The Estrin Report

New LitSupport Survey Shows Managers Get Big Bucks

The Organization of Legal Professionals (OLP) has been surveying Litigation Support Professionals to uncover interesting insights and valuable facts to help LSPs make the most of their careers.  The survey, sponsored by ZyLab and Career Numbers, is unlike traditional salary and utilization surveys. The survey is left open to regularly update the information and release new and interesting insights.  Additionally, OLP/Zylab will continue to provide free access to the updated results to each person who completes the survey. 

The Organization of Legal Professionals (OLP) is a non-profit organization providing continuing legal education and certification exams to the legal community.  The organization offers courses in eDiscovery, litigation support, project management and other timely topics.  OLP also offers over 40 scholarships per year to long-term unemployed legal professionals. 

The goal of the survey is to empower legal professionals to make the most of their careers by providing personalized career information, giving them better insight into the implications of their decisions. Companies are using data to earn larger profits, sports teams are using data to build better teams, and now it’s time for law firm employees to start using data to make the most of their careers.

The survey replaces generic statistics such as “people with law degrees earn, on average, 20% more over their careers than those with Bachelors degrees” with smart comparisons, such as “people like you (based on your education, experience, career goals, work ethic, and more) earn, on average, 34% more over their careers by attending a top 25 law school program, feel 42% more satisfied with their career, work 6 hours more per week, and feel 14% more stressed.”

The survey has been completed by almost 300 firms across the U.S. 

Here are some of the many insights uncovered to date:

• Nearly three-quarters of Litigation Support Professionals (LSPs) reported being paid an annual salary with the average salary equal to $75,700.
• The average Litigation Support Manager earns $111,000 per year while their direct reports average $89,300 of total compensation per year.
• 65% of LSPs received an annual bonus, and a super majority reported that the size of their bonus was based on merit and/or their employer’s success. 
• The average annual raise was 3.1% this past year, with the highest and lowest earning LSPs receiving the lowest annual raises on a percentage basis.
• 55% of LSPs agree or strongly agree that their employer’s technology makes it easy for them to do their work well, while 27% say that their employer’s technology is antiquated or somewhat antiquated.
• Nearly 32% consider themselves satisfied with their positions while almost 30% are dissatisfied with the recognition that they receive.
• More than half of LSPs believe that their employer’s reputation is within the top 20% of their industry.
• 55% are satisfied to moderately satisfied with their work/life balance and over 70% are moderately satisfied to satisfied with their boss.
• LSPs consider on-the-job training to be the most valuable training method, followed by Webinars, Seminars, and then Self-Study.
• Two-thirds of LSPs are satisfied or mostly satisfied with their career, while only 51% are satisfied or mostly satisfied with their compensation.
• 62% of LSPs have a private office while 52% have an office window.
• While less than 10% of LSPs are actively looking for a new job, the majority are open to better employment opportunities.

Summary:  Hot! Candidates are paid well, the work is interesting and while LSP’s do not feel they receive as much recognition as they would like, it appears to be an area of strong consideration for those with excellent technology background even without legal knowledge.

This is a small portion of the insights that are available to participants who have completed the comprehensive salary and utilization survey.  OLP/Zylab will continue to update the information, so check back quarterly for updated reports and new insights. For more information or to participate in the survey, please visit www.theolp.org.  For more information regarding ZyLab, go to: www.zylab.com.

Going On's.....This 'n Thats.....

Tough week?  Take a few moments to enjoy our guest blogger, Celia Elwell, RP and senior paralegal, who sends us interesting links and articles.  Enjoy!

Judge Throws Out RICO Claims Against Johnson & Johnson, by Shannon P. Duffy, The Legal Intelligencer
http://www.law.com/jsp/pa/PubArticlePA.jsp?id=1202504306265

Federal Judge Dismisses BP Oil Spill Fraud Lawsuit, by Maureen Cosgrove, JURIST
http://bit.ly/odVde4

Jury Awards $900 Thousand In Age Discrimination Case, by Ellen Simon, Employee’s Rights Post Blog
http://bit.ly/r7kUkO

Third Circuit Okays Collection of DNA from Criminal Suspects, by Nathan Koppel, Wall Street Journal Law Blog
http://on.wsj.com/mQC5sq

Preparing Americans for Death Lets Hospices Neglect End of Life, by Peter Waldman, Bloomberg
http://bloom.bg/qL6P6N

