Law Firms Should Disclose Attrition Data, Student Leader Says
Stanford University law students who are promoting work-life balance and law firm diversity aren’t being deterred by the bad economy.
The Stanford group called Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession keeps a scorecard of law firm diversity, pro bono and billable hours. But its leader says even more data is needed, especially in the economic downturn.
The group’s president Davida Brook told Legal Pad that students could more carefully choose their law firms if they disclosed lawyer attrition rates.
“This downturn shows you just how useful that would have been to know,” she told the blog. Law students would like to know which law firms are “bleeding attorneys” and in which practice areas, she says.
Davida added that her group is still concerned about work-life balance, despite the bad economy, but the emphasis has changed. “As a Stanford student, people just think you’re a brat who wants to make a lot of money and not work as much,” Brook told the blog. Now her group talks more about working smart to reach quality outcomes.
