Purpose-driven employment choices are beginning to impact the legal field across generations.
Purpose-driven business models have increased as more companies realize a need to better the world and themselves. According to Kate Gibbons of Harvard Business School Online, “There are several reasons why purpose-driven companies aren’t just sustainable but industry leaders. On top of fostering company culture, financial success, and industry change, they promote cooperation and long-term sustainability in business.”
For the younger generations, purpose-driven pursuits are at the heart of how they choose the careers they wish to enter. “This is why, together with the Millennials, Gen-Z is sometimes called the ‘Why Generation.’ They have to have an answer to that question for everything they do,” says Mark C. Perna in Forbes.
Once they [Millennials and Gen-Z] have their answer, the choice for work becomes professional and, ultimately, personal. The Edelman Trust Barometer’s 2022 report found over 60% of early-career professionals choose their employer based on a broad base of alignment with their personal views.
Hurdles For The Legal Profession
While certain jobs have purpose-driven global impact attached to the hip, other professions, such as law, are more opaque in their attractiveness. Many young law graduates may want to change the world by ensuring global justice or rehabilitating the legal system. Instead, they work long, billable hours that, for some, rarely translate to a measurable impact on society.
According to Statista, the number of law graduates in the United States steadily declined between 2013 and 2021. And even though 2021 saw a 12% surge following the pandemic, the Association of American Law Schools (ABA) reported an 11% drop in the fall of 2022. Added to the stats are ABA findings revealing that only half of 2018 graduates are working in law firms.
While the legal sector is one of the highest-paying industries in the U.S., more practitioners report a lack of job satisfaction while working in law firms. Even outside the U.S., the legal profession is seeing systemic strains. According to an International Bar Association (IBA) survey, 1 in 5 young lawyers under the age of 40 is considering leaving the legal profession in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
The reasons may point to stressors faced in law school and the harsh realities of practicing law once encountering on-the-job demands.
“While the law school experience has been shown to erode student wellness for many, this negative trend continues across the first decade of their work as legal professionals. Legal work environments further contribute to the problem by often being places that actively promote stress and anxiety and de-emphasize wellness,” says Janet Thompson Jackson in a recent National Association for Law Placement (NALP) article.
According to Case Barnett, an attorney, and co-founder of California-based personal injury firm Case Barnett Law, “The grueling process of starting and maintaining a career in the legal sector as a lawyer can very easily make you deviate from the noble intention of making a difference in society. Maintaining that intention is something that has to be done intentionally.”
Community-Based Approach
Intentional change within the practice of law requires a collective buy-in that parallels the shifting priorities of both customers and talent. “Law’s insularity has produced a cosmetic brand of legal change that is more for show and internal efficiency than paradigmatic change that positively impacts clients, business, and society. That is what will raise the curtain on law’s future,” says Mark A. Cohen in Forbes. “The legal industry as a whole has failed to coalesce around its purpose and to adapt—using available resources— to the changing needs of its customers and society.”
For some, like Barnett’s wife Nicole Barnett, COO, cofounder, and ex-elementary school teacher with a degree in fine arts and a background in visual communications and marketing, creating a community-purpose approach to law practice is necessary.
According to Nicole Barnett, “The firm was established to become a center of healing and support for the community and a place people can always trust to come to for help,” she says. “Connecting with people, learning about their stories, and understanding what support they need is a big part of the job. Giving clients a chance at a life they can enjoy despite the trauma they have been through is at the center of what we do. Also, extensive high-stakes trial experience affords the firm the legal ability to ensure the best outcomes.”
Case Barnett represents a growing list of legal professionals who underscore the importance of ... [+]
After experiencing 17 years as a trial lawyer and an arduous child abuse case as a criminal defense lawyer, Case decided to reroute his career to make a difference in people’s lives.
A shift in perspective regarding the role of lawyers in community building and support is part of their effort. A positive purpose drives their remodeling to support the community toward long-term impact.
Holistic Rewrite of Lawyer Role
Understanding the wishes of clients and the conditions they face in life is part of what can be described as a holistic approach to law practice. “The common priorities are clients’ goals, emotional health, relationships, and financial concerns. Focus is shifted from ‘winning at all costs’ to one which considers the clients’ overall well-being,” says Samantha D. Malloy of Rogue Family Law.
Holistic law involves comprehensively weighing out the vast dynamics in a person’s legal pursuit. “Holistic Law is a more detailed, client-centered approach to legal practice,” says Maureen T. Holland of Holland and Associates PC. “Holistic lawyers focus on the many ways in which this legal problem can be solved (more than just going to court), or the many ways in which this legal problem is impacting your life, or what you are hoping to accomplish or any number of things that are important and connect to this legal problem.”
To Case Barnett, rewriting the role of the typical lawyer takes envisioning the desired outcome from the client’s point of view instead of the lawyer’s. “To do this, we focus on understanding every aspect of the client’s needs and goals for the case and walking with them through every stage, from the briefing and well beyond the point of getting a judgment, he says. “The purpose is to ensure the client doesn’t lose out on what's important to them despite the case's final outcome. This lawyering model is essential for sustainable community support, and I hope it becomes widely adopted in law practice and other sectors.”
In a bid to serve clients more holistically, Nicole Barnett is also currently undergoing training to become a certified integrative healthcare practitioner. She plans on utilizing this in the firm by offering holistic healing support materials to clients to help them mentally and physically while addressing lingering health effects they may have from the traumas that brought them to their doorstep initially.
Sharing his thoughts on Nicole’s efforts, Case says, “This is what we like to call holistic lawyering. Through this approach, we can protect those who need it the most and help people overcome trauma. It is a model that enables us to express our passion for doing good in our community, and its benefits are noteworthy. This is why we hope others in the industry will begin to see the value of implementing this approach.”
The legal profession is similar to other sectors in the need to remain attractive to the younger professional generation. As law graduates consider career choices, the rise of social-conscious entrepreneurship pursuits and companies aligned with purpose-driven missions attract those that may have in the past automatically gravitated to law firm jobs.
Firms that embrace a company culture that is community-building in efforts and holistic offerings to both talent and clients may act as a welcome sign for those graduates with purpose-driven pursuits in mind. Money always attracts, but socially responsible change often runs in parallel for the younger generation of law graduates. If the 2022 drop in law school enrollment is any indicator, it might suggest that the typical law firm environment is being reconsidered for pursuits in other businesses.
As Gibbons suggests, “Leaders who convey the competitive advantage of being purpose-driven can successfully drive change internally and externally at their organizations.” This may very well hold true for law practice as well. “Finding fulfillment is easily attainable when people can find purpose within their career or utilize their careers to contribute to the community's general well-being,” adds Case Barnett.
Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