LegalZoom Sued by Alabama Bar Group for Unauthorized Practice, by Stephanie Rabiner, Strategist, The Findlaw Law Firm Business Blog
http://bit.ly/nBb9LF

The Grey Area of Unauthorized Legal Practice, Law Librarian Blog
http://bit.ly/oDq22g

Handle Loaded E-Discovery Tools With Care, by Sean Doherty, Law Technology News
http://bit.ly/pVg1KW

Are Student Cell Phone Records Discoverable?, by Joshua A. Engel, Law Technology News
http://bit.ly/pk7clJ

Conn. High Court Dismisses Criminal Case for Discovery Abuse, by Christian Nolan, LTN Law Technology News, Law.com
http://bit.ly/nyp7KZ

Writing to Persuade, Legal Writing Prof Blog
http://bit.ly/n3mhTR

So Your Screwed up That Research Memo to the Partner, Now What?, Legal Skills Professor Blog
http://bit.ly/oansmQ

Typography for Lawyers - the book, by Raymond Ward, the (new) legal writer
http://bit.ly/etBTsq

The Importance of Printing it Out, by Raymond Ward, the (new) legal writer)
http://bit.ly/p33PeT

In a Field of Reason, Lawyers Woo Luck Too, by Benjamin Wieser, The New York Times
http://nyti.ms/qoY5P4

10 Reasons Why Most Lawyer Blogs Are Boring, by Cordell Parvin LLC, JD Supra Blog
http://bit.ly/osOfeE

Why Facebook's Facial Recognition is Creepy, by Sarah Jacobsson Purewal, PCWorld
http://bit.ly/oT2Dhb

Spies Like You?, by Josh Hyatt, CFO Magazine
http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14586837

5 Tips for Selecting PPC Keywords, by Jason Tabeling, Search Engine Watch
http://bit.ly/mUz34k

Gmail’s New Features: A First Look, by Eric Mack, PC World
http://bit.ly/oaX2kP

Google Plus for Lawyers, Legal Skills Professor Blog
http://bit.ly/nO4iUl

Online CLE Session: 60 iPhone and iPad Apps in 60 Minutes for Lawyers, iPhone J.D.
http://bit.ly/qmSl8F

MoreLaw Lexapedia (includes Verdicts and Decision, Recent Case Law Updates, and other valuable links)
http://www.morelaw.com/

Plain Language (a federal government website - check out Tips and Tools)
http://www.plainlanguage.gov/

Asset Search Blog published by Fred L. Abrams, Attorney
http://www.assetsearchblog.com/

Municode (free access to most municipal codes)
http://www.municode.com/

Paralegal: The Only Legal Job Creating Its Own Positions & Making Lots of Mula

The paralegal profession was created out of whole cloth.  Sometime about 30 years ago, someone (I don't know who) had an idea to title a person who was moving out of the legal secretary position but not quite into the associate position, a paralegal.  On top of that, whoever this person was, figured out that the paralegal could get paid more dollars and -wait! wait! don't tell me! - could also get billed out handsomely to the client but not so handsomely as to scare the client away.

Fast forward to the present, and the paralegal does it again.  Only this time, it's called......(drum roll, please) - an eDiscovery Paralegal.  Hot, hot, hot, folks.  The field cannot get enough people for these positions.  Literally.  It's very hard to find a person who doesn't need to be lawyer but does need a thorough understanding of the law and who doesn't need to be a computer programmer but does need to be techie savvy. Kind of a techie/quasi-lawyer hybrid.

Is there such a person?  There sure is if you are a paralegal well-versed in eDiscovery and technology.  Here is a sample of a job posting for just such a person:

"eDiscovery professional with a Paralegal background.  Lead eDiscovery efforts within the company’s Corporate Legal Department.  Support document retention and electronic discovery (eDiscovery) in multiple locations throughout the world. Manage the tracking and storage of voluminous corporate documents worldwide.

Develop and implement processes related to document retention. Interface with in-house and outside counsel to manage electronic discovery (eDiscovery) collections and productions as part of the litigation discovery process.  Collect electronically stored information for production in litigation matters.

Knowledge of: EDRM, the Sedona Principles, ESI, Sanctions, Triggering Events, latest technology, the discovery process, New Federal Rules, collection procedures, processing & review procedures. Must be able to work well with legal service providers.  Must be familiar with: Documentum, Symantec Enterprise Vault, EnCase, ARMA, Information Risk Management; IPRO,  Relativity, iConect, Concordance, Summation, FYI and other programs."

