The Aspiring Lateral: Integrating Yourself

Because the lateral journey does not end when you place the potted plant and picture of your family on your new desk.

Ed. note: The Aspiring Lateral, a new series from Levenfeld Pearlstein, will analyze a variety of issues surrounding lateral moves, drawing on the firm’s experience in the lateral market as well as the individual experiences of LP attorneys. Today’s post is written by Laura Friedel, a partner in LP’s Labor & Employment practice.

In this column, we’ve been talking about the process of making a lateral move. Everyone knows the major stages of that process: deciding to check out lateral opportunities, evaluating potential new firms, interviewing with those firms, and, eventually, accepting an offer. That’s it. For lateral candidates, landing at a new firm is the endgame, right? Wrong.

The lateral journey does not end when you place the potted plant and picture of your family on your new desk. In a very real way, that’s just when the lateral journey starts. Beginning on their first day with a new firm, laterals who want to be successful need to make a concerted push to win over their new colleagues, one that involves a lot of hard work and time spent getting to know partners.

This may seem a little unfair. After all, by the time a lateral begins working at a new firm, she has been thoroughly vetted, the finances of her practice have been closely examined, and she’s on a first-name basis with several maître d’s due to those never-ending interview lunches. At which point, the lateral may feel an understandable — but mistaken — certainty that upon her arrival, her new partners will be leaping over themselves to herald her arrival and shower her with work…

Alas, that is not how the world works. No matter how welcoming one’s new firm may be, the burden of successful integration falls largely on the lateral. Yes, the firm has a belief that lateral can be a solid contributor — but it is up to the lateral to prove that fact by performing excellent work. And yes, the lateral has probably made a good impression on many partners during interviews — but only in the context of day-to-day work can she demonstrate her value as a colleague. In the lateral journey, the real interview begins on day one at the new job, and it doesn’t stop until the lateral is fully integrated into the firm.

How should the lateral go about this second “interview” phase, and ultimately become part of the fabric of the firm? Having the right mindset is half the battle — realizing that you are still, in essence, interviewing for your job, that you have little goodwill built up with your new colleagues, and that it’s up to you to prove your worth. The other half of the battle is acting on that mindset, and there are many ways to do it.

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First and foremost, doing good work for anyone who needs it goes a long way. Laterals serve multiple masters: their clients, whose needs they need to meet better than ever at their new home, and also their new partners. Each opportunity from a new partner is a new interview, a new audition, and acing those auditions helps to establish trust. I’ve never worked harder than I did during my first six months at Levenfeld Pearlstein, and I wouldn’t take it back for anything. As many other laterals would repeat, the hours I put in those initial months were invaluable in establishing my place at the firm.

Of course, the root of all work is personal relationships, and so laterals should also spend considerable effort getting to know their new colleagues. The best piece of advice that I received as a lateral was to walk the hallways, and walk them frequently. Frankly, I wish I had been as aggressive about getting to know people as the lateral who invited the entire Litigation Group at Levenfeld Pearlstein out for a drink during his second week at the firm. Taking a genuine interest in your colleagues and their work is likely to pay off handsomely down the road.

To be clear, a lateral’s getting-to-know-you campaign should not be limited to attorneys. Staff members from paralegals to assistants to librarians should receive as much interest, and respect, from laterals as partners and associates do.

Finally, laterals should stay conscious of — and avoid — the tendency to keep identifying themselves with their old firms. Few colleagues will want to hear any story that begins: “At my old firm, we used to….” It’s distancing, and it feels like the speaker is having trouble letting go, like the sports announcer that uses every play as occasion to expound on his own glory days on the field.

Those days are over. You’re in a new place now, and it’s up to you to make the most of it.

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Here are a few key questions for laterals to ask themselves as they get integrated:

  • Do I have a confidant at my new firm? Laterals should be asking constant questions about their new firm, and it helps to have at least one individual that the lateral feels comfortable asking any question at all, no matter how “stupid.”
  • Are my clients as comfortable here as I am? In the process of getting themselves settled, laterals shouldn’t forget about their clients. They should be getting appropriate messaging about the lateral’s new firm, its capabilities, and its complementary practice areas.
  • How well do I know my new colleagues? Information is power, as much in the lateral process as anywhere else. Inside of a year, laterals should have a firm grasp on their key colleagues’ strengths, weaknesses, and even their outside interests and hobbies.

Disclosure: This series is sponsored by Levenfeld Pearlstein, which is an ATL advertiser.


Chicago-based Levenfeld Pearlstein (LP) was born of the desire to create a different kind of law firm. While many firms promote a “value proposition” of high quality work, responsiveness, efficiency and reasonable fees, to LP, those are just the basics of doing good work for clients. LP’s focus is building business relationships with clients as trusted strategic advisors who understand their clients’ business and industry inside and out, seeking legal solutions that support the client’s long-term business strategy as well as short-term needs. LP’s top talent and entrepreneurial setting translate into the sophisticated skills and resources of a big law firm in a more manageable environment.