2021 ALPMA New Zealand Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
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2021 ALPMA New Zealand Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
2 | ALPMA NZ 2021 Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
Contents
Executive Summary 4
Key Findings 7
Employment Profile at NZ Law Firms 10
Bonuses, Benefits & Incentives 17
Diversity & Inclusion 33
HR Issues & Challenges 37
Employment & Salary Projections 44
Salary Data 54
Summary of Salary Movements 63
Appendix 68
3 | ALPMA NZ 2021 Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
Introduction
The Australasian Legal Practice Management Association (ALPMA) conducts the Legal Industry
Salary Survey in New Zealand to provide an annual overview of salaries paid in legal firms across
the country. It is the largest and most comprehensive independent survey of salaries across all
roles for legal firms in New Zealand.
The survey helps ALPMA members and law firm business leaders benchmark their remuneration
strategies against similar firms, and gain insight into the remuneration, HR and employment
trends across the industry.
In addition to salary data, the survey includes information about staff employment profiles,
employment benefits, bonuses paid, employment and salary projections for the next 12 months
and the HR issues facing the legal community in 2021.
The 2021 ALPMA New Zealand Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey provides data for 2,992
staff employed across 115 legal offices in New Zealand.7 | ALPMA NZ 2021 Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
Key findings
Wages flat, with partners and executive salaries down sharply
Salaries across the legal industry were flat in 2020, with an average overall fall of 0.4%. This
compares to national wage growth of 1.6% for the year ending December 2020.
While firms reported modest wage growth for lawyers and administration staff, both up by 1.2%,
executive salaries fell significantly. Driven largely by CEO /COO positions (down 18.9%) executive
and senior management remuneration declined by 4.6%. Salaries paid to equity partners also
fell sharply, down 10.5% to an average of $214,000.
Employment remained strong, although some small firms made cuts
While growth was lower than was anticipated prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, employment
across the legal industry remained strong. Forty four percent (44%) of responding law firms had
increased staffing levels by the end of 2020, while 30% maintained a consistent headcount. Cuts
were most prevalent amongst small firms, with three in 10 small firms reducing the size of their
workforce during 2020.
Positively, despite the uncertain operating conditions in 2020, law firms continue to provide
secure employment with a majority of staff employed on a permanent full time basis.
Forecasts are positive, with further growth expected in 2021
Positively, firms are optimistic about growth prospects in 2021 with almost seven in 10 (68%)
expecting staff levels at their firm to increase over the next 12 months. This is the highest since
2017.
Recruitment of lawyers will remain strong, with 82% of respondents expecting to hire for these
positions in 2021. Law firms also expect to recruit for additional legal executives (41%) secretarial
support (43%) and administrative positions (41%), with the majority of positions to drive firm
growth. Recruitment of executives will be predominantly for replacement.
Financial bonuses used more selectively to reward employees
Firms continue to offer a range of employment benefits and bonuses to attract and retain talent.
Broadly consistent with last year, seven in ten New Zealand law firms offering some form of
bonus as a component of the remuneration package they provide employees.
While the proportion offering financial incentives to all staff has fallen to 44%, down from 51% in
2020, nine in 10 firms pay their lawyers a bonus to boost productivity and 65% also offer bonuses
to legal executives. Up from 39% in 2020, 45% pay bonuses to their executive management,
although in another likely causality of the pandemic executive bonus amounts were also lower.
Managing staff flexibility and staff mental health most important issues
Given the implications of COVID-19, it is unsurprising that work life balance and managing staff
mental health and wellbeing are the most important HR issues for firms in 2021.
