Talent war in legal sector: Firms boost pay and partnership opportunities

livemint.com:

Mint. The talent war is playing out between Indus Law, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, JSA Advocates & Solicitors, Khaitan & Co, Trilegal, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co and even boutique firms built by erstwhile senior partners of these law firms. There are multiple reasons, including the increase in M&As, regulatory filings, expansion of smaller firms that need legal help to set up different businesses, among other things. As a result, senior partners are setting up boutique firms and offering equities to former colleagues to leave the more established practices and join their new ventures.

Further, taxation, risk and crisis management teams in law firms have increased over the past two years since the pandemic, which has also added to the demand for lawyers. According to Vahura Consulting, a search and law firm advisory, the top 10 law firms have 6,500-7,000 lawyers, and each firm recruits anywhere between 25 and 128 law graduates each year. Some of the top campus recruiters include Trilegal and Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM).

There are two kinds of partners in law firms—equity partners and non-equity partners. The former bring in business and get a cut from the revenue of the firm, while the latter get fixed pay and a bonus. The latter is the target group for law firms.

“Talent retention today is most important in a competitive legal industry. Given the increasing competition, every law firm is working towards how to attract and retain good talent," said Avimukt Dar, founding partner, IndusLaw. “There have been various approaches like increased base pay, performance bonus, special/discretionary bonus, transparent equity model that have been adopted by IndusLaw," said DAR.