The future of talent retention in law

In a profession where high levels of attrition are often accepted as the norm, Elise Ivory is something of an anomaly: she has been with Dentons for 22 years. “It will be 23 years in December. I’ve been here since I finished uni,” she says.

Over the two decades, Ivory has worked in a range of different roles and is now a partner and practice group leader for the financial services regulatory team. She cites great colleagues, many of whom have also enjoyed similar tenures with the firm, a supportive workplace culture and solid relationships with long-term clients as principal reasons for staying put.

“I’ve got clients who I helped set up as lenders 20 years ago and now I’m still acting for them. I have a huge amount of respect for those clients, and I’ve enjoyed watching them grow,” she says.

“The firm is somewhere I’ve always felt comfortable. In my time here, I’ve been married, had two kids and gone through various things that people go through during life, and I’ve always felt really supported to manage my life and my work. It’s a place that I’m very loyal to.”

Ivory says she’s knocked back approaches from recruiters keen to poach her for other firms. “I have met with them and thought about [leaving]. But I’m very happy here.”

Long tenures like Ivory’s are indicative of a broad employment trend dubbed ‘The Big Stay’. A realignment after the pandemic-induced ‘Great Resignation’ where workers left their jobs in droves, it signals a shift towards stability and a desire for job security.

In law, however, there is one crucial caveat to this emerging pattern: for most practitioners, sticking with an employer is less about risk aversiveness and much more about the value of the offering.

As the legal sector continues to be shaped by evolving understandings of wellbeing, generational change and unwavering expectations of flexibility, it is firms and other employers that can give lawyers the culture, conditions and renumeration they want, that hold the upper hand.

Lingering pandemic effects

Across Australia, ABS data shows job mobility has eased after peaking in 2022, with fewer workers switching roles compared to the upheaval of the Great Resignation years. More people are sticking with their current employer amid the continuing cost-of-living crisis and a preference for security and familiarity. Reflective of the increased focus on workplace mental health that arose during the pandemic, workers who feel safe and supported are less likely to change jobs.

In law firms, staff turnover has declined to 23 per cent, the lowest in three years, according to a recent survey of 345 firms by the Australasian Legal Practice Management Association. Further 2025 research by the College of Law identified work-life balance as the most important factor for legal professionals when considering a role, followed by a competitive salary and career advancement opportunities. More than half of survey respondents reported having access to flexible working arrangements – the most common workplace benefit by far.

Ann-Maree David, executive director at the College of Law, says many lawyers are staying put because they made considered moves during the pandemic. “They wanted work opportunities that better reflected who they are and saw that there could be a better way to combine career and lifestyle, and they went looking for that.”

Indeed, it’s difficult to overstate just how significant the pandemic was for the legal profession. The years of lockdowns and working from home weren’t just a temporary disruption – they marked a paradigm shift, forcing a widespread rethink of everything from mental health support to office dress codes and the existential meaning of work.

Almost one in three lawyers (29 per cent) expressed an intention to leave their current employer within the next year, according to a 2025 report by researchers at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne. Low levels of wellbeing and poor psychosocial support from employers were most likely to cause lawyers to want to leave their employer. David says people are weighing up what’s post important to them.

Salary still matters

In addition to the increased focus on wellbeing and work-life balance, renumeration remains a strong determining factor in a lawyer’s decision to stay with an employer or move on.

The College of Law research found average base salaries have increased by 7 per cent since 2024, with the average performance-based bonus amount up by 37 per cent. “Salaries are on the rise, so law firms are doing what they have to do to keep people,” David says.

Jesse Shah, CEO at legal recruiter Nrol, which has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, London and Dubai, says ongoing talent shortages since the pandemic are driving salaries up – and influencing retention.

“When the borders were closed it was pretty extreme and put a lot of people off migrating to Australia for work, especially lawyers. Prior to Covid, I could sell the dream – the sunshine, the lifestyle – but since then it’s totally turned on its head. People don’t look at Australia as they might have. Plus, we’re also losing local talent going abroad as internationally the salaries are way higher than here,” he says.

Locally, Shah notes lateral moves of 20 per cent increment in salary. In sectors of law with significant talents shortages, including employment, insurance and corporate, “candidates have more power”. “It’s hard with the cost of living when someone’s dangling a carrot for a lateral move with a 20 per cent increase in your salary to turn it down, no matter how loyal you are to the firm you’re in.”

