Nathan Koppel has written Like so many other areas of law firm management, many firms look at one or two aspects of the lateral hire, and start jumping around based on those issues and assumptions. The biggest, of course, being "book of business." If somebody can bring a crate-load of fat, sassy clients… haul ‘em on in. Never mind that there’s a poor cultural fit, that they may be in direct competition with lawyers who’ve been at your firm for twenty years, that they don’t know anything about your firm’s management style or marketing efforts… let’s just focus on the bottom line.
I was extremely pleased to read about several firms who take lateral hiring seriously enough to treat it for what it is — an extremely important business and marketing decision. Check out the article to see how firms like Hogan & Hartson and Jones Day are getting it right.
And remember — every time you bring somebody into your firm, and then churn them out, you’re creating a negative marketing machine for your organization. Whether it’s bad enough to leave a public stink, or just be something that is smelly in private, rapid attorneys and/or employee turnover is hugely bad. Study after study of business health equates low employee churn and high satisfaction with long-term profits and client retention.
Stumble it!