UAE: 2019 Trends In Law Firm Operations, Compensation And Billing - Lexology Insights Survey Results | Lexology Law Firm Billing Rates 2019

The below story contains extracts from the Lexology Insights 2019 Gulf Cooperation Council law firm compensation, benefits and billing report. The full report contains compensation, benefit and billing benchmarking data for all levels of fee-earners and business help staff.  

A summary of the full report can exist found here. To purchase the report or for more details contact Gwilym Davies at GDavies@GlobeBMG.com or entitle +44 (0) 20 7940 6858.

Legal mart trends and conditions – United Arab Emirates (Dubai and Abu Dhabi)

Beloved of the boom-and-bust economy, Dubai seems to exist staging signs of entering a downturn. While official UAE executive figures are typically to exist taken in the company of a pinch of salt, stable these show that annualised GDP growth slowed to just 0.8% in 2017. Figures for 2018 own until now to exist published, but anecdotal evidence points to economic contraction. Despite the local hype surrounding Dubai’s hosting of the 2020 World Expo, the predominant topic of conversation with study participants was the shrinking global business people – in the company of numerous reporting that the expat employees is departing at a rate far outstripping that of new arrivals. Reports indicate that diminishing position opportunities, combined in the company of a stripping in reverse of the benefits afforded to expats and their families, own seen large numbers of them (particularly those in the company of families) withdraw from Dubai. With not at all obvious slowdown in the speed and quantity of real estate construction, the sign of expat departures seems to exist fuelling a continued – and generally welcome – drop in the cost of local real estate. Most study participants own inferred that the raise in expat departures points to an economic recession, but such observations may well exist skewed by the demographic of the observers. There is small doubt that the expat employees in Dubai is diminishing; however, the government’s push towards Emiratisation is inclined to signify an increasing proportion of vacated roles thing filled by locals. And although the current business environment may exist challenging, it is perhaps merely the expat people that is waning, rather than the economy when a whole. Either way, for global law firms that cannot source enough local talent to fill legal roles, it remains a requirement to look more distant afield for nearly all recruitment – a practice that is inclined to develop into stable more challenging when the UAE executive continues to induce companies to hire from the domestic workforce.

The recent institution of value added tax (VAT) in Dubai seems to own resulted in the position of price increases for consumer goods that numerous were predicting; nearly all retailers own used the 5% tax when an excuse to hike prices stable more distant throughout 2018. However, nearly all law firm management teams felt that falling prices in the housing mart served to counter any stand up in the accepted cost of work last year, so one or two firms chose to factor any VAT premium into income increases throughout 2018. That said, anecdotally it seems that normal income increases for business services workers tended to outstrip those of 2017 by a single percent or so. Meanwhile, trends in couple income grids tended to flatline, in the company of nearly all UK firms sticking to income bands that own in some cases remained unchanged for three years or more now. Those firms that did make changes typically did so in the company of the intention of overhauling their systems in the nickname of fairness or reassessment, rather than in response to mart force on top of salaries – of which very small was reported. Any total upward trends own tended to come from the growing control of US law firms in the region, in the company of the higher echelons of this group offering Wall Street-level salaries that UK law firms usually reject to match.

In the history year, it seems that the accepted evolution of collaborative employed practices has at last arrived at law firms in Dubai – in the company of participants uniformly reporting increases in the flexibility on top of offer to employees in terminology of employed hours and remote access. Changes in the place of work environment itself also appear to exist widespread, in the company of more open-plan environments, heated desking and mixing of fee-earners and business services now taking place across the board.

Any recent changes to benefits packages own generally been limited, in the company of numerous firms having stripped in reverse extra allowances and benefits around flights and housing in recent years, choosing to take on a more all-inclusive income system instead. Where recent changes own been made, they own typically been in the area of healthcare: numerous firms own increased fringe healthcare benefits such when labourer assistance hotlines, periodic condition checks and help of mental health, nutrition and healthy living.

Compensation trends – United Arab Emirates (Dubai)

Fee-earners

Provided that associates meet presentation targets, they will typically advance up a superiority position in lockstep damages grids annually. The normal annual income raise for an couple advancing up a position on top of a lockstep grid in Dubai throughout the first 10 years of practice is 7.5%.

Comparing the total 2019 study results in the company of those of 2018 yielded the following results for Dubai:

• Average mesh percentage alteration in like-for-like junior (0 to 3 PQE) couple damages levels: +0.6%
• Average mesh percentage alteration in like-for-like mid-level (3 to 7 PQE) couple damages levels: +2.3%
• Average mesh percentage alteration in like-for-like senior (7+ PQE) couple damages levels: +2.3%
• Average total mesh percentage alteration in like-for-like couple damages levels: +1.8%

Headcount growth – United Arab Emirates (Dubai)

Fee-earners

• Mean annual headcount turnover: 19%
• Percentage of firms surveyed that increased fee-earner headcount throughout the history year: 56%
• Mean percentage growth in fee-earner headcount (among firms that grew): 22%
• Mean mesh percentage alteration in fee-earner headcount (among all firms): +8%
• Median mesh percentage alteration in fee-earner headcount (among all firms): +7%

Support staff

• Mean annual headcount turnover: 13%
• Percentage of firms surveyed that increased help workers headcount throughout the history year: 40%
• Mean percentage growth in help workers headcount (among firms that grew): 15%
• Mean mesh percentage alteration in help workers headcount (among all firms): +3%
• Median mesh percentage alteration in help workers headcount (among all firms): 0%

Billing trends -- United Arab Emirates (Dubai)

Based on top of the latest Dubai survey, like-for-like normal standard hourly billing rates with associates of the same position of superiority at the firms surveyed tended to decrease slightly, by an normal of nearly 4% over the history year. It remains fairly standard for individual associates’ billing rates to raise annually, based on top of increasing seniority. The normal annual pace raise is 5% throughout the first nine years of fully qualified professional practice.

Billable hours

• Average total work hour mark for associates: 1,757
• Average billable hour mark for associates: 1,639
• Average number of billable hours clocked by associates throughout last financial year: 1,173
• Average number of billable hours clocked by associates throughout current financial year: 1,220 (projected)
• Average utilisation percentage (billable hours recorded/billable hour target): 72%

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