Brain drain in private practice of law

This year’s bar exams have recently concluded, and the Chairman of the Bar has announced their intention to release the results in December.

In the legal profession, many law firms are already in the midst of recruiting new lawyers, even before the results are known. These newly-hired individuals are commonly referred to as “underbar associates.”

With each new hire, I find myself contemplating and attempting to assess their potential longevity with our firm.

While retention of lawyers and talent have always been an issue in private law offices, retention problems started to be more pronounced and felt, sometime in 2016. During the pandemic, many law offices experienced a surge in lawyer resignations.

Initially, law offices chalked it up to generational change and differences in life outlook, as most new lawyers were Millennials, or those born between the years 1981 to 1996.

In the article “Understanding the Millennial Lawyer” published by Shelley Whitehead, a lawyer and Legal Recruiter, she observed that some have stereotyped Millennials as being entitled, lacking work ethic , being job hoppers, and the millennial that went to law school and passed the bar doesn’t escape this stereotype. But the truth is that the millennial lawyer is accomplished and has high expectations for themselves and their employer.

However, in law firms, it was observed that there was a disconnect between more seasoned lawyers and the younger crop of millennial lawyers. Millennial lawyers challenge the status quo with their nontraditional approach to getting things done.

Baby boomer and Gen X lawyers often sacrificed their personal life for the sake of their career, either by trying to make partner, or building a thriving legal practice. It seems, though, that millennial lawyers are less driven by salary as previous generations were. They are not lazy; they simply have a different belief system. (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understanding-millennial-lawyer-shelley-l-whitehead/)

With our law office, we have observed that many lawyers who left our firm, chose to work with the Government. This trend was particularly true during the pandemic years.

An interesting fact not known to all is that the Philippine Government is the largest employer in the country.

According to the Civil Service Commission, the total number of officials and employees in the career and non-career service is at 1,728,641 as of May 31, 2019. (Explanatory Note by Rep. PM Vargas for House Bill No. 1675, also known as the Security of Tenure Act)

In our experience, younger lawyers would opt to join the Public Attorney’s Office, the Office of the President, Office of the Solicitor General, various government agencies in the executive branch, the Senate and Congress as legal staff, and the courts. More experienced lawyers would seek appointment with the National Labor Relations Commission, the Department of Justice and the judiciary as judges and justices.

When I was a new lawyer some 20 years ago, the government was hard pressed to recruit talent as the pay was quite low compared to the private sector. Those joining the government service would do so for two main reasons: one was the genuine desire to perform public service, and the other was to gain connections.

Fast forward to 2023 and the tables have turned. It is now the private sector that is losing talent to the government sector. One of the main reasons is that compensation and benefits in government service has greatly improved. This is largely due to the Salary Standardization Law which took effect in 2019, increasing the pay of government workers. We are now in the fourth tranche of the salary standardization which took effect on Jan 1, 2023.

Our law office has had several one- or two-year lawyers join the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO). As of 2021, the PAO had 2,328 public attorneys. (Public Attorneys Office Accomplishment Report for the Year 2021)

The position of Public Attorney I, which carries with it the Salary Grade of 25 is an entry-level position, and the public attorney receives the following monthly remunerations:

Basic Salary                                   P95,083
RATA                                              P10,000
PERA                                              P2,000
Clothing Allowance (Annually) P5,000
PBB (Annually) Salary Based
13th Month Pay (Annually) 1 month salary
14th Month Pay (Annually) 1 month salary

(https://www.foi.gov.ph/requests)

Note that Salary Grade 25 now has a basic salary that starts at P102,690 per month.

Even the vacancy for a Clerk of Court III with the Metropolitan Trial Court which is classified as Salary Grade 22 pays P71.511 a month. The requirement for the position is a Bachelor of Laws with one year relevant experience and four hours of relevant training.

It is significant to point out that the starting pay for new lawyers in many Private Law Offices would range from P45,000 to P65,000 per month.

To be sure, there are other reasons why lawyers in the Private Sector, move to the Public Sector, some of which are as follows.

Job security

During the pandemic, many lawyers joined government service as many private law offices experienced a slowdown in work, especially those law firms specializing in litigation, due to the fact that courts were closed. Due to this uncertainty, many lawyers in these firms applied to the government, where there is a strong job security especially for those that are in plantilla positions and in the career civil service.

Lower stress level

Government lawyers are assigned to a particular office and agency with specific functions. Accordingly, the legal issues would usually revolve around the specialized functions of the office or agency, unlike private law offices where most are in the general practice of law and there is a need to handle new cases and legal issues on a regular basis.

While it might seem like a good idea to constantly adapt and keep having to learn new skill sets, it does get tiring and also add to a lot more stress.

Building connections and network

A lot of lawyers look to government service as a pathway to create and build connections. The building of connections does not necessarily mean doing any illegality but most of the time, simply knowing which office or agency to advocate to.

Further study

There are also lawyers who join government service because they wish to continue further studies, such as to take their Masters of Law abroad. There are many opportunities for government lawyers for further studies in the form of grants and scholarships. Moreover, recommendations from government officials and their superiors are given much weight by schools abroad.

Desire and fulfillment of public service

Of course, there are also lawyers who join government service because they truly wish to serve the public. Several lawyers from our Firm resigned to join the government because they were inspired to be public servants, and we wholeheartedly gave them our blessing.

Retirement benefits

In the private sector, most law offices do not have a retirement plan or program. Private lawyers rely on themselves and the Social Security System (SSS). For government employees, they have the Government Services Insurance System (GSIS). As between the SSS and GSIS, the GSIS pays out a substantially bigger retirement package which is a percentage of their last salary received. It would not be an exaggeration that the GSIS monthly retirement benefit is two or even three times bigger than the package given by the SSS to private sector workers.

In light of all these, private law offices are currently experiencing a brain drain where talent is moving to the government sector. While this shift may have positive implications for public service, the rest of us in private sector law offices have to constantly elevate and improve our standards and practices, if we want to retain our legal talent and keep our top legal minds within the firm.

(The author, Atty. John Philip C. Siao, is a practicing lawyer and founding Partner of Tiongco Siao Bello & Associates Law Offices, an Arbitrator of the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission of the Philippines, and teaches law at the De La Salle University Tañada-Diokno School of Law. He may be contacted at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article belong to the author alone.)