2015 National Utilization and Compensation Survey Report. Section 2 Firm Environment and Practice Areas. Based on Data Collected: 4 th Quarter 2014

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1 2015 National Utilization and Compensation Survey Report Section 2 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Based on Data Collected: 4 th Quarter Copyright 2015 Reproduction of this report or portions thereof without express written permission is prohibited. NALA 1516 S. Boston, #200 Tulsa, OK

2 NALA 2013 National Utilization and Compensation Survey Report Section 2 - Firm Environment and Practice Areas Table of Contents Table 2.1 Type of Employer Table 2.2 Kind of Secretarial Assistance Provided... 1 Table 2.3 Work in Excess of Normal Working Hours... 2 Table 2.4 Overtime Compensation... 2 Table 2.5 Overtime Compensation for Salaried Employees... 2 Table 2.6 Overtime Compensation by Overtime Worked... 3 Table 2.7 Participation in Continuing Education... 3 Table 2.8 Overall Supervision of Support Staff... 4 Table 2.9 Work Assignments... 4 Table 2.10 Number of Attorneys in Firm... 5 Table 2.11 Ratio of Attorneys to Paralegals... 6 Table 2.12 Participation in Attorney Meetings... 7 Table 2.13 Participation in Attorney/Client Meetings... 7 Table 2.14 Attendance at hearings or trials on cases on which you work?... 7 Table 2.15 Do you appear before administrative hearings?... 7 Table 2.16 Employment Basis... 8 Table 2.17 Flextime Options... 8 Table 2.18 Frequency of Specialty Areas Selected... 9 Table 2.19 Specialty Areas of Practice by Number of Responses Table 2.20 Specialty Practice Area by Time Spent Table 2.21 Supervision of Other Employees Table 2.22 Does your work involve supervision of other employees? Table 2.23 Employees under supervision Table 2.24 Duties and Responsibilities Change Table 2.25 Duties and Responsibilities Change Years of Experience Table 2.26 Tools and Techniques for Professional Growth Table 2.27 Tools For Professional Growth Grouped by Years of Experience The Participants Copyright 2015 Reproduction of this report or portions thereof without the express written permission of NALA is strictly prohibited.

3 Firm Environment and Practice Areas This section presents the findings of survey questions describing the duties and responsibilities of paralegals and their working environment. Table 2.1 Type of Employer Employer Responses Private Law Firm % 63% 61% Insurance Company 31 3% 2% 2% Public Sector/Government % 10% 10% Self Employed 20 2% 1% 1% Health/Medical 11 1% 1% 1% Bank 15 1% 1% 1% Corporation % 17% 18% Court System 9 1% 1% 1% Non-profit corporation, foundation or association 23 2% 2% 1% Other 14 1% 1% 1% Student 2 0% 0% 0% Unemployed 2 0% 1% 1% Secretarial Assistance Table 2.2 Kind of Secretarial Assistance Provided Responses Have personal secretary 19 2% 2% 2% Share secretary with one or more attorneys % 23% 26% Share secretary with one or more paralegals 48 5% 5% 4% Perform some of own secretarial duties with limited access to a secretary % 17% 16% Access to word processing staff or secretarial pool 45 4% 3% 4% No secretarial service % 50% 48% The next series of tables look at the issue of overtime and overtime compensation.

4 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 2 Table 2.3 Work in Excess of Normal Working Hours How frequently do you work in excess of employer s normal working hours? Responses Almost every day % 21% 22% 21% At least once weekly % 25% 27% 26% At least once monthly % 18% 19% 20% Never or rarely % 34% 30% 30% Not applicable 36 3% 3% 2% 2% Table 2.4 Overtime Compensation Do you receive overtime compensation? Responses Always paid % 47% 44% 50% Sometimes paid 64 7% 7% 6% 7% Never paid % 28% 31% 25% Compensatory time % 18% 19% 18% The data of Table 2.4 report the findings of all respondents regarding overtime compensation. To analyze this data further, Table 2.5 reports the findings for salaried employees. Table 2.5 Overtime Compensation for Salaried Employees (N=468) Do you receive overtime compensation? Responses Always paid % 30% 26% 32% Sometimes paid 28 6% 6% 5% 7% Never paid % 43% 46% 39% Compensatory time % 21% 24% 22% In the following table, the analysis puts together the two factors of overtime compensation and overtime frequency. The table reports, for example, that of all who work overtime almost every day, 44% always receive compensation; 34% never receive compensation.