Salaries are excellent ranging anywhere from $60,000 to over $100,000 depending upon several factors (plus overtime in many instances.)  You can work for a law firm, in-house legal department or a vendor.  The position has upward mobility opportunities.  You are not locked in as a paralegal with only a junior or senior level designation for the rest of your career.  You don't hit a hard salary ceiling because you'll never make partner.  You actually get off a sticky floor.

In fact, if you are a paralegal and have the skills and given that eDiscovery is a) here to stay b) exploding as each minute ticks; and, c) crying out for someone with your background, why wouldn't an enterprising paralegal jump for an opportunity like this?

Probably because the eDiscovery field is so new that there are no real standarized job descriptions, titles or, for that matter, formalized training.  Aha! I say.  That's changing.  And, yes, I'm bringing to your attention The Organization of Legal Professionals (www.theolp.org) because this non-profit is offering a new, online, interactive 8 week course that is going to give you the right formal training to put to use and skills to create a position within your firm or other entity.

That's what paralegals do. The history of Paralegals is consistent: get the training and then figure out that they can create positions because........law firms need them and law firms will buy what they need. The paralegal position is the only job within the legal field that is flexible enough to allow creativity to develop positions directly in line with current trends.  Think about it: legal background, technology, team player, non-attorney, essential to the overall operation and profit of a law firm.  You simply take your background and roll it into the ever-changing needs of a firm, giving yourself a new title and moving up an otherwise invisible career ladder.

Paralegals did this with case managers; litigation support positions (most lit support managers came up through paralegal); the paralegal administrator; trial specialist and other positions.  And now, the eDiscovery Paralegal.

Take the Advanced eDiscovery (Next Level) course with The OLP.  It starts on Tuesday.  It meets twice a week for 8 weeks, is taught by very seasoned pros and gives you a solid understanding of eDiscovery past the basics.  Paralegals have done it before and will do it again:  taking skills, knowledge and know-how and meeting the needs of the firm and the client in previously undefined but necessary jobs. It's power - sure as shootin', it's power. 

 

 

 

"Biglaw Plods Towards Mastodon's Fate"

Goodness, gracious, this is a remarkable discussion about the future of big law firms! Thanks to lawyer, author, & blogger Robert J. Ambrogi for highlighting it in Legal Blog Watch:

"When the general counsel of a major corporation says that the current model of the large law firm is heading towards extinction, ears perk up throughout the legal industry. That is precisely what happened after Sun Microsystems GC Mike Dillon wrote on his blog last week that Biglaw is going The Way of the Mastodon. His thesis is that large law firms exist primarily as aggregators of specialized legal expertise -- by combining multiple legal disciplines, firms can provide 'one stop shopping' for their clients. That used to make sense, in the days before the Internet when it was inefficient for a company to hunt down all the specialized legal talent it might need. But with the Internet, the model is changed, Dillon says."

If you work for a big law firm, I strongly recommend reading the entire post!

"Orrick's Staffing Moves Pay Off -- Will Other Firms Follow?"

So, would you want to work in Wheeling, West Virginia? Read all about the separation of staff from lawyers in this article from The Recorder:

"When Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe announced it would move scores of support staff to a small industrial town in West Virginia, lawyers inside and out were skeptical of the quality of work and the return on investment.

"Five years later, the 980-lawyer firm says it's saved more than $20 million thanks to the Global Operations Center in Wheeling, W.Va. -- all without diminishing its services.

"But even with the purported success, most other large law firms still haven't jumped to copy it for themselves. Leaders say savings wouldn't be significant for their firms and the cost of splitting attorneys from staff would be too high [emphasis added].

"'We're not like a big corporation,' said Francis Milone, chair of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, which employs 1,300 lawyers. 'We depend very heavily on personal relationships between lawyers and staff [emphasis added], and it would be a very substantial change and disruption if we told people you either don't have a job or you can move to wherever.'

"Consultants say that law firms will eventually have to bite the bullet, especially with the ever-increasing cost of doing business, amplified by the recent round of associate salary hikes.

[snip]

"The firm hung its "O" on the old Wheeling Stamping building in the spring of 2002 and fielded more than 6,000 applications for 73 positions [emphasis added]. Now with 160 employees, the around-the-clock center handles everything from computer network management and help desk services to billing and collections as well as library services, human resources administration and marketing research. Most recently, the firm even added paralegals to the mix [emphasis added]."

Really, what do you think about working in an office described as, "No lawyers practice here, just those who support them"?

