This question is one that legal administrators and partners in charge of staff compensation and benefits are continually asking themselves. We all know that the market for good, qualified legal secretaries and paralegals/legal assistants is very tight right now and it is often difficult to find the right person for your firm. Retaining good employees may be more difficult than finding them in the first place. All of us have experienced that sinking feeling when we receive a resignation from one of our staff. That feeling intensifies when we find out that the staff member is joining a law firm down the street because that firm can pay more and provides better benefits.

The initial thoughts going through your head after you receive that resignation include . . .

· How am I going to find someone that will get along with everyone in the office;

· I’ll have to find coverage for this position until I find a replacement;

· I’ll probably have to pay an agency fee to find someone really qualified; and

· The interview process to find someone qualified will take forever.

Although there is no guarantee that at some point you won’t lose individuals in your employ, there is a way to ensure that your staff is being fairly compensated: participate in the Annual ALA Compensation and Benefits Survey. Each year in September, the Knoxville Chapter of ALA (Association of Legal Administrators) sends out a Compensation and Benefits Survey to area law firms. Over the years, the results gathered from this survey have become a valuable management tool for those law firm administrators and attorneys who are responsible for managing compensation and benefit programs in their law firms.

To ensure confidentiality of the survey results, ALA works closely with Price Waterhouse Coopers, LLP, who compiles all the data received into meaningful statistics. This data, when presented in final format, is unidentifiable to specific law firms.

The survey is divided into three areas: specific salary information for legal secretaries, paralegals, and other staff positions such as word processors, file clerks, messengers, law librarians, etc., as well as general information such as length of work week and questions concerning overtime and bonus payments to staff. Specific benefit related questions dealing with vacation, sick time, holidays, insurance and retirement plans are also included.

Benefits from participating in the survey include:

· Learning what the average salary rate is in the Knoxville market for various staff positions;

· Ensuring that the salaries in your firm are comparable and competitive to other law firms in Knoxville;

· Ensuring that your staff is being paid fairly and equitably;

· Having market research data at hand so that hiring and salary decisions are made easier, especially if hiring someone from outside the Knoxville area; and

· Reviewing local benefit trends in the legal market to determine if certain benefits make sense for your firm.

Of course the salary survey is only valuable if a significant number of firms of all sizes participate. The more law firms that participate, the more meaningful the results will be. Over the past couple of years, there has been an increase in the number of firms that have participated in the salary survey.

I encourage everyone to participate in this valuable survey. Not only will the survey answer many questions you might have about salary and benefit issues in your firm, your employees will know that you care enough about them to ensure they are being paid fairly and are provided with competitive benefits. These days, a competitive salary and benefits package goes a long way in increasing your odds of hiring a good employee and keeping them!

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