Engineering/construction behemoth Bechtel will be adding junior lawyers to its team via alternative legal services provider (ALSP) Legal Innovators. The press release announcing the deal highlighted Legal Innovators’ focus on creating opportunities for attorneys from diverse backgrounds and demographics. Beneath that emphasis, however, is a statement from the ALSP’s CEO that Legal Innovators typically saves firms 30-40% in costs for junior lawyers. This is an understandable reaction by Bechtel to what it sees as the “unsustainable costs [of] training and integrating” junior associates in-house. Diversity may grab the headlines, but the real news is that this is about cost cutting. Expect more large corporations to find ways to pay less for lawyers right out of law school.
Comments are closed.