Flexibility and custom careers

However, Shah says salary increases count for less if firms aren’t keeping pace with expectations around culture and flexibility. “Law is one of the most traditional industries, but when it comes to culture and flexibility, people want more. They value that more now than just that traditional setup. Any firm trying to do five days in the office is losing talent for sure.”

He says in the past, factors influencing retention centred on the manager, the firm and the work the firm produced. “Now it’s more about flexibility and salary. Those are more on people’s minds when leaving or being poached by competitors. Retention looks different now,” Shah explains.

It’s a pattern Mitchell Zadow has observed at Sharrock Pitman Legal, a commercial law firm in Melbourne’s south-east.

Zadow is managing principal at the firm, which includes 15 lawyers and around 10 support staff.

“We’re very open-minded about balancing people’s commitments, whether it’s family, health commitments or whatever it might be. We try to create an environment where we meet as many people’s needs and expectations as we can.”

Zadow has worked at the firm for almost 19 years alongside another equity partner who’s clocked up 21 years. Several other members of the team have enjoyed tenures of more than 10 years. Zadow, who worked his way up after starting as a graduate lawyer, believes facilitating diverse career pathways is a key element of retention.

“We’re very clear with people that there is a clear career path available if they want it that has options to suit each person. We’re very open to the fact that people might not necessarily want equity partnership. They might want to be a salaried partner. They might not want to be a partner at all; they just might want to be a highly regarded expert senior lawyer,” he says.

“We have developed a culture that encourages and gives people options, so that we avoid a one-size-fits-all approach that leaves our team feeling that if it doesn’t suit their plans, they feel they need to look elsewhere.”

Ivory, who is one of five partners in her team at Dentons who manage around 10 lawyers, agrees that clear career pathways aid retention. “From what I’ve heard from my lawyers, there are more people who want that career role where they clearly see a path to grow and develop. When lawyers can’t see the development path, they’re more inclined to go.”

Values and purpose-driven

Although almost two-thirds of lawyers in Australia work in private practice, the government and corporate sectors have recorded higher employment growth over the last 10 years, according to the Urbis 2024 National Profile of Solicitors.

David says there is a lot the private sector can learn from corporate and government employers’ approach to retention. “Here in Queensland, for example, the government department is offering the most extraordinary graduate programs – secondments in different areas, work-life balance, flexible work. If that’s your first taste of law, you would stay.”

She notes that not-for-profits have seen strong salary growth, albeit with minimal bonus opportunities, with many organisations offering attractive career pathways. “You build careers in places like that,” David says.

This has certainly been Samantha Lee’s experience. The human rights lawyers is supervising solicitor of the policing practice at Redfern Legal Centre, an independent, not-for-profit in inner-city Sydney. She’s been with the organisation since 2018; prior to that, she spent 10 years with Legal Aid NSW.

“What’s kept me here is our sense of purpose and the ability to be very creative in the work I do, identifying systemic issues that can be tackled on a law reform and strategic litigation basis,” Lee says.

“This is such a unique space with such ability to impact at a systemic level. Now that I’ve landed here, it’s hard to know where to go next. It’s like landing on the moon and seeing Mars in the distance.”

Since the pandemic, she’s noticed a growing number of legal professionals considering a move to the not-for-profit sector. “It really brought out in people whether their life has a sense of meaning. A lot of people want a sense that they are contributing in some way to something they hold dear,” Lee says, noting climate action and refugee rights as common causes motivating lawyers to make the switch.

With an emerging cohort of younger lawyers “flooding the market” – almost half of all solicitors are aged 25-39 – David expects to see more practitioners choosing employers whose values align with their own.

It’s clear that what keeps lawyers loyal isn’t just salary, but a mix of culture, flexibility and purpose. Across the profession, employers that offer genuine support and flexibility are the ones most likely to hold onto their people for the long haul.

So powerful are these drivers that Shah says firms and employers that stick to traditional ways will “lose out in the long run because the new generations don’t want that”. “If employers want to get the power on their side, they need to improve their culture, keep work flexibility and make sure they’re paying above-market salaries.

“If they keep to those three things, they will build a law firm where retention is very high because people will not want to leave.”