5 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 3 Table 2.6 Overtime Compensation by Overtime Worked - Number of Responses and % of Total Shown Row: Frequency Do you receive overtime compensation? Always Receive Compensation Sometimes Receive Compensation Never Receive Compensation Comp Time Comb Almost every day Once a week 92 44% % 18 9% 18 9% 71 34% 50 22% 26 13% 37 17% % % Once a month Never or rarely % % Not applicable 4 57% 9 5% 19 6% 0 0% 36 20% 47 15% 1 14% 37 17% 82 25% 2 29% % % 7 100% Frequency % 64 7% % % % Another area of general study is that of employer provided continuing education. The data reports that very few firms offer an inhouse training program for paralegals. generally spend 3 days attending law related seminars outside their place of employment. 65% (696) of respondents have participated in on-line CLE programs, of these 95% (659) found the experience beneficial. Both of these number are up from The 2012 data reported 59% of respondents had participated in on-line programs and 96% found them beneficial. The 2010 data reported 49% had participated in on-line programs; 93% found the experience beneficial. Table 2.7 Participation in Continuing Education (N=1035) Does your employer provide inhouse training programs? Responses age Yes % No % Sometimes %

6 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 4 The following tables describe the various ways paralegals are supervised in their work. We find little variation in the data in these areas. Most paralegals (74%) are supervised by one or more attorneys or by an office administrator. This is the same as reported in Table 2.8 Overall Supervision of Support Staff (N=1061) Supervision by: Responses age One or more attorneys % Office Administrator/manager % Paralegal administrator 74 7% A management committee 11 1% Department head 66 6% General Counsel 56 5% Other 37 3% No overall supervision 34 3% Table 2.9 Work Assignments (N=1078) Primarily available for assignments: Responses age From within specific departments % From one or more specific attorneys % From attorneys at large % For certain types of matters % No definite assignment structure % Other 24 2% Not applicable 42 4% 50% of the respondents indicated they receive their work assignments from one or more specific attorneys or from specific departments.

7 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 5 Size of Firm The following tables present data related to the size of the firm, defined by the number of attorneys, and the ratio of attorneys to paralegals. Table 2.10 Number of Attorneys in Firm One Year Ago Number of Attorneys Responses Number of Attorneys Sole % 14% 2-5 Attorneys % 32% % 15% % 10% % 5% % 5% % 3% % 3% % 2% % 1% % 2% % 1% % 1% % 1% % 1% % 0% % 1% % 0% % 0% % 0% % 1% More than % 3% Reported increase of attorneys from last year: Increase Decrease No Change Total Frequency % 17% 57% Reported increase of paralegals from last year: Increase Decrease No Change Total Frequency % 14% 66%

8 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 6 Table 2.11 Ratio of Attorneys to Paralegals Number of Attorneys Number Attorneys per Paralegal Number of Responses Summary Sole Attorneys attorneys to paralegal (2-10 size) attorneys to paralegal (11-30 size) attorneys to paralegal (31-60 size) attorneys to paralegal ( size) More than To read this table, the data presented are the average number of attorneys per paralegal based on size of the firm. For example, in small firms (solo to 10 attorneys) there are generally 1 or two attorneys per paralegal. In firms of attorneys there are usually 2 or 3 attorneys per paralegal. In comparing this data with previous surveys, we find that in larger firms the number of attorneys per paralegal is falling slightly in the larger firms and seldom over 5. These are generalizations; the type of practice is certainly a factor to be considered.

