'Other' is fastest growing attorney category in larger law firms
One category of attorneys is doing especially well in the nation’s top 350 law firms.
“Other” attorney jobs grew by 8.8 percent last year, the National Law Journal reports. The increase was the largest of any attorney category.
The “other” category includes staff attorneys, of counsel, and lawyers who aren’t partners or associates. It does not include contract attorneys.
International law-firm mergers accounted for about 57 percent of the growth in the category. The increase is still notable, given a small decline of less than 1 percent in the category in 2012, the story says.
Some lawyers interviewed by the National Law Journal said the boost in “other” attorneys was driven, at least in part, by client demand for less costly lawyers. “It’s something our clients are increasingly interested in,” said Jack Nelson, a Reed Smith partner who leads its litigation department.
Reed Smith added 27 “other” lawyers in 2013, bringing the total number of lawyers in the category to 127.
Some of the growth in the category, Nelson added, is because the firm is increasingly promoting associates to counsel instead of partner.