"Quick naps do the job at this law firm"

Calling all workaholics! Be smart & take some time off for a rejuvenating nap..at work!

"The Power Room at one Raleigh law office isn't a place where high-profile deals get done or important meetings occur.

"It's for snoozing.

"As workers log in longer hours, there is increasing interest in the revitalizing power of naps. One company in New York sells 20- minute sessions in nap pods. A recent study in Greece showed that regular naps can reduce the risk of heart attacks.

"Honestly, who hasn't had stressful workdays when an afternoon siesta would have hit the spot?

"Put the partners at Kilpatrick Stockton in the pro-nap camp."

"National Firms Stake Claim in Phoenix's Robust Economy"

Hmm, ever thought about moving to Arizona? Sounds like firms in Phoenix are heating up!

"It may be a dry heat in Phoenix, but it's also a hot legal market for some national law firms moving into the desert city to take advantage of the region's flourishing economy.

"Ranked the fifth-largest city in the nation with 1.5 million people at the center of a metropolitan area of 3.8 million, Phoenix has the fastest-growing population of any major U.S. city, with professional and technical jobs creating the biggest surge in its employment sectors.

"Law firms new to the area want a piece of the thriving hospitality, real estate, construction, aerospace and electronics industries. But the influx of national firms means that some firms with long-standing practices in Phoenix are feeling a pinch from the competition.

'The large national firms are competing for a relatively small number of people,' said Elliott Portnoy, chairman of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. The 658-attorney firm opened a Phoenix office in June 2006 with seven lawyers from Squire, Sanders & Dempsey."

"Boston law firm plans San Diego expansion"

Oh, boy, firms expanding & lawyers changing firms. See the details in this San Diego Union-Tribune news article:

"The Boston law firm Goodwin Procter has recruited prominent local biotechnology lawyer Stephen C. Ferruolo to launch an office in San Diego as part of the firm's push into California.

"Stephen C. Ferruolo is expected to take much of his client base with him.
Ferruolo, 56, has been a highly visible face for Heller Ehrman, one of the few one-stop-shopping law firms for San Diego's biotechnology companies. He is also vice president and general counsel for Biocom, the region's biotechnology industry organization.

"Also leaving Heller Ehrman's life sciences practice for Goodwin Procter are partner Ryan Murr, several associates and a paralegal."

Nice to see the mention of a paralegal moving too; better, of course, if that person had also been named...

"Firms Predict More Work, Less Equity"

What does this news mean for paralegals? I'm guessing higher required billable hours & maybe higher salaries too:

"Although law firm leaders at a recent conference publicly pooh-poohed predictions that industry profitability would stumble, in a new survey they say increasing expenses will cut into their bottom line this year.

"Lawyers can expect to be pushed for more billable hours while facing a harder struggle to make equity partner. And the ranks of associates and nonequity partners will rise much faster than any increase in equity slots, law firm leaders said.

"The first managing partner confidence index [be sure to check the comments to this post!] -- a survey of more than 100 Am Law 200 firm leaders -- was released this week by Citigroup Private Bank, which serves as banker to 550 law firms, including many of the nation's largest.

[snip]

"Am Law 200 firms reported big growth last year. But while most respondents predict revenue will continue to climb, they also expect expenses -- led by lawyer salaries -- to do the same. More than 90 percent said lawyer salaries would be the primary rising cost this year -- and that was before the recent round of associate salary raises that brought first-years up to $160,000 in New York and $145,000 most everywhere else.

[snip]

"Non-lawyer staff salaries and real estate costs are also expected to grow at a faster clip [emphasis added] than last year, [Danilo DiPietro, client head of Citigroup's law firm group] said."

"Too Many Laws, Not Enough Lawyers"

I'm thinking this article means it might be a good time for SOX paralegals to seek raises:

"With business booming at the nation's law firms, the fees they charge will climb steadily. Expect the cost of corporate legal services to continue to increase an average of one and a half times the rate of inflation in coming years. The trend will vary widely by region, with the largest jumps likely in major metropolitan areas.

"What's fueling demand? The explosion of new corporate compliance regulations, spawned in large part by the Sarbanes-Oxley reform law, means businesses have a lot more legal paperwork. Merger mania is also keeping lawyers busy as companies buy and sell one another at a fast clip. Every corporate deal generates a raft of necessary legal documents. Finally, plain old economic growth is underpinning a natural expansion in the market for legal services. As a result, law firms are averaging a comfortable 10% rate of profit growth [emphasis added] per partner per year."