Read about the latest trends and innovation in the legal practice and novel issues facing attorneys in the business of practicing law.
For those in the legal profession, the need to build community has never been stronger. According to research conducted by the Harvard Business Review, lawyering still counts as one of the “loneliest professions,” and a growing body of research has raised alarms about the mental health of overworked attorneys: one 2023 study found that lawyers facing high stress, overwork and loneliness were more than twice as likely to contemplate suicide as other working adults. The crisis is not confined to attorneys putting in long hours at the largest firms, however, but affects lawyers across the profession including in solo practice, suggesting that isolation and lack of community are significant contributing factors in addition to workload.
A groundbreaking research project commissioned in 2023 by the California Lawyers Association and the District of Columbia Bar found that lawyers are “twice as likely as the general population to contemplate suicide.” An earlier study conducted by the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and the American Bar Association Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs showed that nearly 21% of lawyers and others in legal professions were considered problem drinkers, and worse, over 36% of attorneys were struggling with alcohol abuse.
In HBO’s Succession, the family patriarch creates an unfair playing field, puppeteering a game that seemingly no one can win. For many Big Law and boutique attorneys, the experience can feel eerily similar. Some are realizing that the risk of betting on themselves instead of waiting in the wings isn't really all that risky. Modern firms like Scale solve numerous problems inherent in a traditional legal practice. So long, puppeteer.
I knew we could "do well while doing good" by providing quality counsel and balancing it with our service efforts, but I reached a point where I couldn't grow the firm any further on my own. My dream clients were out of reach with a team of our size, and I didn't know if my family could handle the additional years of effort it would take to grow organically.
The allure of working from home is here to stay. The pandemic showed us that not only is it possible, but it’s far more desirable for many, many lawyers and staff. Given the choice between taking a break from work by gossiping around the office water cooler or picking up their child from school, many have chosen the latter. Who needs to spend $20 on lunch when you can prepare a cheaper, healthier and more delicious lunch in your own kitchen? Why not clear your head by taking your dog for several walks throughout the day? And no one needs to sit in more traffic, ever.
The nature of law firms is changing rapidly, especially as firms strive to stabilize in a new post-pandemic reality. One of those realities is that law firms today are increasingly less local. Many traditional firms are struggling to redraw boundaries around the once indispensable requirement for its lawyers and staff to do their work primarily from a common office. Technology and the pandemic have helped the practice of law shift to less localized but equally connected modes. Remote firms like Scale LLP, which uses technology and a distributed platform to deliver services to its clients from primarily virtual spaces, are on the rise and growing and have even begun to snap up high-quality boutiques that fit their brand and profile.
It’s not hard to reach the conclusion that collaboration feels better, but is it any better for the bottom line? Despite what many lawyers believe, there is evidence in an article by Heidi Gardner, PhD at the Harvard Business School, about a collaborative culture’s positive impact on client revenue in the legal practice.
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With summer only a month away, attorneys are thinking about how to juggle their summer plans while keeping up with their practice obligations. Now more than ever, a remote work practice is enabling more attorneys to do that with greater ease.
The Scale Community gathered this year in Denver for its firmwide attorney retreat to discuss what it would take to build, grow and thrive in 2023. Here are the top 3 goals from those discussions that can help the broader attorney community as we all look ahead to the year as it unfolds.
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