A new survey by legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa suggests that most Generation Z attorneys and law students plan to pursue careers outside traditional BigLaw firms. The report, Gen Z: Now Influencing Today’s Law Firm Culture, surveyed 250 law students and lawyers between January and March 2023, focusing on those attending the top 100 law schools as ranked by U.S. News & World Report.

According to the report, while 70% of respondents said they would pursue employment at a law firm, only 39% said they would like to work for an Am Law 200 firm, down from 59% in Major, Lindsey & Africa’s 2020 survey report. In addition, 53% said that in the long term, they would rather work in-house, in government, or at a nonprofit. The survey also revealed that work-life balance and flexibility were important to Gen Z lawyers, with many valuing these factors over prestige or higher salaries.

Jacqueline Bokser LeFebvre, managing director in the associate practice group of Major, Lindsey & Africa and co-author of the report, says the survey suggests that “the interest in law firms as a whole seems to be declining amongst this generation,” and that a desire for work-life balance is driving the changes. LeFebvre says many younger lawyers and law students likely see firms as a short-term option to help set themselves up financially and get good training.

According to the report, “there are perceptions among Gen Z respondents that in-house opportunities and government positions offer a better work-life balance than do law firms.” The report suggests that law students surveyed were also motivated to work at nonprofits or in government jobs for altruistic reasons and because they want to do meaningful work.

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The survey found that respondents would trade a portion of their compensation for more time off (62%), a flexible work schedule (60%), student loan assistance (44%), and a reduction in billable hours (41%). While 69% of respondents agreed that the legal industry is “changing for the better,” 79% also agreed that sexism remained a problem.

The report suggests that firms could keep younger lawyers by providing opportunities for advancement and the “highest market” salary. Frequently working long hours, late nights, and weekends are among the top reasons they would leave, along with working somewhere not aligned with their interests, goals, and values.

“Gen Z has been characterized as a generation whose members are motivated deeply by their intrinsic values and seek work that aligns with these values. Offering more pro bono work that aligns with Gen Z’s social and moral values could curb attrition related to this factor,” according to the report.

In addition, the survey found that respondents would trade a portion of their compensation for more time off (62%), a flexible work schedule (60%), student loan assistance (44%), and a reduction in billable hours (41%).

The report also found that respondents were concerned about social justice issues and corporate social responsibility. A majority, or 60%, did not agree with the statement that “law firm corporate social responsibility programs are authentic and valued.” In addition, 63% of respondents said social justice initiatives are “very important” or “somewhat important” as they decide who they want to work for.

Overall, the survey suggests that law firms must adapt to the changing priorities and values of Gen Z lawyers and law students if they hope to attract and retain top talent. This may include offering more work-life balance and flexibility and opportunities to do meaningful work that aligns with their social and moral values.

The post Survey Reveals Gen Z Lawyers and Law Students Shifting Away from BigLaw Career Appeal first appeared on JDJournal Blog.

The Indiana University Center for Post-Secondary Research released its latest Law School Survey of Student Engagement, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This is the tenth year for the survey, which polled more than 26,000 students across 86 law schools in the United States. The poll wanted to know what the students’ satisfaction levels were with career counseling and financial aid. They also asked about interaction with faculty members outside of courses.

In 2013, 65 percent of students said that their law schools put ‘a substantial emphasis’ on giving students the support needed to succeed. From the same survey, 68 percent noted that they were satisfied with the advising they receive for financial aid.

“With all of the turmoil in legal education, students are in general pretty satisfied with what they are learning and how they are being treated at their schools,” said David Yellen, Dean of Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Yellen was the author of the intro for the survey this year.

Despite the results of the categories mentioned earlier, students appear to be less happy with career counseling and job search services offered by their law schools. In fact, 43 percent of students said that the job search services at their schools were unsatisfactory. For career counseling, 42 percent gave the category an unsatisfactory rating.

The project manager of the survey, Chad Christensen, said that a student’s unhappiness tended to increase as he or she got closer to graduation. To compare, 70 percent of first-year law school students said they were happy with job search services at their schools. Third-year students came in at 45 percent.

The survey also found that 25 percent of third-year students worked often with faculty members outside of the classroom. Third-year students, 43 percent of them, said that they did not take part in a pro bono project or a clinical.

The survey said that students who have parents with doctoral degrees are more inclined to speak with law grads or lawyers about their education and job search.

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A new survey, the Law School Survey of Student Engagement, found that students who interacted more often with classmates and faculty members at their law schools improved their critical and analytical thinking, writing and research skills, and ethical development, according to The National Law Journal. The survey is conducted annually by Indiana University’s Center for Postsecondary Research and focuses on law student satisfaction. The survey talks to 25,000 students at 81 schools across the country.

The authors of the survey wrote, “Our analysis reveals that interaction with faculty relates significantly to students’ perceptions of their own gains in both academic and personal dimensions.”

The extra involvement by the students helped them improve their legal skills and even helped them earn better grades. The students who told the survey that they interacted more often, also said that they enjoyed their law school experience much more. Interaction done by students included joining student organizations, study groups and social events.

Close to 86 percent of first-year law students surveyed said that they took part in a study group. Those students said that they had higher levels of satisfaction with their overall law school experience. The survey found that study-group participation did not relate to higher grades.

“I was interested to see that students who participate in study groups are more likely to evaluate their law school experiences positively and to say that they would have chosen the same law school. The message is that I, and my law school, should do even more to encourage this,” Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, wrote in the survey’s introduction.

Even though there are visible benefits for interacting with professors, 25 percent of those surveyed said that they never interacted outside of the classroom with faculty members. The same percentage of students also said that they never talked with their professors about career plans or job advice.

“While our findings aver the importance of student-faculty interaction, they also suggest that additional opportunities exist for more meaningful interaction,” the authors wrote. “Law schools may draw on these findings in considering strategies to promote and facilitate such interaction.”

For the most part, students seemed content with their satisfaction in law school. Seventy-nine percent of those surveyed rated their law school experience as “good” or “excellent.” The students were asked if they would attend the same law school again, with 33 percent responding “definitely yes,” 41 percent responding “probably yes,” 17 percent would probably not go to the same school again and eight percent definitely would not attend the same school a second time.

“Despite a growing chorus of crisis and disaster in the press, students’ evaluation of their legal education as well as their likelihood of attending the same school if they could begin anew have been remarkably stable over the years,” the study concluded.

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