Legal support staff are playing a more central role in the day-to-day running of law firms, according to new research by Sweet & Maxwell.
The survey of human resources (HR), finance, IT, marketing and knowledge management heads at the top 100 UK law firms found that 82% believe their department is playing a more important role within the firm.
It also found there has been a marked increase in the number of non-legal staff sitting on law firms’ management committees, with 63% of finance directors and almost half (46%) of HR directors sitting on the board.
Marketing departments reported the largest increase in influence, with 94% of marketing directors believing their department had become more important over the last five years. In line with this, 32% of overall respondents named marketing as the support department with the highest status. In contrast, just 9% of respondents listed IT as the support department with the highest status.
Professor Stephen Mayson, director of the legal services policy institute at the College of Law, said: “The historical dominance of the finance department is now being challenged by a broader view of professional management support - whether in size, investment or status.”