Practice Support
Revisiting the Attrition of Young Lawyers in Singapore
March 2022 · Singapore Law Gazette
What Does a Meaningful Conversation Look Like, and What Real Meaningful Steps Can be Taken?
The heightened focus since January 2022 of this topic, due to remarks by the new Law Society President Adrian Tan and the feature pieces in Business Times, Straits Times and finally Lianhe Zaobao most recently, appear to already be dwindling into the twilight. Will there come impactful change? And even before that has there been a clear diagnosis of the ailments (if there is even one)?
In 2006 I ventured into this debate with this article, and in the subsequent seven years had its contents quoted and repeated to me every now and again. I spoke up as a young lawyer who left the industry and "fell", with great delight and ultimately to great career, personal and financial satisfaction, into the non-legal "practice" of commercial business-building. Viewpoints were also sought from 1,000 lawyers as part of a feedback exercise undertaken by the recruitment business I led at that time.
About two weeks ago, following exchanges on Adrian Tan's LinkedIn post, an intrepid Lianhe Zaobao journalist contacted me and sought my views after reading my 2006 article. It read to her like a commentary on today's situation \u2013 when realizing late that it was not, it so astonished her and so fuelled her incredulity that she sought me out.
The questions and discussion I was taken through were admittedly agonizing. In 2006 I gave my views bolstered by an over-arching concern borne out of sheer necessity (and despair). Today, with the present discourse, I think and write this with unease, an unsettledness which now and again descends into melancholy.
First off, one needs to state: this is not a new topic (for me, it probably rose with the emergence of the big firms circa late 1990s), but in fact rears its head every couple of years, interspersed with the "excess supply glut" issue during the 2015-18 period. These articles and publications paint a basic timeline:
My central thesis on this topic has always been: If any law firm hopes to retain young talent, there must be instituted a culture of mature, professional, sophisticated mentoring and management by senior lawyers. If such a culture were to propagate internally, it is this "institutional memory and culture" that will act as a self-check permitting it to be reinforced daily, constantly through the conscience of its members: "This is not the way we deal with potential clients in this firm", "The right thing to do is to slow down and give that junior your time", "Be positive, smile, light up your day and those around you, no matter how bleak the case goes, or how dreary your day is".
A healthy, positive culture must replace "war stories" no junior lawyers wish to keep hearing, or the constant haranguing of associates because seniors are fearful or paranoid of client remonstrations.
Senior lawyers must understand a basic truth: young lawyers do not have your presence of mind because they have not gone through the repetition you have, nor are their pressure considerations the same. They wish to get that piece of work in front of them right, and they may be fearful or paranoid of getting that wrong in the same way you are fearful or paranoid of not delivering for your client. Both are different tasks requiring different skillsets despite falling on the same spectrum of client deliverables. Reducing fear and paranoia through communication and optimism provides a calmer environment for delivery and a superior learning domain.
The small size of the Singapore legal industry means cross-pollination (through employee inter-movements) of a narrower range of culture occur. There must now rise a handful of firms who wish to do things differently, and may one or some succeed to set examples for others.
Beyond treatment of young talent, pay must rise significantly and immediately. Newly qualified base-pay (discounting misleading "front-loading" figures) have not kept up with the rise in law school fees and associate billable hourly rates in the last 20 years. Passing on this cost to clients is not possible \u2013 partners must accept a reduction in salaries until such time new generations of soon-to-be Senior Associates who are well-trained (by them), professional and sophisticated enough to do basic client-procurement and client-servicing.
A more settled, mature developmental hierarchy predicated on being "older and wiser" must be created within larger law firms. It was remarked to me by an old friend and senior partner of a large law firm recently: "Attrition helps because we cannot promote everyone to partnership". Is the base instinct of young lawyers so primitive: Partner or bust? What stops one from being a lawyer \u2013 a good lifelong legal technician without fee-earning expectations \u2013 from staying on in a law firm until retirement? Could not fee-earning responsibilities be substituted with superior mentoring abilities and great legal technical delivery?
While it is natural for the most experienced lead-lawyer to take the credit for litigation or corporate outcome, the reality is that every person in that team unit is indispensable. Seniors must see themselves as part of a team no matter the chasm in legal know-how, technical knowledge, and commercial wisdom between themselves and the junior associate. This requires something lawyers need an abundance of: Humility.
