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16 CRAIN’S CLEVELAND BUSINESS
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DECEMBER 5 - 11, 2011
LEGAL AFFAIRS
Firms cite economic reasons for rise in paralegal use By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com
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mid the gloomy reports about fewer job prospects for recent law school grads comes a sunny forecast for another law profession: The hiring of paralegals is up and projected to stay that way. Ursuline College in Pepper Pike has seen a moderate increase in the number of paralegal jobs employers are advertising to its list of students and alumni, said Anne Murphy Brown, assistant professor and director of the school’s legal studies program. “It’s been very encouraging,� Ms. Brown said, noting how recruitment of paralegals had slowed when the economy tanked in 2008. Major Legal Services LLC in Cleveland has observed a similar trend. Though the legal executive search firm does not keep hard statistics on paralegal job searches, it has received calls from in-house legal departments seeking to increase their paralegal staffs, said Deborah Peters, director of recruiting. In addition, smaller law firms have been hiring paralegals to assist with work that may have been handled previously by junior attorneys. “During recessions, corporations tend to retain more (legal) work inhouse, so the increase in corporate
recruiting fits that pattern,� said Dennis J. Foster, president of Major Legal Services. “Smaller firms tend to charge less, so their firms benefit during a tough economy.� Employment of paralegals and legal assistants is projected to grow 28% from 2008 to 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Employers are trying to reduce costs and increase the availability and efficiency of legal services by hiring paralegals to perform tasks once done by lawyers,� the BLS reported in its 2010-2011 Occupational Outlook Handbook. “Demand for paralegals also is expected to grow as an expanding population increasingly requires legal services, especially in areas such as intellectual property, health care, international law, elder issues, criminal law, and environmental law.�
What clients want The increased use of paralegals — who often are tasked with gathering and summarizing a variety of documents — is not occurring everywhere in Northeast Ohio: A number of area law firms reported their paralegal use has not spiked. However, many local law professionals are seeing increased paralegal hiring by in-house legal de-
partments. Most of the postings to Ursuline’s network have come from corporations, Ms. Brown said, though she declined to identify them. Cleveland law firm Tucker Ellis & West LLP has been growing its paralegal ranks probably 10% year over year for a few years, according to managing partner Joe Morford. Today, the firm employs 35 paralegals and 105 lawyers in Cleveland — “a big ratio,� Mr. Morford says. Client demands are a big reason for that situation, he said. “Times are tough for companies, and they want efficiency from their outside counsel, and paralegals can help us provide that,� Mr. Morford said. “The clients are more concerned with cost control than they ever have been before.� Also, Tucker Ellis has ramped up the nationwide litigation it’s doing out of Cleveland, and that means more need for paralegals, he said. “I think, across the board in the legal industry, there’s a lot more respect for the paralegal position than may have existed decades ago,� Mr. Morford said. “When the economy was starting to turn, people started turning to paralegals and saw the terrific work that they could do for them.� Squire, Sanders & Dempsey is using paralegals for more than it has in the past, though Joe
Rodgers, the principal who oversees paralegals in the firm’s Cleveland litigation department, can’t say there’s been a marked increase in their number in the recent year. He, too, cited cost as a motivator. “You may have in the past used (paralegals) for organizational purposes. Now, they’re being asked to bring different skills to the legal environment,� Mr. Rodgers said. “They’re on the cutting edge of technology.�
Putting the ‘e’ in paralegals Employers today expect more experience, particularly in technology such as e-discovery, from paralegals, Ursuline’s Ms. Brown said. Most also are seeking candidates with bachelor’s degrees who’ve been trained by programs approved by the American Bar Association. To that end, Ursuline College’s program became ABA-approved in 2007, and two years ago added an advanced legal technology class to its curriculum. “The paralegals that are coming into the field need to know how to use this stuff,� Ms. Brown said. Some argue the increased use of paralegals is more bad news for recent law school graduates, but Ms. Brown doubts it. “It’s not the same job,� she said. Leaders at Tucker Ellis say they’re not hiring fewer lawyers because
they’re hiring more paralegals. And Squire Sanders’ Mr. Rodgers notes that paralegals are working hand in hand with attorneys. “What a first-year (associate) might have been doing can now perhaps be done by a paralegal, and a younger associate can turn to other things instead of spending time and client resources on something that can be done by a skilled paralegal,� Mr. Rodgers said. In the short term, lawyers may need to work to figure out where in the legal service delivery chain they can add the most value as they delegate more tasks to paralegals, said James Wilber, a principal with legal consulting firm, Altman Weil Inc. Lawyers no longer may be paid for content and process, but for counseling and advocacy only, he said.
‘Efficiency means everything’ Mr. Wilber isn’t saying it’s going to happen quickly, but he believes the legal profession is on the brink of a new surge in the use of paralegals. He cites, as others do, the intense focus on legal expenses by clients and changes to the law firm business model. As more attorneys make the move away from the traditional billable hour to fixed fees, “efficiency means everything to make a profit,� Mr. Wilber said. He cites, as an example, his current
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