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Midlevel Survey Shows What Law Firms Are Getting Right — and Wrong

By Dan Roe
September 01, 2022

They say children are our future, but in law, it's actually midlevel associates. More than anything, they want their partners to know that the law is changing with or without them.

They aren't less willing than their predecessors to do the brain-bending amount of work, mind you. It's that after two years of billing massive hours through an isolating global pandemic, they're completely disloyal to the status quo. They kept firms going, they made partners rich, and now they plan to reshape the profession in their image.

On paper, midlevel associates are doing better than they were last year. In The American Lawyer's 2022 Midlevel Associate Survey, the average associate gave their firm a score of 4.36 out of 5, up from 4.29 last year. Associates' perceived likelihood of being at their firm in two years also rose slightly, and 32% said they felt morale was higher than last year (50% said it was the same). Talent shortages appear to have improved, too, with 10% fewer associates saying they felt their firm was too leanly staffed, compared to the previous year.

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