Legal Commentary

Law-firm associates should unionize. I don?t know why they haven?t already, except that they are, on the whole, rather gutless.

Think about it. Associates at big law firms are perfectly suited to unionize. They are overworked and underpaid. And partners utterly depend on them. If associates actually used their latent collective bargaining power, it seems to me they could extract huge concessions from partners.

Now, I know nothing about labor law. Is there a legal barrier here? Or are associates just holding themselves back? There would certainly be some professional responsibility issues with an all-out strike, as client interests could be threatened. But I think associates could flex considerable collective-bargaining muscle without creating an ethics problem.

Let me note that when I say associates are underpaid, I do not mean that they are impoverished and we should feel sorry for them. But, compared to the amount that the partners bill clients for associate hours, the portion associates receive is trifling. Why should they surrender more than three-quarters of their billable rate to pay for the partners? rainmaking services and office overhead?

I am struck by the irony that associates are trained and employed to play hardball in their litigation work and corporate deals, yet, when it comes to dealing with the partnership over pay, associates seem to take what they are given, unless they feel so slighted they move to another firm. That?s my observation, having been one.

One last point: I am sure many associates would claim they are uninterested in unionization since, as they see it, they will be a partner someday. But, of course, if everyone thinks that, most are wrong.