Page 84 - Leaders in Legal Business - PDF - Final 2018
P. 84
Acted as intermediary or otherwise assisted in negotiations; and
Provided detailed information about potential firms.
Partners who worked with recruiters were also more likely to review a firm’s financials
before moving than those who moved without assistance.4 For both groups, however, the
percentage doing thorough due diligence before investing their professional future and their
capital in a new partnership was shockingly low.
Keeping the Keepers III: Mobility & Management of Associate Talent, a national study
and report of law firm associate hiring and retention from 2006–2011, includes findings from
more than 22,000 associate hires and more than 17,000 associate departures. The report found
that very few firms anticipated changes in non-partner recruiting budgets or the number of
administrative staff who are dedicated to non-partner recruiting in the near term. At the same
time, however, a significant number of participating law firms (56 percent) reported an expected
increase in lateral hiring.5 The report’s supplemental study of 85 law firm administrators found
that search firms, internal referrals, and online searches or solicitations initiated by the firm
accounted for the largest percentage of lateral hires within the last two years. The majority of
firms reported that law school job postings, external referrals, and unsolicited write-ins each
accounted for 10 percent or less of lateral hires.6
Law firms recognize that while recruiting fees are not immaterial, search consultants can
add enormous value in helping them add senior laterals who can in turn add significant revenues,
expand the firm’s talent and client bases, and bring new energy and vitality. For that reason,
lateral partner hiring is more competitive than ever — e.g., in a recent survey, 96 percent of law
firm managing partners said they viewed lateral partner recruiting as a primary growth strategy.7
To be successful in implementing that strategy, firms need to be nimble, creative, flexible,
decisive, and visionary (read more specific suggestions for law firms in “To Compete for
Laterals — Linger Not, Partners”).8 In short, law firms and their management teams have
concluded that employing the services of savvy recruiting professionals is a productive allocation
of firm resources.
Law Firm Business Management Recruiting
This focuses on business management roles at firms, e.g., chiefs and directors of various
verticals such as operations, finance, business development, marketing, technology, pricing, and
more. The prominence of these professional management positions within law firms has
expanded dramatically in recent years. For example, as clients continue pushing for alternatives
to the billable hour and greater accountability as to how their law firms manage and staff their
matters, there has been a continued interest in the pricing of legal work. Perhaps more
importantly, though, is the realization that “pricing” does not exist in a vacuum, but instead is
necessarily dependent upon solid legal project management (LPM) and more sophisticated
practice management. Consequently, there has been an explosion in the demand for pricing and
4 Id. at 42.
5 Keeping the Keepers III: Mobility & Management of Associate Talent, MAJOR, LINDSEY & AFRICA & THE NALP FOUNDATION, 2014, at 16.
6 Id. at 17.
7 LEXISNEXIS & ALM LEGAL INTELLIGENCE, Oct. 2012, at 21.
8 See Jon Lindsey & Robert Brigham, To Compete for Laterals – Linger Not, Partners, NAT. L. J. (Dec. 8, 2014),
http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202678232309/To-Compete-for-Laterals-mdash-Linger-Not-Partners.
70
Provided detailed information about potential firms.
Partners who worked with recruiters were also more likely to review a firm’s financials
before moving than those who moved without assistance.4 For both groups, however, the
percentage doing thorough due diligence before investing their professional future and their
capital in a new partnership was shockingly low.
Keeping the Keepers III: Mobility & Management of Associate Talent, a national study
and report of law firm associate hiring and retention from 2006–2011, includes findings from
more than 22,000 associate hires and more than 17,000 associate departures. The report found
that very few firms anticipated changes in non-partner recruiting budgets or the number of
administrative staff who are dedicated to non-partner recruiting in the near term. At the same
time, however, a significant number of participating law firms (56 percent) reported an expected
increase in lateral hiring.5 The report’s supplemental study of 85 law firm administrators found
that search firms, internal referrals, and online searches or solicitations initiated by the firm
accounted for the largest percentage of lateral hires within the last two years. The majority of
firms reported that law school job postings, external referrals, and unsolicited write-ins each
accounted for 10 percent or less of lateral hires.6
Law firms recognize that while recruiting fees are not immaterial, search consultants can
add enormous value in helping them add senior laterals who can in turn add significant revenues,
expand the firm’s talent and client bases, and bring new energy and vitality. For that reason,
lateral partner hiring is more competitive than ever — e.g., in a recent survey, 96 percent of law
firm managing partners said they viewed lateral partner recruiting as a primary growth strategy.7
To be successful in implementing that strategy, firms need to be nimble, creative, flexible,
decisive, and visionary (read more specific suggestions for law firms in “To Compete for
Laterals — Linger Not, Partners”).8 In short, law firms and their management teams have
concluded that employing the services of savvy recruiting professionals is a productive allocation
of firm resources.
Law Firm Business Management Recruiting
This focuses on business management roles at firms, e.g., chiefs and directors of various
verticals such as operations, finance, business development, marketing, technology, pricing, and
more. The prominence of these professional management positions within law firms has
expanded dramatically in recent years. For example, as clients continue pushing for alternatives
to the billable hour and greater accountability as to how their law firms manage and staff their
matters, there has been a continued interest in the pricing of legal work. Perhaps more
importantly, though, is the realization that “pricing” does not exist in a vacuum, but instead is
necessarily dependent upon solid legal project management (LPM) and more sophisticated
practice management. Consequently, there has been an explosion in the demand for pricing and
4 Id. at 42.
5 Keeping the Keepers III: Mobility & Management of Associate Talent, MAJOR, LINDSEY & AFRICA & THE NALP FOUNDATION, 2014, at 16.
6 Id. at 17.
7 LEXISNEXIS & ALM LEGAL INTELLIGENCE, Oct. 2012, at 21.
8 See Jon Lindsey & Robert Brigham, To Compete for Laterals – Linger Not, Partners, NAT. L. J. (Dec. 8, 2014),
http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202678232309/To-Compete-for-Laterals-mdash-Linger-Not-Partners.
70
