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The Legal Department of the Future February 2016 LocalGovernmentLawyer42 that would be less likely 25. As well as providing more experience for local government lawyers the development of trading is also described by some respondents as a way for legal departments to raise their profiles within their authorities and provide better job security. On balance however the welcome for external clients is a cautious one. There are widespread concerns that too many external clients will raise workloads to unmanageable levels and there are a few caveats expressed especially around the prioritisation of work between in-house departments and external clients. Others are sceptical that their departments can make trading work from a marketing and practice management perspective. Provided those other organisations are non-profit making or public sector bodies it is good if local government lawyers can provide their legal services at cost rather than those bodies having to pay for the inflated profits of partners in large private practice commercial firms says one. The problem is when local government sees providing services to other organisations as a way to generate income rather than a sensible use of surplus capacity or a reason to hire additional capacity. Why does it matter Many local authority lawyers have significant concerns about key aspects of their working lives in particular the perceived lack of career prospects and the link between morale motivation and productivity is well established. Poor working conditions can also have an adverse effect on recruitment and retention especially at a time when demand is rising and competition for staff from private practice is acute in many areas. As the demand for local government lawyers increases respondents to the management survey report that recruitment is already difficult and set to get harder still. As a respondent to the management survey says I feel very worried when I see a general dumbing down or statistics which seems to suggest that some of our lawyers are just coasting because they dont see any promotion prospects or a career in local government. There are no obviously simple solutions although the request for more information and transparency about forthcoming changes is relatively cost- free. In time the development of more senior specialist roles could also be self- financing in the longer-term if they reduce the dependency on law firms or locums. The good news at least is that there remains a significant commitment to working in local government amongst in- house practitioners. Despite all the challenges they face a substantial majority of in-house lawyers 70 would still recommend local government as a career and a slightly higher proportion 72 would recommend their own departments as a place to work. These figures are lower than the figures recorded in the equivalent survey taken in 2013 when 77 said they would recommend a career in local government but they demonstrate a willingness amongst the majority of local government lawyers to stick with the sector even in these difficult times. There are still many positives to working for a local authority one in- house lawyer concludes. It is heartening to see how local authorities are embracing change to meet the challenges whilst still maintaining that local authority ethos. Derek Bedlow is the publisher of Local Government Lawyer.