The legal talent market has changed quickly, faster than many law firms expected. Today’s lawyers look beyond salary when choosing where to work. They care about culture, flexibility, and whether the firm’s technology helps or hinders their day. Many are prepared to leave if those expectations are not met.
For law firms across Asia and other major legal centres, hiring and retention are no longer driven solely by pay. How work is structured now matters just as much. In this environment, legal technology such as CoreMatter plays a growing role, not as a support tool, but as part of the firm’s overall appeal.
A new reality for legal talent
More lawyers are leaving as they reconsider what they want from their careers. Higher pay does not guarantee loyalty anymore. Younger lawyers especially want balance, flexibility, and meaningful work. Long hours and vague promises of advancement are less appealing than before.
Firms are also competing in a tighter market. Local talent pools are smaller, while international firms and remote roles continue to attract lawyers with strong pay and flexible arrangements. The result is pressure on traditional firms that rely on office-based models and older systems.
Against this backdrop, familiar solutions such as modest pay rises, surface-level perks, or loosely defined career paths are no longer enough. Firms are being forced to rethink how work is done, how performance is measured, and how technology can remove unnecessary effort so lawyers can focus on the work that matters.
Moving beyond the billable hour grind
The belief that working late shows commitment is fading. Burnout is no longer accepted as normal. For many lawyers, it is a clear reason to leave.
Most of this exhaustion is not from complex legal work, but from routine admin. Lawyers spend hours repeating tasks, searching for documents, or fixing problems between systems that do not connect. Their days get longer, not because the work is harder, but because the tools are inefficient.
A good retention strategy begins by rethinking the workday. This includes automating low-value tasks that make the day longer and more tiring. Lawyers should have easy access to their matters, documents, and billing tools from anywhere, not just at their desks. Replacing spreadsheets and old servers with cloud systems also makes work easier and maintenance simpler.
This is where CoreMatter offers more than just an operational upgrade. Its cloud-based practice management, with built-in accounting and billing, supports a simpler way to work. By bringing client and matter data, time tracking, disbursements, and billing into one secure platform that works in any browser, CoreMatter helps remove daily frustrations that make lawyers question their future in the profession.
Flexibility built on trust and technology
Remote and hybrid work are no longer temporary measures. Many lawyers now expect them as standard. Surveys consistently show that talent is drawn to firms that judge performance by results, not by physical presence in the office (Source: Wolters Kluwer Future Ready Lawyer Survey).
For firm leaders, flexibility brings real concerns. Oversight, teamwork, and financial control are still important. The main challenge is offering flexibility without losing visibility.
Cloud-based systems make this possible. With CoreMatter, lawyers can access matter information, memos, disbursements, and billing data from court, client meetings, or home, using a laptop or mobile device. There is no need for complex VPNs or installed software. Time entries and expenses can be captured on the go, reducing lost billable time and late-night admin. Shared memos and calendar integrations help teams stay aligned, even when they are not in the same place.
For younger lawyers, this sends a clear message. The firm trusts you and has invested in tools that support that trust. For partners, the benefits are practical: better time capture, improved utilisation, and fewer billing gaps.
Turning culture into daily practice
Culture is still one of the main reasons lawyers stay or leave. Candidates notice how firms treat their people, how fair decisions seem, and whether long hours are the norm or the exception.
A strong culture is built through daily actions, not just statements. Three things matter most: clear expectations about workload, career growth, and flexibility help reduce frustration; involving lawyers and staff in choosing tools and processes shows their experience matters; and consistency ensures policies are supported by systems that make them work.
CoreMatter supports this quietly. Role-based access controls allow firms to give people the information they need without compromising confidentiality. Matter approval workflows bring structure to how new cases are accepted, encouraging discussion and mentoring rather than informal decision-making. Two-level approvals for disbursements help reinforce fairness and accountability in financial processes.
These features do not promise culture. They make it easier to practise it.
Building careers, not just filling roles
With more lawyers open to changing firms or leaving private practice altogether, firms need to think more deliberately about career development. Lawyers want early exposure to real work, access to mentoring, and a sense that progress is possible without constant exhaustion.
Technology supports this in practical ways. When document management is integrated and timekeeping is simple, junior lawyers spend less time dealing with systems and more time learning through real legal work. They are present in discussions, hearings, and strategy sessions, rather than fixing broken workflows.
CoreMatter integrates with document management platforms such as iManage and NetDocuments, as well as cost recovery tools like nQBillback and Softlog. This allows lawyers to move smoothly between drafting, research, time capture, and billing. Security remains strong, with daily backups, encryption, and Azure-hosted infrastructure, which is essential in a risk-aware profession.
Using data to retain your best people
Retention is not just about hiring new people. It is also about spotting problems early. Firms that rely only on instinct often find out about issues too late, when valued lawyers are already planning to leave.
Modern practice management systems give clearer insights. Time and billing data can show who is overloaded, underused, or stuck with low-value work. Patterns in write-offs or disbursements can reveal process problems that affect both morale and profits.
CoreMatter gives real-time visibility with legal-specific accounting and trust accounting tools. Features like multiple timers help capture a clearer picture of how work is spread out. With this information, partners can adjust workloads, offer support sooner, and help high performers grow instead of burning out.
Technology is a quiet advantage
The firms most likely to succeed in the next phase of the talent market will not be those with the fanciest offices or the highest pay. They will be the ones that organize their work in ways lawyers actually want.
As candidates pay more attention to culture, flexibility, and tools, platforms like CoreMatter become part of a firm’s reputation. By cutting down on manual work, keeping client and matter data secure and easy to access, and combining time, billing, and trust accounting in one system, CoreMatter helps firms offer what many lawyers want most: meaningful work, modern tools, and a sustainable career.
To learn how CoreMatter can help your hiring and retention strategy while improving visibility and control, book a personalized demo and see how the platform can be tailored to your firm’s needs.