With working from home widespread, nearly all New Zealand law firms of all sizes report that
managing flexibility with workloads is an important issue for them to manage. Alongside this,
with many employees struggling to cope with the change and uncertainty of the last 12 months,
95% of firms report that managing staff mental health will be a priority. This is up from 87% in
2019 and 91% last year.Methodology Distribution The 2021 ALPMA New Zealand Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey was open to all New Zealand legal firms. It was released slightly earlier this year, to allow the production of the report to be available in early March 2021 to coincide with the New Zealand financial year end. The survey was open from 15 December 2020 to 5 February 2021. The survey link was emailed to all ALPMA members and subscribers, inviting firms to complete an online survey. The survey link was also accessible via the ALPMA website and various social media channels. Questionnaire The survey questionnaire was designed by ALPMA, with the majority of the questions the same as prior survey waves, allowing benchmarking to previous years. Several new questions have also been included, particularly in relation to the bonuses, incentives and parental leave practices of legal firms in New Zealand. A preparation checklist was developed to assist staff in collecting the necessary salary data to fully complete the survey. Results and Analysis A total of 115 legal firms completed the survey by the closing date and the study provides data about 2,992 people employed within these 115 firms. To ensure validity, only data from fully completed surveys was used in the analysis. Results were compiled in Survey Manager software, and results were analysed in Q statistical software. The survey was conducted by an independent research firm, Survey Matters, and results are provided in aggregate form only. Survey Matters is a member of the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS) and is bound by the AMSRS Code of Professional Behaviour and the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988. The salary data provided by firms is held as strictly confidential. No individual or firm is identified in the survey results in any way. Sample Where applicable, results are presented in this report to show differences based on firm size. Please note that some segments contain very small samples, particularly salary data by firm size and location. As sample composition can significantly affect reported values and impact reliability and variability, salary data should be treated as indicative only and is provided for directional purposes only. It is not intended to be relied upon as representative of salaries paid across all legal firms in New Zealand. In particular, care should be taken with results provided for ‘large’ New Zealand law firms. As privacy and data retention policies prevent validation of the sample for consistency, changes in results over time may be due to differences in the sample of firms who have completed the survey year on year Sample sizes are provided in Appendix A. Disclaimer Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the data contained in this report, actual salary data provided by survey respondents has been used to calculate the remuneration tables in this report. The results are provided as indicative information only and should be used as a guideline only. ALPMA and Survey Matters do not make any warranties regarding the use, validity, accuracy or reliability of the results and information obtained. ALPMA and Survey Matters will not be liable for any damages of any kind arising out of or relating to use of this Information.
9 | ALPMA NZ 2021 Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
Respondent Profile
Respondent Location
The majority of responses were from the North Island (65%), with just over a quarter (27%) from law firms in
Auckland. A further 8% of responses were from Wellington with the remaining 30% coming from other North
Island locations. Sixteen percent (16%) of responses came from law firms in Christchurch, and the remainder
(20%) from other locations in the South Island
27%
Region %
Auckland 27%
30%
Wellington 8%
8%
Christchurch 16%
Other North Island 30%
Other South Island 20%
16% Q. In which area is your firm located? N=115
20%
Firm Size
Much of the analysis throughout the report is based on firm size, with the following parameters used to categorise firms:
• Small firms – 1-24 employees
• Medium firms – 25-75 employees
• Large firms – Over 75 employees
In terms of size, the composition of the sample is weighted towards smaller firms. Almost two thirds (62%) of responses
were received from firms with fewer than 25 staff. A further 32% of respondents were medium sized firms with between
25 and 75 staff, while only 6% of responding firms employ more than 75 staff. The composition of respondents has
remained relatively consistent with previous years' surveys.
62% 32% 6%
SMALL MEDIUM LARGE
Firms with fewer than 25 staff Firms with 25-75 employees Firms with more than 75 employees
Q. How many total staff were employed at your legal firm on 1 January 2021? N=11501 Employment Profile at Law Firms
11 | ALPMA NZ 2021 Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
Staff Profile
The 2021 ALPMA New Zealand Legal Industry Salary and HR Issues Survey
provides data about 2,992 employees across 115 legal firms in New Zealand.
This is comparable to 2020, which reported on 3289 employees from 111 law firms.
Position Groups
Salary data was provided by participants on more than 60 positions. These positions have been allocated to one of
ten position groups which are outlined below and form much of the analysis in this report.
