It’s easy to dismiss the idea of work-life balance. It’s a common notion that the only way to find success in the legal industry is to live and breathe the law. Impending deadlines, increasing client demands, and the pressure to keep up with evolving technology often mean putting home life on the back burner.
But as baby boomers continue to retire and Generation Xers and millennials saturate the workforce, many attorneys are bringing a new definition of professional success to the table—prioritizing flexible schedules over long hours and a wealth of experiences over a sizeable paycheck. A balance that used to be unusual is now the difference between a firm retaining top talent and one that’s likely to lose them to the competitor down the road.
This always-on, never-enough mentality ends up resulting in significant consequences to employee longevity. The report, “Law firms competing for talent in 2022” identifies the attributes of law firms where attorneys are more likely to stay (Stay firms), compared to those that have experienced higher levels of attrition (Go firms). A key finding was that associates who said they were less likely to leave their current law firm, ranked their firm culture, the people they work with, and work-life balance more highly than compensation as a reason to stay.
While it’s clear the expectation for balance is here to stay, law firms still struggle with providing a healthy relationship between home and the office. And the time that could be spent outside of work is often being consumed by tedious administrative tasks and efforts to grow the firm, eating away at any opportunity to even the scales.
Failing to address this growing desire can mean maxed-out workers, potential for higher turnover, and unmet expectations. It’s time for firms that are struggling to create this kind of culture to take control and offer the balance sorely needed in the legal industry.
A symptom of imbalance
Just like a car stops working when it runs out of fuel, people can only give so much before they burn out.
The high stress and grueling hours that come with being an attorney means burnout is especially common in the legal profession. Nowadays, clients are demanding more bang for their buck, pushing attorneys to meet aggressive deadlines while offering few added incentives.
And the demands don’t stop there. Outside of practicing law, many attorneys are spending more than 40% of their workday handling tasks such as managing finances, marketing the firm, and improving business development efforts. An overwhelming 74% of responding law firms say spending too much time on administrative tasks is a significant or moderate challenge for them.
This can, and does, have a significant impact on the mental health of lawyers. In the 2023 Report on the State of the Legal Market by the Thomson Reuters Institute, respondents were asked, “has your time in the legal profession been detrimental to your mental health?” Not surprisingly, 24% answered “yes” as it relates to their worth as a human being, and 41% answered “yes” in terms of their availability.
The imbalance of work and life outside of work has been an ongoing issue for the legal industry. According to the Harvard Business Review, older generations are leaving the workforce at accelerated rates. “They made these decisions out of a desire to spend more time with loved ones and to focus on priorities beyond work.”
Preparing for a new ball game
When you broach the subject of work-life balance, one group can’t be ignored. Perhaps the most talked-about generation of all time, millennials, are changing the way business is done. And wise law firms will adjust to their expectations.
Today, 35% of the American workforce is made up of millennials, surpassing both Generation Xers and baby boomers. And according to a survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield’s global business consulting group, it’s estimated that more than 50% of practicing U.S. attorneys will be composed of millennials by 2025.
This generation of attorneys is bringing along big expectations and differing priorities, including those unattached to a price tag. In fact, according to the Thomson Reuters Legal Department 2025 Series, 50% of millennial attorneys say they would change jobs if it meant more balance between their personal and professional lives.
Complicating matters further, most firms are now generational melting pots, typically home to 3 generations, all defining success in their own terms. Seasoned firm leaders characteristically take a more traditional approach to work, tying success to long hours and time spent in the office. Millennials, however, find a healthy relationship between home and work most valuable, with 63% of attorneys stating that work-life balance is the biggest difference among lawyers of different generations.
What matters most to millennial attorneys is an ability to work faster and smarter, looking at technology to help them work more efficiently. They are the first generation to grow up with access to a wealth of information at their fingertips, meaning they aren’t just comfortable with technology—they expect it.
Unfortunately, this is causing the generational gap to widen even more, with 79% of attorneys reporting that the gap in technology skills and knowledge creates a challenge between generations. That’s a 13% increase in the last four years.
Firms that acknowledge and meet these needs by providing the latest software, accessible communication tools, and automated processes are the ones successfully capturing the attention of these attorneys. A firm not working to bridge this gap and deliver on these expectations only means it will lose its ability to appeal to this new pool of talent.
