Three Trends Affecting Legal Careers Today

Three Trends Affecting Legal Careers TodayThree Trends Affecting Legal Careers TodayTodays business environment requires law firms and legal departments to function in a collaborative relationship with their clients, rather than just provide counsel. To stay competitive, these legal professionals have to keep up with client demands and industry changes. Here are the three trends that are having an impact on todays law offices - and legal careers.Top Three Trends Impacting Law Offices and Legal Careers1. The need for specialized talent. Legal organizations are seeking highly skilled candidates who can immediately add value to the needs of existing clients and augment service offerings. The growing demand for specialized talent in the workforce can be seen in the way law firms and legal departments recruit for legal jobs. Many firms are actively seeking professionals with skills in not only hot practice areas such as litigation, commercial law and healthcare but also niche specialties to help develop new business.Attorneys often have a competitive edge if they are tech savvy and bring knowledge of hot issues, such as data privacy and security that may come into play in cases and transactions. Corporate legal departments are especially in need of staff to help the company manage its risk exposure and meet regulatory compliance. But all lawyers, paralegals and legal support staff can improve their career prospects if they have stellar tech skills.Building an in-house team that can provide targeted, specialized support to clients while still controlling costs is a huge challenge. Since the need for certain specialized positions may shift with varying caseloads, it doesnt make economic sense to fill all open positions with full-time employees. To keep costs down and still provide high-quality customized legal services, many law firms and corporate legal departments are using specialized staffing agencies to secure highly skilled talent on an as-needed basis.2. The w ork-life balance factor. Once organizations hire employees, they dont want to lose them to competitors. Six in 10 lawyers interviewed in a recent Robert Half Legal survey said they had at least some difficulty finding skilled candidates for legal jobs, and one-third (33 percent) said they were concerned about top talent leaving to pursue legal careers elsewhere.While competitive salary and benefits packages continue to be crucial for attracting and keeping top performers, a healthy work-life balance is a growing demand in legal careers - not just from the perspective of younger lawyers, but also baby boomers who want to step back in their hours. Nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) lawyers interviewed for the Robert Half Legal 2014 Salary Guide said flexible hours or the ability to telecommute were among the top incentives for the recruitment and retention of todays legal professionals.3. The need for business and industry knowledge. Clients and companies increasingly expect legal profe ssionals to take time to understand their business and industry. For example, this includes developing an understanding of a companys products and services and expertise in the regulations they face. Lawyers need to enhance their business acumen if they are to understand how each decision affects clients, other departments and a companys bottom line. If this is lacking, they will fall short in their advisory roles. In addition, globalization is driving the need for legal counsel to understand the potential impact of local laws, cultural factors and events on their clients business operations in other countries.Organizations that fail to keep up with trends and changes in the industry and in legal careers will find themselves lagging behind their competitors. To thrive in todays highly competitive business environment, law firms and corporate legal departments must recruit employees with specialized talent, and then enhance their business acumen. And once theyve put time and effort i nto hiring and training, successful law offices will work hard to retain their valued employees.Based on your experiences, what trends do you think are impacting law offices and legal professionals the most? Please add your thoughts in the comment box below.