Position Group No of Staff %
Lawyers 1,427 47.7%
Legal Executives 435 14.5%
Executive / Senior Management 78 2.6%
Secretarial Support (Legal Team) 554 18.5%
Administration (Office Support) 306 10.2%
Finance 116 3.9%
Human Resources 23 0.8%
Information Technology 27 0.9%
Knowledge Management 12 0.4%
Marketing & Business Development 14 0.5%
TOTAL 2,992 100
* Data calculated from the number of positions that salary data was provided for.
Staff and Fee Earners by Firm Size
Of the participants surveyed, New Zealand law firms employ on average 27 staff in 2021, marginally less than in 2020 (29
staff) Fee earners represent two thirds (66%) of all staff employed by respondents, slightly higher than 2020 (62%).
Small firms employ an average of 14 staff in 2021, including 10 fee earners, while medium firms employ an average of 40
staff of whom 26 are fee earners. Large firms employ 90 staff on average in 2021, 63% of whom are fee earners within
the firm.
Staff
Figure 1.0 Number of Staff and Fee Earners
Fee Earners
90
57
40
27 26
18 14 10
Total Small Medium Large
Q. How many fee earners did your firm have (including Partners, lawyers & Legal Executives) on 1 January 2021? n=11568 | ALPMA NZ 2021 Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
Market Insights from our Survey Partner:
Fluid Legal Recruitment
Despite the early hit to market confidence as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic, from a recruitment
perspective the legal market has quickly bounced back to perform exceptionally well over the past twelve months.
As highlighted in the 2021 survey, talent acquisition remains one of the key challenges for law firms across the
spectrum in New Zealand. Whilst the market has benefited somewhat from a swell of returning talent (from overseas
due to the pandemic), the candidate-short nature of recruiting quality legal professionals and support staff has not got
any easier.
The big question in the next period will be surrounding the effect of relaxing border restrictions as vaccines are rolled
out and the global COVID-19 situation improves. Will this lead to a brain drain of top legal talent, as top talent heads
back overseas?
Fluid Legal Recruitment has a number of clients who have ear-marked employees as flight risks, potentially fleeing
when allowed, with the prevailing strategy being seen to err on the side of being slightly over-capacity rather than the
inverse, in preparation for an exodus of talent in the traditional mid-level demographic. This approach, paired with a
resilient level of confidence and optimism among firms, continues to drive demand for quality recruitment solutions
and likely explains the 44% increase in staff employment across firms in 2020.
One of the key trends we have noticed and welcomed is the increasing propensity of firms to partner with recruitment
agencies on an exclusive or retained basis. This was corroborated in the survey, with more firms listing vacancies
exclusively with one agency and less firms multi-listing with several.
We expect this movement to continue, as the most successful consultants in the industry continue to push away from
more traditional contingency models and place more weight on the value of enduring partnerships.
With a high level of current and predicted demand in the market on the client side (82% of respondents looking to
hire lawyers in the next twelve months), it is crucial that firms avoid a dilution of effort and market message when
engaging with agency. Likewise, it is equally essential that as recruitment professionals we dedicate our time and
resource to roles where we have a strong client mandate and the credibility to represent a firm to the market with
integrity. The report shows that most firms have a reactive recruitment strategy, seeking to advertise only when the
need arises. From our experience a more proactive approach that law firms could quickly adopt is to partner with a
Recruitment firm more closely throughout the year. For example, many of our clients have ongoing standing briefs
with us, this means, that throughout the year we will ensure all candidates know about opportunities within their
firm.69 | ALPMA NZ 2021 Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
The prevalence of candidates seeking improved flexibility and workloads has been the most notable shift in recent
candidate conversations. It is now easily amongst the most common reasons for candidates to be considering
change. We are seeing many more regional relocations within NZ than previous years, for various reasons, such as,
to be closer to family, seeking housing affordability or simply realigning to key lifestyle objectives. Given the
pandemic has now highlighted, in many respects, the ability for work to be successfully completed outside of the
traditional office environment, and that alternate working arrangements deliver increased lifestyle and wellbeing
benefits, it will be fascinating to see how this dynamic unfolds over the coming year. This increase in desire for
alternate working arrangements has been seen through our conversations with lawyers and matches the top two HR
challenges identified by firms in 2021.From a talent retention, recruitment and employer branding perspective, the
ability of firms to adapted and manage these challenges will ultimately determine its success.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all the firms and legal professionals that we have worked with
over the past twelve months. It is with enduring excitement that we find new ways to solve complex talent
acquisition challenges and match talented professionals with our partner clients.
