Amid discussions on how the Sequester will impact the country and reports of law firm downsizing, two recent surveys indicate that economic conditions in the legal industry are on an upswing.

As revealed by the National Association of Women Lawyers’ 2012 Survey, women are not credited as rainmakers at the same rates as men: “Almost half (46%) of all large firms report no women rainmakers among their top 10 business generators . . . women partners are less likely than men to receive credit for even a relatively modest book of business . . .” While business development can be a relatively straight-forward process, it is also arguably one of the trickiest areas for women to navigate. 

Last month the National Bureau of Economic Research released results of its recent research that indicates more women receive raises than their male counter parts, largely because women are more likely than men to haggle and negotiate salary when there is an opportunity to do so. This fact in and of itself is great news – women are taking charge of their careers and sitting down with employers to have “difficult” conversations.  TribeHR decided to delve deeper and create the TribeHR Pay Raise Index – TribeHR concurs with the NBER’s data and found that women receive more pay raises than men - 7.4 percent compared to 6.2 percent. 

Since 2009, Altman Weil, Inc. has conducted its Law Firms in Transition Survey that measures the impact of the economy on the legal profession, tracks trends, and summarizes what profession leaders believe will impact the profession in the future. Issues initially brought to light as emerging trends in 2009 are now considered permanent changes in 2012: almost all law firm leaders who participated in the survey believe that the profession will continuously face price competition from present into the future; the majority of survey participants also believe commoditized legal work and non-hourly billing are permanent fixtures in the profession. What a difference a few years make!

Efficiency is also now regarded as a permanent trend, with 96% of respondents recognizing that efficiency in legal services delivery must improve – clients will continue to demand greater transparency and greater value. As mentioned in the survey, “Trends that showed clear momentum in interim years have become deeply entrenched in 2012.”

This year’s survey polled Managing Partners and Chairs at 792 US law firms with 50 or more lawyers. Completed surveys were received from 238 firms, including 40% of the 250 largest US law firms. The full survey includes sections on economic performance and billing rates, alternative fee arrangements, law firm demographics, hiring trends, outsourcing trends, client relationships and the future of the profession.

Access the full survey here.