McLeod Duminy Legal Recruitment

Our article on Page 3 of LawNews Issue 21, about the challenges the profession faces in dealing with mental health risks for lawyers.

New Zealand law firm staff members are in for a treat this year as most of the legal industry expect to increase pay at or above the consumer price index (CPI).

The insight comes from the recently concluded “2018 NZ Legal Industry Salary and HR Issues Survey” commissioned by the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) and McLeod Duminy, which gathered responses from 101 law firms that employ nearly 2,700 staff.

Most staff working at New Zealand law firms can expect to receive a pay rise at or above the Consumer Price Index (CPI), according to research conducted by Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) and McLeod Duminy.

Women make up the majority of the legal industry yet this dominance is not reflected in partner ranks, a new study reveals.

About 63 per cent of all lawyers are female, yet less than a third are on the board, research conducted by Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) and McLeod Duminy showed.

With a change in government for the first time in nearly a decade, a legal recruitment firm says changes in hiring trends are likely as the programmes of the Labour-led alliance get underway.

Kirsty Spears, Director at legal recruitment firm McLeod Duminy, says, for example, lawyers fail to get credit for the free work they provide to those who need it most.

“We see ‘pro bono’ and volunteer work included on almost all the CVs we get through, indicating how widespread volunteering is within the legal fraternity,” she says. “By volunteering their services, those in the legal profession are contributing to the betterment of society in a number of ways.”

Constant comparison of salary levels seems to be an almost obsessive pastime for lawyers at all levels, and something we get asked about frequently, says Kirsty Spears, Director at McLeod Duminy Legal Careers.

Kirsty Spears – It is a little surprising that the employee turnover in the legal profession pretty much matches the national average. Conventional wisdom would have that turnover of professionals would be lower than average and lawyers are no exception, having typically studied for many years, struggled to get that first step on the ladder as a graduate and working in a field that needs engagement and focus to achieve results.

Getting the Perfect CV is not necessarily the easiest thing in the world to put together, notwithstanding lawyers’ well-honed ability with words and their abilities in preparing and presenting documentation.

There’s still a wide gender disparity at the most senior ranks of law firms in New Zealand.

At the equity partner level, 81% are male while only 19% are female, according to a study conducted by the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) and McLeod Duminy.