The Royal Bank of Scotland has claimed in a report that nearly 6,000 jobs may go in the legal profession, such is the oversupply of lawyers.
RBS points out that firms cut some 15% of their staff in the downturn, but it reckons that a combination of tight clients, fewer big deals, the death of the chargeable hour and the impact of Tesco Law means another 5% will need to be given the chop or de-equitised. Apparently, this is so that those partners who manage to hold onto their points can continue to up their earnings. RBS told Legal Week that "we would see a good case to take out 5% of fee earners to put the profession on more stable levels of profitability".
But in the same breath the bank pointed out that the legal sector had seen revenue increase by 6% over the last year, so it's not clear why it's being such a Cassandra in foretelling a bloodbath.
Most partnerships, in contrast to banks*, aren't entirely motivated by avarice, and it seems more likely that they will manage headcount by taking on fewer trainees, encouraging senior partners to retire a little earlier, and not replacing departing staff who are unprofitable.
How this squares with the law schools continuing to flood the market with huge numbers of graduates is another matter.
*cf RBS itself - giving Fred the Shred a job, blowing £70bn on ABN Amro, costing the UK taxpayer £20bn etc. etc.
Tip Off ROF
RBS points out that firms cut some 15% of their staff in the downturn, but it reckons that a combination of tight clients, fewer big deals, the death of the chargeable hour and the impact of Tesco Law means another 5% will need to be given the chop or de-equitised. Apparently, this is so that those partners who manage to hold onto their points can continue to up their earnings. RBS told Legal Week that "we would see a good case to take out 5% of fee earners to put the profession on more stable levels of profitability".
But in the same breath the bank pointed out that the legal sector had seen revenue increase by 6% over the last year, so it's not clear why it's being such a Cassandra in foretelling a bloodbath.
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RBS yesterday |
Most partnerships, in contrast to banks*, aren't entirely motivated by avarice, and it seems more likely that they will manage headcount by taking on fewer trainees, encouraging senior partners to retire a little earlier, and not replacing departing staff who are unprofitable.
How this squares with the law schools continuing to flood the market with huge numbers of graduates is another matter.
*cf RBS itself - giving Fred the Shred a job, blowing £70bn on ABN Amro, costing the UK taxpayer £20bn etc. etc.
Comments
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This is the main issue here....
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Most I have come across are not up to it or well past it.
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As the contributor below says, this is the real issue. The bottom line is that there are tons of universities (Sheffield Hallam, Teesside, Derby, Lincoln, for example) which just shouldn't be offering law degrees.
BPP and CoL receive a lot of flak for their 'bums-on-seats' BD strategies, but, let's face it, they're only profiting from a problem that the universities created - I don't think they can really be blamed for that.