Hogan Lovells is set to be the next firm to look at how it allocates work to associates, with its real estate department to become the first team to trial the scheme. 

Over the next six weeks, partners and associates in London will meet with a management consultant to discuss their career development and potential opportunities within the firm. 

A consultant will provide partners with recommendations for allocating work based on issues such as capacity, skill set and career development needs, although partners will retain overall responsibility for handing out work.

The trial will be run in a similar way to schemes launched by Clifford Chance and Ashurst, with the latter recently revealing it would look to recruit a permanent resource planning manager for its management team. 

Hogan Lovells London real estate head Michael Gallimore said: “We are working with an independent consultant, our people and our clients to look at different ways of allocating work for certain projects. This might be by using a project manager, for example, who can recommend the right solution for each matter to partners – based on client needs, our capacity, lawyer skill set and our people’s career development requirements.

“The project will enhance the many things we are already doing around developing our talent and providing the most efficient and innovative solutions to our clients.”

Management consultant Dave Cook, who is overseeing the schemes, said they are still “in their infancy in the legal sector”.

He told The Lawyer: “The scheme is being trialled in the Hogan Lovells real estate team because it is one the firm’s busiest areas.”

Cook added that if the scheme was successful then “it should be able to work in other areas of the firm too.”

One of the main drivers behind the initiative is to promote diversity within the legal sector, with claims that the non-blind allocation of work can result in women losing out on mandates.