $64,250.
For more information or to order a free copy of the Robert Half Legal 2008 Salary Guide,
visit www.roberthalflegal.com
or call (800) 870-8367.
Management Innovations
ORGANIZATION LAUNCHED TO UNITE WOMEN IN LEGAL TECHNOLOGY
Women in eDiscovery recently announced the formation of an organization that will bring together
businesswomen interested in technology related to the legal industry and to provide opportunities to help
each other grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and
recognition.
“Our goals for this organization include bridging the knowledge gap for women between old technology,
traditional technology, and future trends,” said Co-Founder Margaret Havinga. “We plan to offer educational
and certification opportunities for women who are interested in furthering their education, and we hope to
create a strong communication network among women focused in the legal and technology industries.”
Within just a few months, the organization has grown to nearly 500 women with 12 local chapters
throughout the United States and one chapter in London, England.
Among the women who have joined the organization are attorneys from law firms and corporations,
litigation support professionals, paralegals, legal IT staff, consultants, and vendors.
“We are so thankful for the many people who have committed to sharing their time, knowledge, and
resources with us,” said Co-Founder Shawnna Childress. “The continued support we are seeing from law
firms and vendors, as well as the creativity and volunteer work from the national and chapter board
members, have made us what we are today.”
Lana Schell, Co-Founder of Women in eDiscovery, added, “We know there are countless legal
professionals across the country asking what they can do to show their support for colleagues and
careers. By continuing to grow our membership across the globe, organizations like Women in
eDiscovery help educate and elevate not only peers, but practitioners throughout.”
For more information, visit
www.womeninediscovery.com.
Peer Points
ALA Management SolutionsSM is a free service provided as an ALA membership benefit.
The professionals who staff this help desk explore resources and share information about hot law office
management topics like the one addressed here. If you have a question, call ALA Management SolutionsSM
at (847) 267-1252 or e-mail infocentral@alanet.org.
RETREAT PLANNING
I’m in charge of my firm’s partnership retreat. I’ve organized these events practically every year during my
tenure as an administrator, but I want to know what others do to ensure a good event. Do you have any
guidance on creating a partner retreat agenda that works?
Read the following excerpt from an article by Ronald Seigneur, “Law Firm Planning Retreats: A Management Guide
for Consensus Building Activities.” The entire article is available for purchase through the
ALA Management EncyclopediaSM.
- When undertaking a retreat-planning initiative, it important that an agenda be developed and that someone monitor
the pre-established time budget to ensure that the time allotted for discussion of the agenda items is maintained in order to
ensure all scheduled topics are covered. There may be, however, instances where a specific topic requires more time to
properly develop to the point that a resolution or decision can be reached by the group; in these instances the facilitator
will need to work with firm management to verify that it is appropriate to deviate from the agenda schedule even if it means
some other topic is abandoned or given diminished time. The ability to be flexible to build consensus on at least a few key
retreat agenda items is sometimes more important than ensuring that all items are fully covered, even if this means that
certain things need to be rescheduled for discussion subsequent to the retreat meeting.
An article in the January/February 2007 issue of ALA’s journal, Legal Management, titled
“Keep It Together”
and authored by well-known legal consultant Ed Poll, also provides an excellent overview of how to plan a law firm retreat and
achieve its strategic objectives.
Legal consultant Altman Weil offers “Planning Creative Law Firm Retreats,”
which focuses on retreat topics, such as marketing – client presentations and client survey results; management education –
alternative billing and financial planning; and training – delegation and rainmaking.
Consultant Joel Rose offers many articles on this topic. See these items at the Joel A. Rose & Associates Inc. Web site:
The Practice Development Counsel published
“Assuring that Your Retreat Moves Forward.”
It covers retreat planning and execution.
Training consultant Working Resources offers a
sample partnership retreat agenda.
And, you may wish to locate the following articles:
- “How to Make Partner Retreats More Productive,” LOMAR newsletter, Institute of Management & Administration Inc.,
July 1999;
- “10 Ground Rules for a More Productive Partner Retreat,” Partner’s Report newsletter, Institute of Management &
Administration Inc., June 2001;
- “To Move a Firm Forward – Retreat?” Jill Schachner Chanen, ABA Journal, May 1999; and
- “How to Maximize the Benefits of Partnership Retreats,” Neville Blakemore III, Law Firm Partnership and Benefits Report Newsletter,
Leader Publications – a Division of American Lawyer Media Inc., September 1999.
Special Note: ALA members have free access to the ALA Reference Desk. Send questions on legal
management to infocentral@alanet.org. Staff will conduct
personal research on each question.
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