b'22 Local Government LawyerOther factors to gain significant mentions include a lack of career prospects and poorQuote. What are the worst aspects of working leadership, although a number of commentsin local authority legal?suggested that there was relatively little that legal department management could do toUnquote: The inability to adjust/increase personnel alleviate some of the problems that theyresources with ebb/flow of work to meet face. demand. If work pressure increases we just have to make do within existing budgetsUp or out? Dwindling resources, lack of commercial Despite the gripes and ongoing resourceWhat are the best aspects of working inoutlook, the fact that the aspects of the job issues in local government, it is clearlocal authority legal? which used to compensate for lower pay that morale in general has improved.(work/life balance, pension, shorter working One effect of this, compared to the lastNo nights, weekends or bank holidays. hours) are gradually being erodedLegal Department of the Future survey inHolidays and days off are just that; no phoneLack of investment in IT and very little 2015, is that a greater proportion of localcalls/emails to constantly check - coming fromforward-thinking to ensure that the legal government lawyers want to stay in locala criminal defence background this is the bestdepartment continues to progress towards government and a greater proportion ofthing about this job what the service should look like in the futurethem want to move up the career ladderGeneral culture in the office and accessSenior managers fail to listen to staff. too. In 2015, when asked what theirto types of work I would not see in privateDecisions made without consultationmain career ambition was, 32% of localpractice No scope for progression as legal departments government lawyers said that their futureQuality, complexity and breadth of work.dont expand. No performance related pay or careers lay outside local government. Knowledgeable and supportive colleagues.other incentivesThis time around (FIG 3), this proportionLevel of responsibility. Being involved inApathy from management and their inability has dropped to 23% and of those thatinnovative projects. Good pension scheme to deal with people who dont performintend to remain in the sector, the majorityNo two days or cases are the same Challenging to recruit as job evaluation say that they would like to move into (orI prefer working in-house because of thedoesnt recognise PQE or qualificationsonly further up) the management ranks rathercloser relationship you can have with clients.budget and management responsibilitythan remain in their present pay grades. More so in the public sector as there is awhich is hard to achieve in a small flat legal Meeting these career demands willfeeling that we are all in this together. Thereteam. Market supplements are unfair on not be any easier for legal departmentare some very good people in the sector whoseexisting staffmanagement. The growth of shared servicesmotivations are very honourable. For someAusterityin terms of uncertainty around has reduced the number of more seniorit is almost like a vocation. People are veryfuture for employees, increased workloads roles available as has the relegation of thecommitted leading to mistakes and impact on service monitoring officer role down the corporateThe feeling of doing something worthwhile forusers and therefore diminished job satisfaction hierarchy at many councils. As a result,society with law rather than transactional forin terms of how the council is perceived to be while improved from earlier surveys, localindividuals performinggovernment lawyers satisfaction with theirThe breadth of work, work-life balance andThe Inability to reward those who go the extra career prospects remain pretty low at justpay are better than my comparative role inmile, or to deal effectively with those who do 5 out of 10. The phrase dead mans shoesprivate sector the bare minimumcrops up frequently in the open-endedWorking with nice people, what you doThe lack of resources for front line services comments.benefits the local community, flexible hourswhich has a huge knock on impact on the Meeting lawyers career ambitions isand good work-life balance demands that are made of back office staff perhaps a different management headacheVariety of work and the political dimension.like legal services, which have over the years to those faced in the past few years, but oneWillingness of employer to consider flexiblethemselves been cut back and backthat is probably preferable to managing aworking Lack of understanding of the role of legal, demotivated workforce. The quality of work and exposure to complexnot doing just a legal job but taking the role of work is excellent. The clients in my council andofficersDerek Bedlow is the publisher of Localarea of work are professional and a pleasure toPerception of external solicitors and bodies Government Lawyer. He can be reached atwork with that local government lawyers are all second derek.bedlow@localgovernmentlawyer. Ability to run own caseload from an earlyrate and incompetentco.uk. stage, flexibility of working. No billing so I canLawyers now need to be jack of all trades with concentrate on the actual legal work requiredlittle admin or paralegal supportand not my billing targets The pay!'