The table below reports on the training and evaluation items that have been included in the NALP Directory of Legal Employers since 2006. Some of these practices vary by firm size, although not necessarily in a consistent pattern.
Overall, upward reviews are not the norm but are more typical of smaller firms, as is rotation for junior associates. Evaluations are typically annual, and about three-quarters of firms do not count training time toward billable hours. Of the more than 1,600 unique offices listing the in the 2008-2009 Directory, the response rate to these items varied from about 79% to 98%. The percentages shown in the table below are based on offices that reported on that item.
Overall, 85% of offices in the Directory indicated that they have a professional development staff and, not surprisingly, the larger the firm, the more likely it is to have a professional development staff, with most, if not all firms of more than 250 lawyers reporting a PD staff.
Training and Evaluation as Reported by Firms for 2008
By Firm Size (Number of Lawyers)
Total | 50 or fewer | 51-100 | 101-250 | 251-500 | 501-700 | 701+ | |
Evaluation is: (1,600) | |||||||
Annual | 68.9% | 74.2% | 70.4% | 64.6% | 62.1% | 76.6% | 72.1% |
Semi-annual | 29.1 | 17.5 | 25.7 | 34.5 | 35.7 | 23.4 | 26.5 |
Other | 2.0 | 8.3 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
Upward reviews? (1,390) | |||||||
Yes | 31.9 | 44.6 | 39.3 | 25.2 | 28.2 | 31.0 | 35.1 |
No | 68.1 | 55.4 | 60.7 | 74.8 | 71.8 | 69.0 | 64.9 |
Professional Development Staff? (1,460) | |||||||
Yes | 85.4 | 42.7 | 60.5 | 69.7 | 91.4 | 100.0 | 99.8 |
No | 14.6 | 57.3 | 39.5 | 30.3 | 8.6 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Billable hours credit for training time? (1,314) | |||||||
Yes | 25.3 | 30.6 | 35.2 | 18.8 | 30.1 | 24.5 | 22.2 |
No | 74.7 | 69.4 | 64.8 | 81.2 | 69.9 | 75.5 | 77.8 |
Rotation for junior associates? (1,291) | |||||||
Yes | 16.0 | 46.8 | 21.1 | 23.3 | 7.8 | 9.2 | 13.7 |
No | 70.4 | 33.9 | 57.8 | 62.5 | 76.2 | 79.9 | 76.6 |
Case by case | 13.6 | 19.3 | 21.1 | 14.2 | 16.0 | 10.9 | 9.7 |