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Law360 (May 14, 2020, 12:02 AM EDT) -- Three-quarters of associates at law firms say they are most worried about their job security and pay during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey released Thursday.
About 52% of associates are most concerned about their job security, followed by 23% fearing pay cuts or furloughs. Ten percent fretted most about their mental health, the third highest-ranking concern.
Some of the stress might be attributable to another trend that the survey uncovered: A vast majority of associates felt like their workload has flatlined or declined while their billable hour targets stayed the same, according to Stephanie Biderman, managing director for legal recruiter Major Lindsey & Africa's associate practice group, which helped to conduct the survey in mid-April.
"With respect to the workload, I think there are certain associates who are concerned about, 'How am I going to hit those hours if my workload has decreased?'" Biderman said.
The fears that associates reported in the survey certainly aren't unfounded.
Dozens of major firms have enacted layoffs, furloughs and other cost-cutting measures with the end of the crisis still not in sight. And when the Great Recession struck in 2008, associates were among the greatest casualties.
The April survey, conducted by Major Lindsey & Africa and legal industry blog Above the Law, polled 1,335 associates in firms of all sizes, but most respondents were at firms with 500 or more attorneys.
About 39% of respondents said their workloads have stayed the same as they work from home; another 39% said theirs have decreased; and 21% said theirs have increased. Fifty-seven percent of real estate associates say they've had less work, while 52% of bankruptcy associates said they've had more.
While their responses reflected fears and difficulties posed by the pandemic, they also highlighted some positives.
More than three-quarters of associates reported that they feel like communication within their firms has actually improved since the crisis began. A majority said their firms have done a good job of fostering camaraderie during the pandemic.
Additionally, most didn't find working from home to be particularly troublesome. About 19% said it was not difficult at all to work from home, 36% said it was not very difficult, 36% said it was somewhat difficult and 9% said it was very difficult. Those who were caring for children or relatives tended to find it more difficult, while non-caregivers generally found it easier.
Looking to the future, 95% of associates said they expected the crisis will change their firms' remote working policies even after the crisis is over. Majorities also said the crisis will change technologies that law firms and courts will use, and the amount and configuration of their firms' office space.
--Editing by Emily Kokoll.
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