9 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 7 Duties and Responsibilities The next series of tables report findings regarding legal assistant duties and responsibilities. Table 2.12 Participation in Attorney Meetings (N=1080) Frequency Responses age Always % Never % Invited Occasionally % Not applicable % Table 2.13 Participation in Attorney/Client Meetings (N=1073) Frequency Responses age Always on my cases or with assigned attorney % Occasionally depending on the case or client % Never % Not applicable % Table 2.14 Attendance at hearings or trials on cases on which you work? (N=1075) Frequency Responses age Always attend with attorney or on cases worked on 89 8% Sometimes, depending on case % Seldom accompany % Never % Not applicable % Table 2.15 Do you appear before administrative hearings? (N=1017) Frequency Responses age Yes 45 4% No 37 4% Not applicable to my work %

10 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 8 Table 2.16 Employment Basis Responses age Full-time % Part-time 28 3% Freelance 19 2% Temporary 3 0% Other 2 0% Not working 6 1% 979 responded to the question of employer provided flextime. 462 paralegals, 47%, reported flextime is offered. The flextime options appear below. Table 2.17 Flextime Options The flextime policy is seasonal, and applies to all employees; such as different work hours during the summer Responses age 20 5% The flextime policy is long-term and available to all employees % Employer provides flextime options only to certain departments; legal staff not included Employer provides flextime options only to certain departments; legal staff is included Employer does not have a flextime policy but will accommodate temporary schedule problems if, for example, an employee s personal health or a family member requires a schedule change % % Employer offers additional options: job sharing 4 1% Employer offers additional options: telecommuting 24 6%

11 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 9 Specialty Area of Practice The next area of the survey requested information about the respondents specialty area of practice. The survey presented a list of 44 practice areas and asked respondents to indicate all the areas that apply to their work. The question also asked respondents to estimate how much time they spend working in the practice area based on the following scale: 1= less than 20% of the time 2= more than 20% of the time, less than 40% 3= more than 40% of the time, less than 60% 4= more than 60% of the time, less than 80% 5= from 80% to 100% of the time On the first level of analysis, we were interested in the number of specialty areas selected, and found: Table 2.18 Frequency of Specialty Areas Selected (N=1061) Number of Specialties Selected Number of age of Cumulative

12 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 10 In looking at the individual practice areas selected, the percentage of responses is shown below. This table reports the percent of the respondents selecting each of the specialty areas, ordered from high to low: Table 2.19 Specialty Areas of Practice by Number of Responses Specialty Area 2012 of 2010 of 2008 of 2004 of Civil Litigation Corporate Contracts % 47% 45% 51% 45% % 31% 35% 32% 29% % 30% 31% 29% 24% Real Estate % 26% 25% 27% 23% Administrative/ Government/Public Includes Compliance % 28% 23% 23% 19% Personal Injury % 27% 23% 26% 26% Insurance % 20% 19% 20% 17% Employment/Labor Law % 21% 17% 20% 17% Probate % 20% 19% 19% 18% Commercial % 18% 15% Trusts & Estates % 19% 19% 19% 18% Office Management % 18% 16% 18% 17% Collections % 17% 17% 15% 13% Intellectual Property % 16% 16% 13% 12% Family Law % 16% 16% 15% 13% Bankruptcy % 18% 16% 14% 15% Banking/Finance % 16% 14% 14% 11% Medical Malpractice % 16% 13% 15% 16% Criminal % 13% 14% 13% 10% Workers Compensation % 14% 12% 13% 12% Construction % 15% 13%

