U.K. firms losing young lawyers

According to a survey, 31 percent of turnover will happen in lawyers' first three to five years
According to a survey, 31 percent of turnover will happen in lawyers' first three to five years

Top law firms in the U.K. are suffering extremely high staff turnover and the war for talent is intensifying, according to a recent report released by PricewaterhouseCoopers. In the Law Firms’ Survey 2007 it was reported that half of the top ten U.K. firms saw over 31 percent turnover among lawyers in their first three to five years and that 25 percent turnover is the norm at the leading firms. This comes at a very high cost, as Alistair Rose of PwC explains:

Losing a quarter of your people annually when you are a professional service firm is worrying, especially when you consider that this is costing you roughly £300,000 for each qualified person in terms of real and opportunity costs and the disruption in continuity to the client. (via Times Online )

Outrageous targets, high burnout and eroding firm loyalty are cited as reasons that young lawyers are jumping ship.