by Rupa G. Singh
On March 19, 2009, we held the inaugural Balanomics™ program to initiate a dialogue about broad-based change in the legal profession to enhance all attorneys’ balance, profitability, and productivity. Hosted by signatory Lawyers Club of San Diego as part of its annual Work/Life Balance Symposium, the program attracted about 150 practitioners from various areas of the law in different stages of their career.
While other presenters during the Symposium focused on ways that each attorney might try to define and find balance that works on an individual level, we discussed how Balanomics™ seeks institutional support for work/life balance in the legal profession. No one can fail to recognize the value of introspection, time-management strategies, and task-prioritizing techniques in each attorney’s quest for balance. However, the profession as a whole also needs to help attorneys find balance because it cannot afford to forgo the many economic and other benefits of well-implemented work/life balance policies. As we explained, instead of losing talented attorneys to attrition in a good economy or layoffs during a downturn, legal employers can offer reduced-hour and other flexible work schedules as a profitable alternative regardless of the economic climate. The resulting “win-win” situation allows accomplished attorneys to be productive in a workplace culture that values work quality, responsiveness, and accessibility over face time while also giving employers a money-saving alternative to the negative impact that both layoffs and attrition have on their bottom line.
As the question-and-answer session demonstrated, all three Balanomics™ constituents—including law firms, law departments, and professional associations—are thinking creatively about how to structure employment and retention arrangements to maximize attorney productivity and profitability:
Q. How does Balanomics™ fit into the diversity discussion?
A. Given the disproportionate and acute affect of work/life imbalance on women in the law, it is surprising that many diversity organizations committed to the professional advancement of their members had been silent on this issue. Integrating work/life balance issues into the larger diversity discussion is certainly one goal of the initiative, one that has gotten off to a great start with the support and partnership of various minority organizations. We are proud that our partners understand how critical it is that work/life balance become part of the diversity framework.
Q. How does Balanomics™ allow employers to save money or make profits?
A. Just like there is a business case for improving diversity in the profession, there is a clear cut business case for improving work/life balance in the law. The Balanomics™ premise (to be demonstrated through economic tools) is that law firms are more profitable in the long run if they reduce associates’ billable hours per year instead of laying off a certain number of associates (or losing them to attrition). This is because it costs a lot of money to recruit and train attorneys, all of which is lost if the attorney leaves or is laid off, and the firm also incurs replacement costs while losing institutional knowledge and client goodwill. By offering work/life balance options, law firms can retain talented lawyers during a boom and remain lean during a downturn, and even pass on these savings to their clients instead of transferring some of the costs to find replacements and re-learn information to them.
Q. How does Balanomics™ address progression and promotion issues for those taking advantage of a reduced-hour schedule or other flexible option offered as part of an employer’s work/life balance policy?
A. Nothing in the Balanomics™ mission should be mistaken to suggest that short-term balance solutions are to come at the cost of long-term career advancement. First and foremost, Balanomics™ seeks to avoid an emphasis on number of hours billed and number of years worked without regard to the attorney’s quality of work, responsiveness, and accessibility. Thus, if attorneys are talented enough to retain despite the risk of attrition during good economic times or layoffs during a downturn by being offered work/life balance options, then they must be seen as talented enough to be promoted based on the quality of their work instead of face time. Certainly, this progression must be commensurate with the attorneys’ skill and experience, and fit the demands of a particular practice, but Balanomics™ anticipates that attorneys at all levels be eligible to pursue professional advancement and work/life balance.
Q. How do layoffs or attrition on outside counsel teams negatively affect clients?
A. According to corporate law departments, the loss of outside counsel team members significantly depletes the annual in-house budget because it requires in-house counsel to spend time duplicating efforts. Coupled with inevitable delays and loss of institutional knowledge, the impact on clients is noteworthy enough to influence future decisions in retaining law firms that experience high turnover rates.
To learn more about Balanomics™, please visit www.balanomics.net.