13 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 11 Specialty Area 2012 of 2010 of 2008 of 2004 of Products Liability % 14% 14% 13% 13% Mergers Acquisitions % 11% 11% 11% 9% Civil Rights % 11% 9% Health Care % 11% Tax % 9% 9% 9% 8% Elder Law % 10% 8% 9% 12% Employee Benefits % 11% 9% 11% 12% Environmental Law % 11% 8% 9% 13% Oil & Gas % 10% 8% 7% 10% Mass Tort Litigation % 10% 8% 10% n/a Multi-state Litigation 95 9% 9% 8% 7% n/a Non Profit 92 9% 8% 8% Energy/Utility 89 8% 9% 7% 7% 10% Social Security 88 8% 7% 6% 6% 10% Legislation/Lobbying 84 8% 7% 7% 6% Securities/Antitrust 84 8% 8% 9% 9% Immigration 78 7% 8% 7% 8% Aviation 76 7% 7% 5% 5% 9% 12% 10% 9% Native American/Tribal 70 7% 6% 4% 5% 9% Admiralty/Maritime 67 6% 7% 5% 5% 10% Entertainment 67 6% 6% 4% 5% 8% Telecommunications 58 6% 6% 5% 5% 9% Veterans Law 56 5% 5% 4%

14 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 12 There are several factors at work here which result in the fairly large differences in percentages of respondents selecting the various specialty areas through the years. In this report 72% selected 1-6 areas. In comparing responses of previous years, keep in mind that the list of areas changes somewhat from year to year. Another way of looking at this data is by looking at the percentage of time respondents estimate they work in the practice area. For example, while nearly 50% of respondents indicated they work in the area of litigation, how much time do they spend on litigation matters? Number Response Av. Time Table 2.20 Specialty Practice Area by Time Spent age of Scale of 1-5 to estimate average time; 1 is less than 20%; 5 is 80 to 100% of time Specialty Area Less than 20% of Time More than 20% of time; less than 40% More than 40% of time; less than 60% More than 60% of time; less than 80% More than 80 to 100% of time Litigation-civil 19% 15% 18% 12% 37% Corporate 48% 16% 11% 7% 18% Contract 49% 17% 13% 7% 14% Real estate 50% 17% 8% 10% 15% Administrative/government/public including compliance 41% 18% 10% 10% 22% Personal injury 38% 17% 12% 10% 23% Insurance 43% 17% 12% 6% 22% Employment/labor law 55% 15% 11% 7% 12% Probate 50% 18% 11% 9% 13% Commercial 54% 15% 14% 6% 12% Trusts & estates 49% 16% 10% 10% 16% Office management 55% 22% 13% 4% 6% Collections 69% 14% 5% 8% 3% Intellectual property 60% 15% 7% 3% 15% Family law/domestic relations 47% 13% 8% 8% 24% Bankruptcy 76% 7% 4% 5% 7% Banking/finance 57% 17% 7% 6% 14% Medical malpractice 62% 12% 9% 4% 14% Criminal 68% 8% 5% 3% 16% Workers compensation 66% 11% 10% 6% 8% Product liability 64% 16% 7% 3% 11% Construction 64% 19% 9% 3% 5% Mergers/acquisitions 75% 10% 6% 6% 3% Civil rights 78% 7% 5% 2% 7% Health care 65% 11% 8% 5% 11% Tax 74% 10% 6% 2% 9% Elder law 74% 9% 6% 4% 6% Employee benefits 73% 16% 5% 3% 3% Environmental law 74% 7% 6% 4% 8% Oil & gas 70% 9% 7% 7% 8% Mass tort litigation 69% 5% 8% 12% 7%

