As law firms struggle to hire legal assistants, legal administrators are finding creative ways to get recruits in the door.
Lisa Waligorski, CLM, PHRca, SPHR, still remembers the headline from the June 2013 issue of The Wall Street Journal: Legal Secretary, a Dying Job?
The headline was certainly provocative, if not a bit misguided. Ten years later, the problem isn’t that the legal assistant job is dead — it’s still very much relied on in law firms. The dilemma has become a firm’s ability to fill this much-relied upon position.
“The job still exists,” says Waligorski, the Executive Director at Newmeyer & Dillion, LLP, and a member of the Orange County Chapter. “It’s just an aging workforce.” She estimates that people aged 45 and older account for 50% of legal assistants.
Research supports this. In 2023, BigHand released a report that noted 38% of firms are expecting to lose between 20% and 40% of their support staff to retirement over the next five years.
The other challenge is that the well for legal assistant recruits is drying up, making it that much harder to hire for these positions. Many colleges have cut the legal assistant program from their curriculum. That’s what Kristin Gaydosh, CLM, Firm Administrator with Baum O'Connor Cullen Chmiel, discovered as she began searching for recruits to fill legal assistant roles within her firm in Pittsburgh.
“There are no longer legal assistant degrees from local colleges and universities in Pittsburgh or business schools. There are paralegal certificates, but there are not legal assistant degrees. And it’s frustrating because you still see medical assistant programs and medical coding programs, but not for legal [assistants],” says Gaydosh, a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter.
As is the case with legal management professionals, you are confronted with finding solutions for this challenge — a challenge that needs ideas from fresh angles.
“We’re thinking outside the box,” says Gaydosh.
What a small firm can do with legal support models is not comparable to models large firms can employ. So getting a good idea of what your firm actually needs is the place to start.
“Given the financial pressures facing law firms globally, it is incredibly important to understand exactly what skills are required to support the firm, especially given the rising cost of support staff and the hard costs for recruitment. … Firms should be using hard data to make these recruiting decisions and making sure they are building a sustainable support organization for the future,” says Wangler.
At her firm in Canada, Mary Munro, Executive Director, Legal Service Delivery at Borden Ladner Gervais, LLP, is looking at the firm’s needs from the perspective of the lawyers’ career paths.
“Given the financial pressures facing law firms globally, it is incredibly important to understand exactly what skills are required to support the firm, especially given the rising cost of support staff and the hard costs for recruitment. … Firms should be using hard data to make these recruiting decisions and making sure they are building a sustainable support organization for the future.”
“Legal assistant support shouldn’t look the same through this whole process,” says Munro, an Independent Member. For example, if it’s a junior associate, look at how they are doing tasks such as their research, e-discovery and document review, she says. That’s where they’ll need support, including guidance on understanding the business of law. Once they move into a senior associate level, they are now having matters that are in their name and owning them.
“They’re having conflicts cleared and they’re developing relationships with the clients, and they now have more scheduling issues,” says Munro. “And then once they are partner or senior partner, they are business development leads, management leaders, or they are responsible for large portfolios or key clients. So how do we build a flexible legal assistant support model so that it can follow the career of the of the lawyer and make it a seamless transition for them?”
She likens it to having a menu of working/support options — looking to meet the needs of the lawyers where they are, but also exploring how to tap into the great talent that’s out there by having roles that have a variety of different work styles.
There is another tentacle to this challenge though: Finding the people to fill the roles. This issue was brought up in the Pittsburgh Chapter’s July meeting. And it’s inspired them to get creative.
A four-year college experience isn’t the career path for everyone. There are still rewarding career options out there though — reminding high school guidance counselors of the many options within legal outside of practicing law is well worth it. Just the suggestion by a guidance counselor might be enough to introduce someone who is interested in legal — but doesn’t want to be a lawyer or incur law school level debt — that there are pathways to other rewarding careers within the legal industry.
“There really is not a business administration path for many high school students,” says Gaydosh. “That’s where the breakdown is. There are not individuals promoting these support staff roles and career paths that can be so satisfying.”
She is working with an eight-member committee of the Pittsburgh ALA Chapter to develop a program to help area firms fill these roles. The pace at which the group is working shows not only is there a need, but they are onto something. Doing some outreach to area high schools to get the legal assistant career on the guidance counselor’s radar was just the first idea that’s come up.
