Peer to Peer Magazine

NEW PROFESSIONS MATERIALIZE FOR FORMER JDS Staffing managers typically have practiced law and have personal experience with the challenges of developing legal professionals. So-called "soft" personal and social skills help significantly in this type of work; these are some of the most extroverted lawyers you will ever encounter. They function within the firm in a quasi-HR capacity, addressing associate- and professional-track attorney advancement, development frameworks, retention and engagement, onboarding, and offboarding. Increasingly, they are also engaged in professional development and training efforts. THE PRICING MANAGER (Lawyer + Financial Analyst) A long-standing period of growth in the legal market came to an abrupt halt with the recent financial crisis. Since then, clients and law firms have paid increasing attention to alternative fee arrangements, such as fixed-fee, collar and success-based, and they have required stricter adherence to traditional billing arrangements, such as hourly rates with budgets. These market changes have driven the demand for professionals who support and advance the arts of budgeting, budget monitoring and pricing capacity-building. The goal of these financial positions is to enable firms to maintain profitability and provide excellent client service in the face of fee pressures, budget cuts and alternative fee arrangements for legal work. The focus of these positions would include the following areas: • Budgeting may entail developing budgeting templates, mining historical information, and developing or vetting proposed pricing plans. • Monitoring could involve setting up systems for partners or other senior attorneys to track the progress of work, or possibly following key matters directly. • Capacity-building may entail setting up systems for attorneys and legal staff to track their time (such as the American Bar Association phase/task codes); assessing, supporting and developing budgeting tools such as Randy Steere's "BudgetManager" or Thompson Reuters' "Engage"; and change management, obtaining support for the pricing initiatives. Some people in pricing roles at large law firms have backgrounds in practicing law and in administrative support roles such as practice management and knowledge management. This is one area where a JD and experience in legal practice is helpful but apparently not a prerequisite (if the backgrounds of those with such positions are any indication.) The emphasis on financial information means quantitative skills are quite valuable. Pricing analysts need a deep understanding of the business of law, the ability to work with a broad variety of law firm partners and to be comfortable with finances, numbers and technology. IT'S ALL GOOD NEWS The increasing professionalization of law firm and legal department management has brought increasing professional opportunities in new and varied areas. These positions bring new challenges and require broader skill sets. Now more than ever, lawyers are finding satisfying careers in the legal profession outside the practice of law. Peer to Peer 73

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