More firms are helping lawyers stress less over money
Jami McKeon, the chair of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, has long focused on improving the financial well-being of lawyers at the firm.
“A lot of lawyers are not accountants or investment advisers,” says McKeon, who stepped into her role in 2014. “The challenge is what happens when they come out of law school and start making money but are not focused on how best to use or invest it.”
McKeon began searching for a financial organization to set up plans for all of the firm’s rising partners. At the time, no one showed any interest, she says—except Adam Murray, the founder of the Murray Legacy Group at Morgan Stanley. He agreed in 2017 to create initial financial plans for a per capita flat fee paid by the firm.
Morgan Lewis has since expanded the program to other groups of associates, including first-years, McKeon says. The firm also gives its lawyers the opportunity to review and revise their financial plans at different stages of their career and requires every lawyer to have a plan as a condition of being elevated to income or equity partner.
“Financial issues worry most people more than what they’re eating or whether they’re working out,” McKeon says. “So, if you can help your population, from their earliest days, feel confident [about] and understand their finances, I believe you end up with a much better organization.”
A recent Bank of America study of employee financial wellness shows 57% of employees live paycheck to paycheck, and only 25% are on track for retirement. Millennial and Generation X employees report carrying the most debt and have less than one month’s savings in case of an emergency.
Zooming in on the legal profession, 67% of all young lawyers and 68% of young lawyers with student loan debt feel stressed or anxious because of their finances, according to a 2024 survey by the ABA Young Lawyers Division. The survey also found early career lawyers with high debt are delaying marriage and having children and are struggling to reach savings and investment goals.
“Financial issues worry most people more than what they’re eating or whether they’re working out,” says Jami McKeon, the chair of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
Boosting wellness
To help alleviate these concerns, more law firms are incorporating financial well-being initiatives into their overall wellness programs. These initiatives include bringing in financial experts to meet with attorneys and leading seminars on how to spend, save and invest money.
“We know that there can be multiple, diverse sources of stress that impact well-being, and several studies have shown that financial stress can be particularly challenging, especially given the strain felt by many in the current economic climate,” says George Demos, a partner and the chief operating officer at O’Melveny & Myers, who in 2019, led the creation of the firm’s Living Well program.
O’Melveny wanted financial well-being to be a core component “to help our people deal with the unique financial pressures they might face, to prepare them for unexpected expenses and to get them on track for retirement,” Demos says.
As part of the program, the firm’s attorneys connect with several outside providers and other resources to learn more about expense management, investing and estate planning, among other topics. Through partnerships with several banks, its partners also can access personalized financial education and one-on-one sessions with wealth advisers to create financial plans that align with their goals.
“We’re committed to ensuring that everyone at O’Melveny feels that they work in a place where they’re supported and empowered to thrive,” Demos says. “Promoting holistic well-being—including financial well-being—is key. Not only is this the right thing to do, but when we help our people be their best, they deliver their best for our clients and our firm.”
“We know that there can be multiple, diverse sources of stress that impact well-being, and several studies have shown that financial stress can be particularly challenging, especially given the strain felt by many in the current economic climate,” says George Demos, a partner and the chief operating officer at O’Melveny & Myers.
Increasing demand
Jacquette Timmons is a financial behaviorist who helps lawyers understand how their emotions and habits drive their decisions about money. She has worked with more than a dozen Am Law 100 firms, which she notes are increasingly interested in boosting attorneys’ financial well-being.
“Firms are recognizing the impact of financial stress and understanding this is about more than just bringing in a representative from our third-party administrator to walk people through how to invest your 401(k),” Timmons says.
Her signature talk targets high earners who want to create personalized financial plans. Timmons says it’s also important to remind attorneys—in BigLaw specifically—that their financial opportunities and responsibilities change each time they move up the ladder.
“So many people don’t pay attention to that shift when they become a partner,” Timmons says. “But how you get paid, what you get paid— all of that changes. It adds a different dynamic to your financial picture.”
Jessica Medina, a lawyer turned accredited financial counselor, also has noticed an uptick in interest in financial wellness programs, particularly for summer and first-year associates. When speaking with these groups, she addresses how they can best allocate their salary, handle student loan debt and make emotionally healthy financial decisions.
“The firms that have reached out to me, many of them have said they heard from their own associates that they want this support,” says Medina, whose clients range from Am Law 50 to Am Law 200 firms. “They want this training on personal finance. They want more on the comprehensive, holistic picture of financial health.”
Medina shares her own story of graduating from Columbia Law School with hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loan debt. She also is a first-generation lawyer who didn’t have a mentor to help her manage her starting BigLaw salary.
This resonates with attorneys who need help getting past similar struggles, Medina says.
“You don’t want someone walking around stressed out that maybe something is happening with their credit card bills, or, God forbid, they’ve missed a payment on something,” Medina says. “It will spill over into what is already a demanding job.”
Firm fixture
Many law firms employ wellness directors who help with all aspects of attorney well-being, including their financial well-being.
Among Winston & Strawn’s initiatives, Diane Costigan, the firm’s director of coaching and well-being, has asked Timmons to lead programs on financial behavior. She has scheduled individual sessions for attorneys with financial advisers. And for next year, she is planning a panel discussion on how to pay off student loan debt.
As part of her job, Costigan also helps attorneys think through their financial decisions. As one example, she encourages attorneys who eventually plan to go in-house to prepare for a decrease in their income. As another, she helps attorneys plan ahead for big changes that could affect both their personal and professional lives.
“There is the wealth you create, but there are also opportunities to deploy that wealth, like having a big wedding, buying a house, having children, having children who are in private school and having a second house—all wonderful, important things,” Costigan says. “When I’m coaching people, I try to make sure that whenever they have a major life event concurrent with their career, we’re looking at it really holistically.”
Back at Morgan Lewis, McKeon emphasizes that firms need to not only offer financial well-being initiatives but promote and support the use of them.
“By now, it’s a fixture in our firm,” she says, adding that “hundreds of our people” have gone through financial planning. “Everybody understands the importance of financial literacy.”
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