They’ve also spoken to someone in the education field, who pointed them in new directions, including workforce programs offered by the City of Pittsburgh. “There are youth foundations, there are other nonprofit organizations. I’m not going to say they have legal assistant programs, but they could be in a position to. We're excited about the possibility of working with some programs that already exist.”
“That’s where I spend a lot of my time — trying to bring people up, and I have to do that because we can’t find the people anymore that want to do the jobs. I really like finding a person who is absolutely hungry for knowledge, trying to find their way [into a firm] exactly the way I was because nobody would let me in.”
While still in the development stage, the committee is already making strides. The chapter is excited about where these open lines of communication are leading, including identifying intern candidates at career fairs. They even have the local bar association interested in partnering with them.
Once they have a blueprint in place, they are eager to share with other ALA members not only to help them with similar challenges, but to also bolster ALA’s strategic direction as it relates to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility.
“Our program should embrace and advance diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in our Association and the legal industry. ALA is committed to becoming the industry source for relevant learning and development for legal administrators. We can be the local source for learning, not only for administrators, but other law firm administrative roles. ALA uses influence to elevate the visibility of the Association and advocate for legal management professionals,” says Gaydosh. “Again, why not take it to the local support staff community as well? Let’s do it through programs and community resources that already exist and would be thrilled to partner with us to introduce a curriculum and career path to the right audience. Let’s be intentional about where we recruit.”
“When it comes to the way that it works now — with all the email, and you’ve got attorneys getting out of school [who] can type all their own stuff because they grew up typing all their own stuff. It’s just a different job now, and it’s OK to promote it that way,” she says.
Promoting it differently is exactly what Munro is working to do. “We’re throwing out all the rules and the role doesn’t have to be this way anymore,” she says. They are currently exploring the term “legal assistant” to start. “I have seen postings from other law firms that are using the term executive assistant versus practice assistant or legal assistant. So maybe it’s a legal executive assistant or hybrid executive assistant/practice assistant. We are actually looking to upskill our practice assistants and we see the value of providing our partners with a higher level of support,” says Munro.
Also take a close look at the actual terms you are using in the job description. Are you selling it as well as you could be? Are there aspects of the job that you can write differently to attract a younger group of recruits who are interested in legal work?
Gaydosh says another ALA member who is a marketing director was on their last committee call and noted they need to curate their message better so the younger demographic they are targeting takes notice. For example, instead of saying “proofreading,” elaborate and say, “curating and editing content of legal documents.” Or instead of just saying managing attorney emails and calendars, speak to the level of organization and communication skills required.
“Maybe it’s communications between opposing counsel and clients, and instead of scheduling, it’s managing complex appointments and court deadlines,” says Gaydosh.
“There really is not a business administration path for many high school students. That’s where the breakdown is. There are not individuals promoting these support staff roles and career paths that can be so satisfying.”
Highlight the tech aspects of the job — what programs are in place that might give someone a chance to flex their tech prowess? Workflow programs? Artificial intelligence? Collaboration tools?
As an example, Munro suggests if you have e-discovery tools for document review, promote it and how this role might use that. “As a legal assistant, if I’ve done my schooling and I’m very tech savvy, I don’t want to come in and just run invoices all day,” says Munro. “If we’re going to have our legal assistants feeling like they’re doing interesting work, we’re going to need to have interesting tools for them to use as well.”
It ties back to the overall mission and goals of the firm, so the individual sees they aren’t just in an entry level job — these roles play an integral part within the legal operation. People want to feel like their work matters, arguably more so with this incoming generation.
“Individuals don’t know the atmosphere within your firm. You need to promote the firm culture,” says Gaydosh. “[For example,] we have a professional work environment, and employees are well rounded and respected.” She also says that on-the-job training is something younger recruits crave, but not all job postings say that. Spell those perks out to really sell people on the role.
Are you overlooking candidates for these roles that show promise, but don’t have legal experience? Or are there opportunities to bring in a temp worker to gauge their interest in the work and see if there is an option to work with them to move into a permanent legal assistant position?
When Waligorski was looking to get her foot in the door in legal, she was met with the same paradoxical roadblock: The job postings were entry level … but they wanted five years’ experience in legal. “I was like, how are people getting the experience then?”
