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Learn from legal expert, Harrison Barnes
Don’t just take it from us
While there is a general degree of consistency in the entry-level hiring process for law firms, which you likely experienced during the annual on-campus interview process at your law school, the interview process for lateral hires has continued to change over the past two decades, and has generally become less standard as time goes by due to firms experimenting with a variety of interview procedures, evaluations, and techniques designed (presumably) to ensure the best hiring and retention processes to build their business.
Eliminate Lock-Step Model and Reward Performance, Not Time Served Beginning at the end of 1999, law firms began accelerating the rate at which they increased associate compensation. This trend literally moved at “Internet speed:” within three months, associates nationwide were deemed to be worth substantially more than they had been when hired, sometimes only a few months earlier.
When considering and, specifically, the nature of marketing legal services in the future, the best guide is empirical data of two kinds: (1) law-specific data combined with (2) information from the mature unregulated service professions.
Were most of your partners satisfied when the firm allocated remaining profits last year?
Many of the practices that lead to successful lateral hiring are basic common sense. In many instances, however, BCG Attorney Search has found firms mistakenly adhering to a number of practices that seriously undermine the success of their lateral hires. These include:
Marketing is now part and parcel of what it means to be successful with lateral recruitment, especially in a marketplace where the most coveted prospects want to know why they should join your law firm and not the one down the street. Consequently, it's up to you to devise ways to communicate your firm's uniqueness. In order to effectively market your firm, you must first develop a plan to:
Most law firms have taken on a lateral who didn't produce as expected because something fell through the cracks during due diligence:
Take steps now to be a victor in the ongoing war for legal talent.
These days most law firms are constantly on the lookout for groups of laterals in key practice areas. While there's no denying that a lateral strategy can work for the bottom line, law firm leaders will attest that it has its pitfalls.
Today, most lateral associates enter their new firms with the understanding that the position is actually an opportunity to audition for the role of partner. In the best-case scenario, at the end of the experience, firms are able to identify those with the skills needed to enhance firm profits and advance in a reasonable amount of time. In BCG Attorney Search's estimation, it's always prudent for law firm leaders re-evaluate the traits their individual organizations find desirable—particularly since such characteristics are apt to change along with the firm's needs. Developing an informal list and then checking potential lateral hires against it can help firms avoid serious financial implications caused when a once-promising prospect later turns out to be a "bad fit."
Just what is going on here? Consider these headlines:
The activities that comprise a law firm’s marketing mix–business development, promotion, and client care— almost always have a major impact on a firm’s IT planning.
Unless you've been in the cast of ''Survivor,'' you are aware that associate salaries have taken a dramatic jump in recent months. Law firms across the country, and certainly in Washington, have had to grapple with the impact that rising associate salaries will have on their firm.
Practice Groups are increasingly becoming the way law firms manage their businesses, including a significant component of the marketing agenda. The following ten ideas will help practice groups - and especially their leaders - decide the best ways to manage and focus their marketing activities.
Several years ago, an article appeared in the McKinsey Quarterly commenting on the state of the legal profession.
When law firms first began to develop marketing programs the focus was largely on communications and promotion, and their efforts focused on such activities as seminars, media relations and newsletters. They bore little resemblance to the corporate marketing model, with its heavy emphasis on research and product or service development and delivery. The law firm marketing focus was on visibility and had little influence on firm management decision-making.
The stakes-time, money, or firm wide resources-are always high when you embark on a search for a lateral hire. And these costs often have nothing to do with due diligence or questions of fit and synergy. Instead, it's a matter of sheer economics. Because some headhunters' fees now run in the six-figure range, managing such relationships on the front-end can be crucial.
Numerous books, articles, and training materials have been written on the subject of how to successfully interview for a job. Most of this information is geared toward the job candidate, instructing him or her to dress professionally, arrive on time, anticipate difficult questions and prepare responses, maintain eye contact, avoid slouching, and generally make the best impression on potential employers.
While law firms' lateral hiring pace is likely to slow somewhat this year as many begin refocusing on first-year recruiting, most data suggest that attracting and retaining top laterals in hot practice areas will remain a priority for law firm leaders for some time to come.
While the desire of your firm to land a promising lateral may be nigh overwhelming, caution is the watchword. Consider this cautionary tale before your firm rushes to retain even its most prized prospect: "Hiring is up, yet my firm seems to be riding into these unions with blinders on," one law firm leader confides, explaining her firm's lateral hiring strategy. "I'll wager that one out of two will end up being a drag on the firm's profits and morale."