September 2nd in National, News by Editor .

Us and them – legal support staff dissatisfied

A survey in The Lawyer, conducted by YouGovCentaur, shows that an overwhelming majority of business support staff – 64 per cent – did not feel that non-fee-earning roles are valued at their firm. It is claimed that they have been left feeling undervalued, underpaid and out of the loop. Anyone surprised by this?

Nick Woolf, a partner at headhunter Sainty Hird, who recruits lawyers and senior non-fee-earners, says: “It’s a shame, but I’m not surprised. Law firms are dominated by fee-earners. Unfortunately a lot of firms view support staff as just that – lackeys to support the real business of generating fees.”

Management anyone……?

One City partner commented: “Unfortunately, I don’t think many lawyers understand what these people do. I expect to see a rise in non-lawyer managers who might better understand these functions.” A reflection on Lawyers’ ability/inability to run firms as businesses?? To give you a flavour of some of the opinions out there, here is a comment posted on The Lawyer: