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      Practising Law Institute

      Engaged Employer

      Practising Law Institute reviews

      3.9

      80% would recommend to a friend

      (83 total reviews)

      Sharon Crane

      100% approve of CEO

      70% positive business outlook

      Ratings by category

      4.2

      Work/Life balance

      4.1

      Diversity & inclusion

      4.0

      Culture & values

      3.9

      Compensation and benefits

      3.7

      Senior management

      3.1

      Career opportunities

      Practising Law Institute has an employee rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars, based on 83 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Practising Law Institute employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Legal industry (3.8 stars).

      Ratings by demographic groups

      Reviews by job title

      83 reviews
      1.0
      Oct 17, 2016

      Stagnant and stressful

      Program assistant
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Good benefit package. Stability is possible Co-workers are generally enjoyable. As a program assistant, I learned a lot about the law.

      Cons

      Job is almost impossible to complete in standard work week and OT is discouraged. Attorneys have little understanding of the systems they manage and have unrealistic expectations of their assistants. This is an environment where one mistake is a serious and fatal error and yet few things an assistant's work on cannot be easily corrected. Stress level is very high for an administrative position. Style management of Program Attorneys is micromanaging and attorneys are trained by upper management to increase this type of management. There are no penalties for mismanagement of employees by upper management. The company motto seems to be whatever the manager does we support. Unfortunately this results in a very unhappy work environment. To sum up: Low salaries for high performance expectations. Unless you are an attorney, there is no where for you to grow. At a comparable institution, the entry level salary is about 5-7K more a year, with similar benefits and time off, with about half of the responsibilities and no project assistant responsibilities. You may even be allowed to make an error! If you are a career admin, please note that this position is not a good long term stop on your career arc. The title and responsibilities hinder hireability outside of PLI. The entry-level salary is identical to the salaries offered for administrative assistant positions with fewer responsibilities.

      avatar
      Practising Law Institute Response
      9y
      It is always disappointing to read this kind of review. The HR team and the head of the referenced department would have welcomed the chance to talk with the employee and address the concerns raised. Conversations do take place frequently between our staff and HR or their managers, and we strive to listen and find solutions. We place a premium on work/life balance at PLI. As a result, we tend not to utilize OT. That does not mean it is unavailable if the occasional need arises, such as meeting a deadline. If the reviewer believes the workload is unreasonable, we strongly encourage him/her to speak to his/her manager or the department head. The last thing we want is for any employee to feel stressed at work. We try to demonstrate this every day with our wellness programs, generous paid time off and Summer Fridays. Making mistakes is something we all do, and PLI certainly does not condone managers treating staff in an unforgiving, disrespectful manner when they occur. We take this commitment seriously, and have spoken to managers about their approach when this issue is brought to our attention. Unless we know this behavior is occurring we cannot properly address it. Salaries are something we constantly review. Many positions have been adjusted in the last year, and more are being evaluated as we begin our annual appraisal and merit increase program. Our benefits are outstanding, including a generous retirement savings plan, and we frequently ask for and apply employee input on a host of topics. Recent examples include ideas for employee events, professional development and benefits. As posted earlier this year on Glassdoor, nearly half our employee group has been promoted at least once while at PLI. We anticipate several more promotion announcements in January. While we cannot guarantee every employee will find a satisfying career trajectory, we certainly make an effort to encourage professional growth in many ways (including learning about the law, as the reviewer mentioned). Sometimes issues at work (as in life!) are caused by miscommunication or the lack of it altogether. To that end, we are keeping our doors wide open and welcome hearing from our staff often. Sincerely, Joan D. Sternberg VP, Human Resources Practising Law Institute
      4.0
      Jun 30, 2016

      Great company and benefits, plagued by some bad upper management

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      - Every holiday off - giving about 12 days off a year extra - Generous health benefits packages - 2 hour paid early leave every Friday during Summer months - Beer and wine served at all parties - Good amount of parties yearly - 10-15 vacation days to start - Unlimited paid sick days off - Good people for the most part - Nice location

      Cons

      - Low starting salaries - 1% to 5% salary increases yearly max - with impossible and arbitrary blocks in place from keeping most people from getting more than 3% yearly raises - Too small of a company to provide any real job advancements for most employees - very few promotions from within - Very high turnover in some departments due to bad management (Marketing...) - Almost zero turnover for management positions, meaning the old guard will always rule - Advancement/raises are not merit based and have more to do with brown-nosing the right people - Promotion to upper management purely from length of employement, leading to incompetent and unskilled upper management in many departments - Upper management would rather make completely uninformed decisions rather than listen to the experts on their respective teams for guidance - Upper management very liberal with company money , including for personal use, causing financial issues for the company

      avatar
      Practising Law Institute Response
      10y
      Thank you for the positive remarks about our comprehensive benefit and paid time off programs, along with the thumbs up for the social activities we organize for employees. With respect to promotions, more than 40% of our current staff has been promoted at least once, with some employees being tapped for a promotion on multiple occasions. Without exception, promotions are always determined on the basis of excellent performance and achievement, and not length of employment. With respect to salary increases, these are merit based. In January 2016 more than 60% of PLI employees received 4.5% or higher as a result of our merit increase program. This number is above the national average of 3.1%, as well as above the current rate of inflation. As with any concern, we encourage employees to discuss issues with their manager or HR. It is also worth noting that, as the reviewer pointed out, we offer a very generous and comprehensive benefit program, which contributes significantly to the value of the overall robust employment package. We continue to welcome feedback. Sincerely, Joan D. Sternberg VP, Human Resources
      1.0
      Jun 18, 2016

      hr writing its own reviews! lol

      Anonymous employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      At least they should make it look less obvious that pli is writing their own positive reviews. Their real reviews are otherwise so negative, they've taken a new approach to polishing their image -- write your own reviews!

      Cons

      Employees are not happy. And the salary is so low with no chance of advancement and no care from mgt for employee development, with the improved economy employees are no longer feeling trapped into enduring pli.

      avatar
      Practising Law Institute Response
      10y
      The management of PLI is very disappointed by the posting authored by this employee. Not only is the accusation that PLI fabricates Glassdoor postings absolutely false and demeaning to the original contributors, but this employee's use of the phrase "LOL" reflects very poor judgment and a lack of appreciation that making such a false allegation is, in fact, no laughing matter. As a professional educational organization, each day we demonstrate a deep commitment to transparency. Information is circulated in a variety of ways to staff nearly every day about a wide range of PLI business matters. As an organization whose commitment and mission is to train attorneys and other professionals to practice in a knowledgeable, ethical manner, making such a claim is particularly offensive and disturbing. PLI has consistently welcomed feedback from all employees and will respond to those concerns in the best manner possible. We appreciate that the author of this post is not happy about a number of issues. We encourage all employees to communicate directly with their managers, speak directly to anyone in HR, submit a suggestion through a variety of internal feedback mechanisms or speak directly with our President. Our goal is that employee concerns be heard, addressed and resolved in the best way possible. For example, based on requests in recent employee surveys, we have enhanced staff professional development training in a variety of areas. All employees are invited and encouraged to participate. As do all employers, PLI recognizes there is always room for improvement, and we continue to work hard to be responsive to our talented community of employees. Our staff is comprised of very gifted, talented and dedicated employees, and we encourage you to find out more about the open opportunities at PLI and see for yourself. Sincerely, Joan D. Sternberg VP, Human Resources
      Viewing 55 - 57 of 83 Reviews
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      ReviewsPractising Law Institute reviews

      Glassdoor has 89 Practising Law Institute reviews submitted anonymously by Practising Law Institute employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Practising Law Institute is right for you.