15 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page Multi-state litigation 73% 7% 14% 2% 4% Non-profit 82% 9% 4% 0% 5% Energy/utility 73% 10% 4% 3% 9% Social security 70% 6% 0% 7% 17% Legislation/lobbying 80% 7% 5% 7% 1% Securities/antitrust 85% 7% 5% 1% 2% Immigration 82% 6% 0% 1% 10% Aviation 95% 1% 1% 0% 3% Native American/tribal 90% 6% 0% 3% 1% Admiralty/maritime 96% 1% 0% 1% 1% Entertainment 93% 6% 1% 0% 0% Telecommunications 95% 5% 0% 0% 0% 56 1 Veterans law 98% 2% 0% 0% 0% In analyzing this table, it is interesting to see the variations in estimates of time spent working in the practice area. For example, of those who work in the area of litigation, selected by almost half of the respondents, 37% indicate that they spend almost all of their time working on litigation matters. Contrasting that with the findings of those who report they work in the area of real estate. 15% of those who report that they work in the area of real estate estimate that they spend almost 100% of their time working on real estate matters. This is quite a difference among these two specialty areas of practice. Survey results of previous years have shown the same patterns. Since the first survey in 1986, the findings have consistently reported that paralegals spend time working in several specialty areas of practice. Another way of analyzing Table 2.18 is by looking at the percentage of those who indicate they spend 80 to 100% of their time working in a particular area. Most of the values in this column are under low. The data reporting salary levels also looks at specialty areas of practice as one of the variables influencing compensation levels. Duties and Responsibilities Since 2000, we have asked a few questions related to duties and responsibilities of paralegals. Specifically, we are looking at the utilization of paralegals in supervision of other employees and steps paralegals are taking to increase their responsibilities. We further analyzed the findings in relation to years of experience to see if there are differences related to this factor. Table 2.21 Supervision of Other Employees Does your work involve supervision of other employees? Responses Frequency If so, what employees are under your supervision? Yes % No % Support staff only % Legal assistants and others 46 15% Both 67 22%

16 Firm Environment and Practice Areas Page 14 Table 2.22 Does your work involve supervision of other employees? Grouped by: Years Total Legal Experience Years legal Supervise other Does not supervise Total experience employees others Responses 1-5 Years 29 22% % Years 37 24% % Years 33 26% 95 74% Years 50 26% % Years 37 29% 91 71% 128 Over 25 Years % % 309 Table 2.23 If so, what employees are under your supervision? Legal Years legal Total Support staff assistants Both experience Responses and others 1-5 Years 20 71% 1 4% 7 25% Years 24 67% 4 11% 8 22% Years 21 62% 4 12% 9 26% Years 28 57% 6 12% 15 31% Years 25 66% 10 26% 3 8% 38 Over 25 Years 67 59% 21 19% 25 22% 113 Table 2.24 Duties and Responsibilities Change If you have been employed as a paralegal over 5 years, have the duties and responsibilities of your job increased throughout your employment history? (N=1035) Responses Frequency Yes % No 79 8% Not applicable % If yes, please indicate the areas in which your duties and responsibilities have increased. (N=817) Increase in work which involves independent judgment % Increase in the level of sophistication of the work, i.e., more complex cases % More client involvement % Increase in case management responsibilities % More specialization - either area of law or assigned to one attorney % More supervisory duties/ administrative duties % Other 58 7%

17 Page 15 Firm Environment and Utilization 1 - More client involvement Table 2.25 Duties and Responsibilities Change Grouped by Years of Experience 2 - Increase in work which involves independent judgment 3 - Increase in the level of sophistication of the work, i.e., more complex cases 4 - More supervisory duties/administrative duties 5 - Increase in case management responsibilities 6 - More specialization - either area of law or assigned to one attorney 7 - Other Total Years Total Frequency Years: 2% 3% 3% 1% 2% 1% 0% 6-10 Years Years Years Years Over 25 Years Frequency % 13% 12% 5% 10% 6% 2% Frequency % 12% 11% 6% 9% 6% 2% Frequency % 17% 14% 6% 10% 6% 2% Frequency % 11% 10% 4% 8% 4% 1% Frequency % 29% 25% 14% 18% 9% 2% The last two tables of this section look at tools and techniques that paralegals use to demonstrate professional growth. This data is useful to see several factors at work within the profession. Most are involved in some program that helps them professionally (almost all respondents answered this question) and they stick with these programs. We present the general findings of this question, and the same responses broken down by years of experience. The data in terms of years of experience is interesting in that it shows few differences related to experience.

18 Page 16 Firm Environment and Utilization Table 2.26 Tools and Techniques for Professional Growth General Findings (N=1040) Responses Frequency Attend continuing legal education seminars % Seek the CP, ACP, or state certification credential % Ask/seek more complex work in your practice area % Become involved in your professional association % Change in practice areas % Switch work environments, such as move from large to small firm % Attend work-related courses at community colleges or online % Become involved in other law related professional organizations % Serve as a speaker at continuing legal education seminars % Develop opportunities for freelance work 98 9% Author educational article for a law related publication 89 9% Teach course in paralegal program 73 7% Table 2.27 appears on the next page. This looks at the tools for professional growth used by paralegals, shown by years of experience.

