What is a Law Office Manager?
The primary responsibility of a law office manager is to manage the non-legal aspects of a law firm. Oversight of the financial process or, more generally, law firm administration, is often cited as the number one priority. Additional tasks that attorneys frequently assign to law office managers include human resources management, marketing, billing as well as other administrative tasks. Law office managers may report directly to a legal administrator and/or to the attorneys of a firm.
Depending on the experience level a law office manager possesses, the ratio of financial duties to administrative, human resources and marketing tasks can differ . Similarly, the perceived need for law office managers to have experience in the practice area of the firm can also impact the scope of their roles and overall pay range. For example, an estate planning firm seeking to hire a law office manager might be less likely to demand that it comes with a knowledge of trusts and estates or, alternatively, would demand that and more.
Experimental periods for new law office managers can be employed by firms hiring for the position. Firms can test the limits of the law office manager position by augmenting the role with business development, marketing and client contact responsibilities. For these reasons, the law office manager role is a versatile, widely varied and multi-faceted opportunity.
Average Pay for a Law Office Manager
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defines a manager as someone supervising employees and directing their performance, from training to discipline to pay and benefits. In addition, a manager oversees daily operations including budgeting, accounting, financial reporting, and office facility maintenance.
We had a great question sent in from one of our clients recently – they wanted to know what the average salary was for a law office manager. There were no resources available that compiled the salary information so they decided to get the average salary results from their unique geographical areas.
The BLS questioned 65,000 law firms on Law Office Manager, Administrator, or Operations Manager salaries. They gathered the results (2014) from private sector employers for "Administrative Services Managers," "General and Operations Managers," "Administrative Services Manager/Director," and "Manager of Office Services." The BLS reports the following details for each of the five metropolitan regions: Mean Hourly and Annual Salaries by Region for Law Office Managers
Region Hourly Mean Wage Annual Mean Wage United States $ 39.78 $ 82,850 Northeast $ 41.02 $ 85,490 South $ 38.81 $ 80,670 Midwest $ 38.47 $ 80,090 West $ 42.37 $ 88,140
Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Occupational Employment Statistics." The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) program produces employment and wage estimates annually for over 800 occupations. These national industry-specific occupational employment and wage estimates are calculated from data collected from employers in all industry sectors except for the U.S. Department of Defense. The OES program produces employment and wage estimates annually for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The estimates include data on employment and wages by occupation for industries and states. Using these region-specific statistics it is possible to compare the national average hourly mean wage of $39.78 for law office managers to the mean hourly wage of a lawyer and find significant differences. According to BLS data the mean hourly wage for all lawyers was $61.52 in May 2014. That means that law office managers earned an average of 36 percent less per hour than lawyers. When comparing the national average salary for a law office manager ($82,850) with an attorney’s average wage, a typical attorney earned $128,750 as of May 2014, or 55 percent more than a law office manager.
Factors Affecting the Salary for a Law Office Manager
One of the most intriguing, but also most aggravating, characteristics about salary and bonus discussions is how much they vary from so many different levels. With the exception of the most junior administrative support positions, there is no such thing as a standard salary or bonus in the legal space. In addition to many of the things you might typically think about—position or title, area of specialty, etc.—there are a great many factors that can impact your compensation, and I offer you the top five here—at least those that I have found to have the most influence.
Geographic location
It goes without saying that a law office manager in Washington, D.C. will make substantially more than a counterpart in Mobile, AL who in turn will make more than one in New Haven, CT. Or, think about San Francisco and Milwaukee. Again, it’s not really so unusual that one would be more than the other, and this spread has always existed in law firm management. But the extent of the spread has changed dramatically, with salaries in places such as southern and southeastern cities now finally catching up and compressing more with those in other regions. This phenomenon is attributable to several issues; among them:
Firm size
Although you’d think that the larger the law firm the more money would be paid to managers, that isn’t always the case. Sometimes the opposite is true. While being part of a mega-firm is big-enough to garner a larger salary or bonus, so too are the HR restrictions or concerns which are also sometimes part and parcel of working for a large firm. So while you might enjoy all the bells and whistles and collect some big bucks, do not be surprised if the salary or bonus is less than that which your counterpart at a smaller firm earns.
Size of the internal law department
By way of example, consider two law firms—one with a staff of 200 and the other with a staff of 10. Logic would suggest that the larger firm would pay its office manager more than the smaller firm does its office manager. But except for the most senior personnel in larger firms, the opposite is often true. With the larger staff, the tasks are normally divided up and gleaned off to various individual members of the team or department. In small departments, however, all the responsibility falls to the office manager who then ends up doing the grunt work as well as the executive-level tasks and responsibilities.
Level of experience or years in the position
The more experienced the law office manager is, the more value his/her firm affords him/her, and the higher the resulting salary and bonus. As recently reported in the International Journal of Business Research, the number one factor which affects employee retention and success is experience and/or years spent in the position. The better the law office manager is, the more likely the retention and subsequent promotion will be. The more value an employee is considered to be, the higher the salary or bonus will be.
Education and credentials
There is no question that in practically every business or industry higher education translates into higher salaries. And this is no less true in the legal industry. The more law office managers use their education, the more earnable income they will have. Certifications, memberships in professional associations or organizations, and continuing education translate into greater credibility and investment in ones profession and issues facing it. In short, the more you invest, the more your firm will invest in you.