Prevalent Industry Thinking That Must Be Challenged
Contention: The high turnover is part of the pandemic era’s "Great Resignation" – consequent to the deep-reflection by workers of their careers, work-conditions and long-term goals.
Rebuttal: In 2006 attrition of <7PQE lawyers was 58 per cent. In 2021 "about 60 per cent" of <5PQE lawyers left the practice industry. The state of things has always been one of high attrition among young lawyers, identified as early as in the 2006 article, as well as the 2007 Law Report by VK Rajah. By comparison: USA at 18 per cent associate attrition rate 2012-2018; UK at 14 per cent and US at 16 per cent associate attrition rate during the pandemic.
Contention: Instantaneous communication adds to the stress and pressure making lawyering far more difficult than ever before.
Rebuttal: Junior and Senior partners have always been able to contact juniors any time they wished. They were always at their desks and near a phone.
Contention: "Legal practice is hard work. Only the tough survive."
Rebuttal: This is too short sighted, simplistic and basic a view. There are many professions that are hard work. Hard work must also be proud work. We all seek meaning, content and pride in the work that we do. To derive meaning and pride from our work, a holistic view of one’s tasks must be had, as opposed to being at the receiving end of piecemeal reactions when a partner chases after you.
Contention: "Attrition is the same as everywhere. Singapore qualified lawyers are just so highly demanded by other industries."
Rebuttal: Singapore attrition is significantly higher than the oft-compared UK and USA. This evades the reality of having to address the high attrition. Law graduates cannot be produced in greater and greater abundance only to be "run out" by the practice industry by their 5th, 6th or 7th year, which basically puts the onus of the solution solely onto law schools.
The psychology and science of a typical industry lawyer have been much dissected and analysed. Why have no steps been taken nor has the situation improved? In my opinion only because not enough people have paid due credit to them. In the article "Why Lawyers are Unhappy" by Marin E P Seligman, Paul R Verkuil & Terry H Kang, [2005] DeakinLawRw 4; (2005) 10(1) Deakin Law Review 49, the basic reasons leading to unhappiness and legal practice industry attrition, have already been summarized as:
- a.The unhappiness of a lawyer is defined as disenchantment and poor health;
- b.The root causes are lawyers making good lawyers because they are pessimistic and have poor decision-making latitude (i.e. they don't make decisions and have no or little control in their occupation), remedied by creating a culture of "learned optimism" and "disputing technique" toward negative emotions, and increasing decision-making latitude to combine with high-pressure to alleviate immediate environmental concerns; and the zero-sum nature of legal work \u2013 for you to win, someone has to lose \u2013 remedied by empowering junior lawyers to communicate emotional and mental issues and become stakeholders in their environment, alongside a culture of cooperation to mitigate the adversarial system;
- c.Law schools play an important role in making consonant the connection between legal teaching and the demands of legal practice: to provide a ready, prepared experience for young lawyers when they confront their realities of practical legal practice, as well as being able to discern quickly which graduate is good for what \u2013 litigation, corporate or non-confrontational aspects of legal work;
- d.The importance of Bar societies/institutions to promote civility among members/adversaries with the mentality that law as an institution has higher callings.
Ultimately these are the important factors that must be implemented: decreasing pessimism in the individual (and culturally in the institution where the individual finds oneself), increasing decision making latitude, and leavening zero-sum games with a co-operative dimension, only then can the practice of law be healthier and profitable.
Legal work is Hard work and must be Proud work. We all seek meaning and achievement in what we do \u2013 may we be lawyers or not. Young lawyers must be able to derive both from their daily work through a holistic understanding of one's tasks, as opposed to being at the receiving end of piecemeal reactions when a partner chases after you.
To that end, the prevalent industry thinking must change, and immediately so, without which there can be no real, meaningful steps that lead to impactful change.
Cheng Shing Chow
Managing Director, First Capital Asia Investments Ltd (Hong Kong)
E-mail: shing@firstcapital.asia
The author practised with Rajah & Tann and Jones Day (Singapore) before leaving to establish a recruitment headhunting business based in Hong Kong. He is now based in both Hong Kong and Singapore and directs strategic advisory and investment activities as the firm's principal.