We always welcome new inquiries from firms across New Zealand as we continue to grow our presence as a
specialist legal search team. If you would like to discuss any of the insights in this report, or our search model more
generally, please feel free to reach out and contact Eden Brown on the details below.
Eden Brown
Managing Consultant – Fluid Legal
021 044 3607 | eden@fluidrecruitment.co.nz08 Appendix
71 | ALPMA NZ 2021 Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey Number of employees by position Position No. of Individuals Graduate 38 0-1 years PQE 75 1 years PQE 74 2 years PQE 106 3 years PQE 71 4 years PQE 70 5 years PQE 44 6 years PQE 36 Associate / Senior Solicitor 263 Senior Associate 180 Special Counsel 33 Salaried Partner 126 Equity Partner 249 Managing Partner 16 Consultant 46 Legal Executive (
ABOUT SURVEY MATTERS Survey Matters is the only research agency exclusively servicing the association, membership and non-profit sector. We offer member engagement and satisfaction surveys, association benchmarks, industry statistics and public opinion research. Survey Matters have helped a wide range of associations understand their value proposition. We also work with associations to generate and build industry data and knowledge to support advocacy, promotion, industry development and marketing activities. Our research provides the evidence to make better decisions, improve performance and increase value to members and stakeholders. www.surveymatters.com.au Report Prepared by: Rebecca Sullivan Research Director Survey Matters E: rsullivan@surveymatters.com.au T 61 3 9452 0101
ABOUT ALPMA The Australasian Legal Practice Management Association, (ALPMA), is the peak body representing managers and lawyers with a legal practice management role. ALPMA provides an authoritative voice on issues relevant to legal practice management. Members of ALPMA provide professional management services to legal practices in areas of financial management, strategic management, technology, human resources, facilities and operational management, marketing and information services and technology. www.alpmanz.co.nz ABOUT FLUID LEGAL RECRUITMENT Looking for a role within the Legal sector? - At Fluid Recruitment we work with top tier law firms as well as mid-sized and boutique Practices throughout New Zealand both in the main centres and the wider regions. We also work legal opportunities in-house and within the Government sector. Fluid Legal is a specialist division of Fluid Recruitment New Zealand Ltd. We recruit nationwide, solely in the legal industry. If you are considering a change, or want to chat confidentially about your options, please get in touch. Our legal division has one of the largest and most up-to-date databases in the country. We enjoy close relationships with partners throughout New Zealand, from top-tier and mid-tier to small regional practices. We take a consultative approach to recruitment and we will never sell a role that we don’t believe is a great fit. Our consultants are superbly placed to give candidates an accurate and honest appraisal of the market conditions, tailoring a strategy to give individuals the best possible chance at landing their dream role. Our point of difference – Fluid Legal is a tight-knit specialist team with access to the resources of an established wider agency. You get the personable service of an industry expert while also having piece of mind that you are dealing with an market-leading and highly reputable recruitment firm. Feedback and Further Information Any feedback or questions about the survey report should be directed to ALPMA. Phone: +61 (3) 8644 7055 Email: info@alpma.com.au Note: This report has been prepared for the exclusive use and benefit of the addressee(s) and solely for the purpose for which it is provided. Unless we provide express prior written consent, no part of this report should be reproduced, distributed or communicated to any third party. We do not accept any liability if this report is used for an alternative purpose from which it is intended, nor to any third party in respect of this report.
2021 ALPMA New Zealand
Legal Industry HR Issues & Salary Survey
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Firms who participated in this survey are provided with a complimentary copy of the final report.You can also read