Comparative Pay with Similar Positions
Within law firms, the role of the law office manager overlaps with that of the paralegal/legal assistant as well as the legal secretary. There may also be overlap between the law office manager and the practice administrator if the firm employs an individual in that capacity. The size of the firm will dictate whether or not these positions are performed by one person or different individuals.
The total compensation for many law office managers falls within the range of top paralegals/legal assistants, or what could be considered as "paralegals who manage". In a small to mid-sized law firm (e.g., 20 attorneys), the law office manager will work in a highly collaborative manner with senior management of the firm, lead firm meetings, and serve as the embodiment of the culture of the firm. In addition, he/she will be responsible for compliance matters, budgeting, and leading team initiatives to increase firm profitability.
An individual who has the time, talent, experience and credentials to manage a law firm will be very highly sought after. With the appropriate mix of experience and interpersonal skills, the law office manager can be both a change agent and a leader in the firm. Unlike managers working in many other industries, the law office manager is often accorded status as a member of senior management, and presented with the opportunity to have a significant impact on the overall firm culture.
Of particular note, though, is the fact that the salaries of law office managers are not easily benchmarked by passing on a fee scale as is done for the legal assistant or paralegal. Much of the salary for a law office manager is comprised of a base salary, which is augmented by bonuses, and/or other types of variable compensation . When it comes to compensation, the concept of paying for performance is more readily applied to the law office manager than is the case in most other law firm administrative positions.
The law office manager functions as a senior officer with overall responsibility for managing the firm, while the role of the paralegal/legal assistant is much more focused on managing cases and client matters. As a highly regarded professional, however, the paralegal/legal assistant has a high level of responsibility, much of which is tied to the profitability of the firm. The paralegal/legal assistant and law office manager need to be compensated appropriately given the criticality of the services they provide to the firm, but the law office manager is the senior officer with multi-million dollar budget responsibilities, along with all the peripheral responsibilities that accompany an enterprise of the law firm’s size.
Law office managers are highly organized, detail-oriented, cost-conscious individuals. In many ways, they are actually the "glue" that holds the entire operation together. The right law office manager can impact a firm for the better in many significant ways.
Law office manager compensation is generally the second highest among the non-attorney professional staff, and typically is lower than the practice administrator. In the course of analyzing the compensation of a law office manager, we have found that there is often a high correlation between his/her level of compensation and that of the paralegal/legal assistant. There is also generally a high correlation between office manager compensation and that of the legal secretary.
Salary Growth and Promotional Opportunities
With experience and proven success in a law office manager position, attorneys and especially law firm managers often identify potential successors early on. These successors are highly valued and over time, develop into associates and eventually partners at the firm. In addition to those positions, focused areas of practice can lead to further advancement. For example, if a law office manager works in capital markets, he or she can move into a practicing role in this area, as firms seek to keep valuable employees who have developed stellar relationships with clients. A law firm may offer the manager the opportunity learn the practice through an apprenticeship, or bring in experts from outside the firm. This is a very attractive, albeit rarely used method of developing new partners, since very few attorneys rise to become partners today. In fact, only 18% of associates are promoted to partner at major law firms (at leading private-sector firms, according to a study by ALM). Those who are successful in these roles can go on to earn significantly higher salaries as practicing partners, often exceeding $1 million annually. Continuing education helps law office managers stay abreast of legal issues and trends which could affect their firms. As mentioned above, it also can provide more advancement and financial opportunities. Courses and certifications such as Certified Legal Manager (CLM) and Professional Legal Manager (PLM) are extremely valuable for career advancement. As more law office managers take on more hands-on roles at firms, rather than being behind the scenes, salary growth becomes a more direct correlation of the burgeoning value they offer to a firm. With performance and reputation being central to how law firms earn business, their ability to make their managers important contributors to strategy allows them to leverage their human assets to the greatest effect. And the bigger the impact managers have on a firm, the more valuable they are, and the more reward they receive.
Boosting Your Salary
Once a law office manager gets an accurate picture of their market value, they can begin to prepare for a talk with their boss. Knowing the approximate salary of others in their field is important to them, but it is just as important to understand the timing of the conversation. For example, if the person they are talking to, a lawyer or office administrator, has had an especially busy month, it probably isn’t the best time to ask. However, if they have just signed a large new client engagement, then maybe the timing would be right. A conversation about salary is often initiated during a performance review, so it can often be a good idea to schedule a one-on-one meeting with the person who has hiring control over the law office manager. The law office manager can explain that they would like to discuss their performance over the last year and the future. It is important that they make it clear in the communication that it is a performance review and not a salary negotiation , as this will set the stage for the conversation and will allow the law office manager to make their case without the worry that the conversation will devolve into a salary discussion before they are ready. While it is not necessary for the law office manager to be equipped with a hard number at the beginning of the meeting, it is important that they come to the table with at least a general understanding of the salaries that comparable law office managers are making. This way, when the boss asks for a ballpark figure, the law office manager can give a number that is actually a rough estimate of their worth. The law office manager should avoid giving a specific figure. Instead, they should say that they are worth between $X and $Y, a number between the market value and their current salary. This way, they don’t over represent their worth and inflate the salary, but they do find themselves allowing for a raise.