WK11 -Application Assignment- Journal Article

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Female Attorneys and Rewards Systems: Is it time for a change? 

            This week we read about the practices that companies ought to consider to maintain their employees engaged and motivated in their organizations.  Many of these practices must consider how employees are being rewarded, in many cases with more than just compensation.  The article by Durrani and Singh explores the concept of billable hours for female attorneys in the United States and Canada (Durrani & Singh, 2011). 

            According to their research, the number of women entering law school and practicing law has been on the rise in the last two decades.  However, their research also shows that it is more difficult for female attorneys to become partners at private law firms.  As a result many women are leaving their jobs in private practice.  The authors indicate this problem is due to the system of billable hours that is commonly used in many law firms to pay attorneys (Durrani & Singh, 2011).  Essentially attorneys are paid a salary, but in return they must submit a list of the hours they have worked to justify and match their compensation.  The authors also indicate that in the legal culture, attorneys who have more billable hours can become partners or receive a promotion faster (Durrani & Singh, 2011).  Durrani & Singh (2011) have found that it is more difficult for women work as many hours as men, because many have to assume a parental role and take care of their children.   Thus it becomes more difficult for women to climb up the legal ranks.

            The fact that many women are being forced to leave their work in private firms should be a concern for these companies, because they are losing talented attorneys due to lack of flexibility.  Martin & Schmidt (2010) refer to a number of mistakes that companies make in trying to keep their top talent.  One of these mistakes is “Expecting star employees to share the pain”.  I find that, it is unfair for attorneys of both genders to be expected to submit large amounts of billable hours and sacrifice time with their families.  Moreover, the research by Durrani and Singh (2011) shows that many attorneys are dissatisfied with their jobs and many suffer from anxiety, depression, and other stress related illnesses.  Private firms should consider alternate reward systems for attorneys that will increase their satisfaction and therefore their motivation. 

Given all of this research, it seems appropriate to raise the following question: if most attorneys are so dissatisfied with the current work, what motivates them to stay?

 

 

In Ryan and Deci’s article (2000) we read about Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  Although we cannot assume that all attorneys will have the same motivations for pursuing a legal career, we can speculate that higher salaries, bonuses, and other financial benefits can act as in extrinsic motivation to remain in their field.  Perhaps the extrinsic motivation is not related to money, but prestige.  Nevertheless, we can also assume that many attorneys are intrinsically passionate about the law and that is why they chose to be attorneys. 

Durrani and Singh (2011) propose eliminating a system of billable hours for attorneys and using what they call a Total Rewards System.  They call for law firms to base their compensation based on efficiency instead of focusing on the number of hours spent at work.  They also suggest considering value billing, where attorneys are paid based on the complexity of the case and fixed-fee billing, which establishes a fixed price for all the legal services offered for a case (Durrani & Singh, 2011). 

Overall these new measures of compensation should be considered, because they are likely to have a positive effect on attorney’s motivation and satisfaction.  This could also make attorneys feel more engaged with their work.  As the article by Heymann and Barrera (2010) indicates, higher levels of engagement are linked to higher customer satisfaction and overall business performance.  Law firms that consider implementing more rewarding practices for their attorneys, are likely to increase their bottom line.  Do you think billable hours create unfair upward mobility for women? Should the reward system for attorneys in both genders be reconsidered?

Durrani, S., & Singh, P. (2011) Women, Private Practice and Billable Hours: Time for a

Total Rewards Strategy? Compensation & Benefits Review, 43(5), 300-305.

Martin, J., & Schmidt, C. (2010). How to Keep Your Top Talent. Harvard Business Review,

3-9.

Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2000). Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and

New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 54-67.

Heymann, J., & Barrera, M. (2010) Engaging Employees in the Company’s Profits and

Their Own. Harvard Business School, 1-28.