Lateral Attorneys and New Business Development
A guest post by Strategic Partner Bob Gero
One of the most potentially rewarding transactions — and arguably the most challenging, frustrating and disappointing transactions — for law firm management and partners is the effective integration of lateral hires, whether they be equity or non-equity partners, counsel or experienced associates. All too often, law firms aggressively (not to mention the high cost in time and dollars) recruit poaching an attorney from another firm or the corporate world, introduce him or her at a partners meeting, have them fully processed through HR’s regimen, handle the basic marketing needs like bio, website presence and press release, and then send the attorney out into the world to bring in loads of new business.
Law firm management please pay attention: the above is a formula for failure for everybody involved. The sad point is your firms probably won’t realize the failure until more than 2 years into the relationship. There is good news, however, with a little planning and a thorough process, law firms can considerably increase the odds that your new hire will succeed. Both with careful due diligence before and during the negotiations, and most critical implementing a complete Lateral Intergration/Orientation Program.
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