Data on four reasons why law departments can’t hire even though they would like to hire

A survey gave respondents four choices to pick as the primary factors that limited the number of employees they could hire. By far the biggest restriction is “budget,” which 62 percent of the nearly 200 respondents chose. This could mean that their budget did not allow any additional compensation spending, or it could mean that they were not able to offer a sufficiently attractive compensation package.

The next most common limitation was “headcount restrictions,” selected by 29 percent of the respondents. Some 7 percent chose “availability of talent.” Apparently, they could not find the right person for it position.

The oddest and smallest obstacle was “business limitations,” which 2 percent of the respondents chose. Perhaps “headcount restrictions” means a company-wide hiring freeze or an absolute ceiling on the number of employees in the legal department. Perhaps “business limitations” means that there is not support from a business unit to add another lawyer whose costs will flow to that unit.