admin One of the law firm pain points has always been its recruitment and the process that goes behind the recruitment. When it comes to skilled lawyers the legal industry is facing a talent shortage. Firms struggle to fill the vacancies since they compete for the same people. Recruiting is highly competitive post-pandemic, and the legal industry faces unique recruitment challenges. These are some of the common problems listed below faced by any law firm or organisation.
Talent Acquisition: One of the major problems faced by law firms is the decreasing number of graduates passing out from law colleges every year which is affecting the availability and the hiring of skilled labour in many organisations and firms. To find a stellar candidate who can handle the stress of being an attorney when the demands on employees is very high has almost become a dream. Another major problem is that people pursuing law are not suited for it and hence even though a candidate is hired he or she may not be as fruitful as expected. Hiring freshers and interns requires a lot of training and development which is time-consuming and also needs a lot of assistance because they need to be supervised time and again as what they learn in law college and the applied practices are quite different.
Shortage of Time: Interviews are really lengthy and it takes a lot of time and energy to schedule and conduct interview rounds. Examining resumes and shortlisting the right candidate with a fine-comb can be a real challenge because all these processes along with the workload and time-sensitive deadlines can be really stressful. Recruitment requires you to do a ‘Law of Average’ which consumes a lot of time, say for example you finalise everything with an employee and at the eleventh hour the candidate cancels on you and says that he has changed his mind. So it brings you back to the drawing board and starts the process of searching and assessing a suitable person who can carry out the tasks efficiently all over again and the process repeats till you find a suitable candidate alas.
Lack of trustworthy technology: Law Firms need to find a reliable technology for their recruitment process as it can accelerate their recruitment process but there is always a threat of data breaches and other threats looms online. So law firms are always mostly concerned about secured technology as more than any industry law firms have a higher standard of confidentiality to maintain. And with all these parameters it is hard to find a trustworthy software or technology so that their details don’t get leaked out in the media or anywhere else also keeping the budget in mind so that it does not become heavy on the pocket.
Meeting the needs of recruiter and candidate: A legal Law Firm is not doing good to anyone unless they place the right candidate in the right role. Finding the perfect match is more than just signing the contract, it’s more about the candidate growing in the business and becoming successful. Suppose, the law firm might love the candidate but their talents and expectations may not be met by the law firms and likewise the candidate may love the firm but the recruiter doesn’t see him as a progressing candidate at his law firm so they may end up rejecting the offer. Also with changing times nowadays many lawyers prefer to work from the comfort of their homes and expect a flexibility of time which makes it even harder for recruiters to meet those needs.
Remuneration and Bonus Schemes: As there is a shortage of lawyers, merit based compensation has become a very common trend in law firms these days. So the amount of compensation a lawyer receives will be directly linked with his performance and his retention in the firm. So, if a lawyer is unable to perform then there is a very high chance that he would leave the organisation within a short period of his joining, which would make it very difficult to retain good lawyers.
As the well known adage goes: “Most businesses are faced with a number of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible problems.” While many of the challenges listed in the above paragraphs might appear incredibly tricky or downright impossible to solve, there are many ways to overcome them. Technology can play a big factor in driving the recruitment levels up, along with the vast amounts of data and various communication methods that are now readily available and easily accessible. One thing is for certain, challenges like these will keep arising. It is up to the industry leaders to solve such problems.
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