Huse talks with Law 360 about "What Benefit Will Your Firm Yank Next?"

Law360 quoted Huse in the recent article “What Benefit Will Your Firm Yank Next?", where she discusses what benefits firms are no longer planning to pay for in the coming year. Excerpts from the article are below. To read the entire article, click here.

What Benefit Will Your Firm Yank Next? By Jeff Sistrunk Law 360, Los Angeles (December 4, 2015, 12:02 PM ET) - With Obamacare's controversial tax on higher cost health care plans looming, some major law firms have begun to implement employee health benefit cuts this year. But analysts say that healthcare isn't the only area where firms are trying to reduce costs. Here, experts discuss what benefits firms may look to cut or scale back in an effort to tighten the belt.

Profit Sharing Some firms have sought to cut costs by reducing matching rates for profit sharing programs for non-equity employees such as associates and staff, according to analysts. "Equity partners usually won't feel the ramifications of those changes," Huse said. When hiring new employees, firms may structure their deals to offer lower profit share matching payments, according to Huse. "The structuring of profit sharing occurs behind the curtain," she said. "Shareholders decide where their profit lies, and they have a lot of flexibility with allocating those funds." Indeed, a lot of firms don't offer high profit share matching to employees unless they're among the senior ranks, Huse said.

Travel Expenses With the emergence of teleconferencing and other sophisticated forms of digital communication, some firms have scaled back their travel budgets for everything from interoffice practice group meetings to professional development conferences and events, according to experts.

Huse noted that some firms have trimmed costs by directing all business travel through a single company and implementing standard travel procedures. "Some partners don't like that, as they're not able to get points when traveling," Huse said.

Devices and Supplies Lawyers are increasingly having to pay out of pocket for everything from smartphones for work to office furniture, according to experts.

Since many attorneys seek higher end accommodations, such as tablets and adjustable height desks, firms are unable to negotiate bulk rates or lower prices for those items, according to Huse. As a result, attorneys are required to pay for "anything that is outside of the standard," she said.