19 Page 17 Firm Environment and Utilization Table 2.27 Tools For Professional Growth Grouped by Years of Experience 1 Change in practice area 2 - Ask/seek more complex work in your practice area 3 - Switch work environments, such as move from large to small firm 4 - Develop opportunities for freelance work 5 - Attend continuing legal education seminars 6 - Serve as a speaker at continuing legal education seminars 7 - Author educational article for law related publication 8 - Seek the CP or Advanced Certified Paralegal, or state certification credential 9 - Become involved in your professional association 10 - Attend work related courses at community college or on-line 11- Teach course in paralegal program 12-Become involved in other law related professional organizations Total Years 1-5 Years: 6-10 Years Years Years Years Over 25 Years Total Frequency % 17% 7% 3% 23% 1% 1% 19% 13% 8% 1% 7% Frequency % 15% 9% 3% 24% 3% 2% 15% 12% 5% 1% 4% Frequency % 14% 8% 3% 23% 4% 2% 16% 13% 5% 3% 6% Frequency % 13% 8% 2% 24% 5% 2% 16% 14% 5% 2% 5% Frequency % 14% 9% 3% 24% 5% 2% 14% 13% 6% 2% 5% Frequency % 14% 8% 3% 25% 6% 3% 11% 14% 6% 2% 5% The Participants The data is based on analysis of the responses to the National Utilization and Compensation Survey which was collected by a web based survey from November January 15, There were 1069 responses received and utilized for this report. 5% of the population are males; 95% are females. The average age of survey participants is % of the participants are members of NALA; 68% have received the Certified Paralegal credential. are from a diverse geographical area. Forty-seven states, the Virgin Islands and the District of Columbia are represented by the population. Among the regions of the United States, the Southeast region was represented by 37% of the respondents; Southwest region was represented by 22%; Plains States was represented by 14%; Far West was represented by 11%; Great Lakes was represented by 8%; Rocky Mountain states were represented by 4%; and New England/Mid East was represented by 4% of the respondents. The average population of the cities represented is 584,865. The regions and states are defined in the table below.

20 Page 18 Firm Environment and Utilization The respondents have about 20 years of legal experience; 10 years with the same employer. Most (61%) of respondents work for a private law firm, and, of those, 70% work in firms of 1-15 attorneys; 16% of the respondents work for corporations. With reference to educational backgrounds, 48% of respondents have a bachelor s degree; 30% have an associate s degree. The 2015 National Utilization and Compensation Survey presents information concerning the work environment, practice areas, billing rates and compensation levels of paralegals. Conducted bi-annually since 1986, the survey analysis includes a review of current findings in comparison with findings of previous surveys. Economic data is presented in terms of such factors as size of city, size of firm, educational backgrounds, years of experience, and specialty area of practice. Previous surveys have asked about duties and responsibilities of paralegals. A Job Analysis study of paralegals was conducted by NALA and results release in May The survey report and analysis appears on the NALA web site. Consult this for detailed information about on-the-job duties and responsibilities of paralegals, and skills needed for their work. The Job Analysis study is conducted every 5-7 years. Region 1 - New England/Mid East Number 42 age 4% Connecticut Maine Massachusetts Maryland New Hampshire New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Rhode Island Region 2 - Great Lakes 82 8% Illinois Indiana Michigan Ohio Wisconsin Region 3 - Plains States % Iowa Kansas Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota Region 4 - Southeast % Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Virginia West Virginia Region 5 Southwest % Arizona New Mexico Oklahoma Texas Region 6 - Rocky Mountains 48 4% Colorado Idaho Montana Utah Wyoming Region 7 - Far West % Alaska California Hawaii Nevada Oregon Washington End of Section 2 of 4 Sections