She found her way in as a temp as a firm’s receptionist, showed her worth and then got the role of legal secretary. It’s something she keeps in mind when looking to fill spots today. It’s one reason she’s created an office services path.
“I am constantly trying to find different ways to train people and that’s where my value is,” says Waligorski. “That’s where I spend a lot of my time — trying to bring people up, and I have to do that because we can’t find the people anymore that want to do the jobs. I really like finding a person who is absolutely hungry for knowledge, trying to find their way [into a firm] exactly the way I was because nobody would let me in.”
With that in mind, she’s worked to develop pathways at her current firm for a legal support assistant. So if someone in office services is showing that potential, they have a roadmap to advance. They can work their way up to becoming a legal assistant, which includes a lot of internal training and going through LPI training (something exclusive to California).
“So if we've got people [who come from] office services, and they’re showing their worth and they’re doing a great job, we’ve got a path to move them to the [legal support assistant],” says Waligorski. The program is adaptable for work experience. For example, if someone comes in who has records clerk, e-filing or service of process experience, the training can be tailored to account for some of the knowledge they’ve already obtained from that role.
Wangler says they are working with many firms that have taken the traditional legal assistant role and established up to five levels of support. “In these structures, entry-level support team members work in a team and work on support work that does not require legal knowledge. In this way, they are learning about working in a law firm, being trained how to complete different tasks, but are largely being shielded from the pressure of a direct support relationship with a group of lawyers. As their skills develop and they can take on the work that requires more interaction with clients/lawyers, and a deeper understanding of the legal process, they progress their role into higher levels within the firm,” he says.
“As a legal assistant, if I’ve done my schooling and I’m very tech savvy, I don’t want to come in and just run invoices all day. If we’re going to have our legal assistants feeling like they’re doing interesting work, we’re going to need to have interesting tools for them to use as well.”
Time isn’t a luxury firms have, especially smaller firms with limited human resources. This is where the program ALA’s Pittsburgh Chapter is working on can prove beneficial. “If you had an opportunity to support one individual. … The cost of one individual going through a program for a set amount and you had an opportunity to have that individual work in your firm for an internship during the summer with the opportunity to possibly hire that person upon completion of the program? Absolutely. So let’s make it happen,” says Gaydosh.
If you can’t create a training program that goes from legal support assistant to legal assistant, Waligorski says work to find people in interviews who have that drive. She asks the same questions to every candidate and is very up front in interviews about what’s expected — but also what can be achieved with hard work.
Then make sure they are set up to succeed and acclimated. That initial investment is the key to getting people in these roles — and keeping them. When you do make a hire, remember that they might not fully understand the opportunities that lie in front of them if they are willing to work for it. Have that conversation with them. Gaydosh notes how rewarding a career in legal support can be.
“Once you are a legal assistant, then you even get to the point where you might specialize in an area of law, whether it's litigation, corporate, bankruptcy, estates and trusts, and you have an opportunity to find your right fit within a law firm — an expert within your own field,” she says.
Munro notes she focuses on technology in interviews, noting if they aren’t tech savvy, they won’t succeed at the firm. “I’ll ask a technology question, and it’ll be as simple as like tell me the most recent technology adopted at home. Because if somebody’s got a technology brain, they’re using it at home too. If they’re not interested [in tech], they’re not going to fit long term. We’ve got to be able to introduce these tools and have people not afraid of them.”
Yes, Gen Z wants to be connected to their work and have a roadmap for career development. But they also want a competitive salary, even for entry level jobs.
Gen Z is facing inflation and a higher cost of living and, in many cases, crippling student loans. Waligorski says you’ve got kids living at home into their 20s and 30s because they can’t afford to have their own separate life, especially in metropolises like Los Angeles and New York City.
Waligorski explains she uses the jobs to show them how it can lead to more financial stability and set them up for success personally, too. Showing them the possibilities is another way to get them in your firm’s door.
“You can get them because they see a path. They’re like, ‘OK, if I can get the skill set and I can build this up — then I can build something from this and get a better job. I’ve got this [firm] on my resume and can get out of this house.’ It’s not just the pathway professionally; it’s a pathway, personally.”
