6 Tips For Smarter Lateral Hiring
Practical advice from experienced recruiters about the increasingly important process of lateral hiring.
Last year was a near-record year for lateral hiring in Biglaw. Large law firms, including firms that traditionally eschewed lateral hiring, are getting into the game. Given the amount of time, energy, and money — lots and lots of money — being invested in lateral hiring, it’s important to get the process right.
At the recent NALP conference in Chicago, I attended three panels on lateral hiring (full panel descriptions posted on the next page). I’ve pulled out the following bits of practical advice that might be useful to participants in the process — law firms, potential laterals, and recruiters.
1. Ask the right questions of prospective lateral hires.
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The first panel I attended, “Something Smells Funny: How to Spot When Candidates Aren’t Telling You the Whole Story,” focused on lateral searches gone awry. Sometimes things go wrong because candidates make misrepresentations about themselves, their past experience, or their book of business, but sometimes things go wrong because of misunderstandings.
To catch misrepresentations or to avoid misunderstandings, it’s important for outside recruiters or law firm recruiters to ask the right questions of potential laterals. According to Shannon Davis, director of recruiting at Mintz Levin, people get better at asking good questions with experience — but putting a little thought into it can go a long way.
Dan Binstock of Garrison & Sisson suggested several possible questions. For example, to get at the circumstances surrounding a lateral’s departure from a current firm, he’ll sometimes ask quite directly, “Were you asked to leave? Yes or no.” Or to find out just how portable a lateral’s supposed book of business is, he’ll ask, “If you joined a new firm tomorrow, what would you be working on as of day one?”
Warren Smith of the Counsel Network mentioned another possible question: “When we call your references, what are they going to say?” Some candidates will be surprisingly knowledgeable and candid about how they are perceived by others.
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Asking pointed questions can sometimes be uncomfortable, especially in a genteel profession like the law. But sometimes it’s the best way to get at the truth — and better to find out the truth earlier rather than later.
2. When vetting lateral candidates, take an approach of “trust, but verify.”
The vast majority of lawyers are honest people (lawyer jokes notwithstanding). But law firms and recruiters should still verify, to the extent that they can, what lateral lawyers say about themselves.
Davis told the tale of one lateral candidate who mentioned that he was licensed to practice in a certain jurisdiction. She tried to check his bar status online and came up empty. She went back to the candidate, who insisted he was admitted and told her to check online. She checked again, then went back to the candidate to tell him he wasn’t in the registry. He told Davis he would call her back. He did — and then gave her someone else’s bar number. After getting called out over that, the candidate told Davis that his mother had his license from that jurisdiction in her basement and that she would fax it over. Needless to say, that candidate did not get hired.
3. Dig a little deeper.
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When a law firm is desperate to fill a position, caution can get thrown to the wind, especially when a promising and pedigreed candidate presents herself. But firms shouldn’t skimp on due diligence; instead, they should go beneath the surface.
The “Something Smells Funny” panelists offered several pieces of advice:
- When tracking disciplinary proceedings, don’t just consider final proceedings; keep an eye out for pending ones as well.
- When conducting online research into candidates, go beyond the first page of Google results; sometimes the most interesting (and troubling) bits of information appear deeper into the results.
- When you see a particular big-ticket case or transaction on someone’s matter list, probe into the precise nature of the candidate’s role; sometimes a candidate might have a very small role on a big deal.
- For lateral partner candidates, the subject of “originations” is a frequent topic of misunderstanding; it can mean different things to different people. Ask follow-up questions to drill down into this subject.
- Consider hanging on to résumés from candidates you don’t end up hiring; if the candidate applies to you again later on, it can be enlightening to compare the current résumé to the historical résumé to see if anything got omitted (e.g., a brief stint at an employer that didn’t end well).
4. Have realistic expectations for the lateral process — and be flexible.
The second panel on lateral hiring that I attended was called “Finding the Unicorn: Lateral Searches for Members of the ‘Lost Generation.'” The theme of this panel was how difficult it can be for firms to find experienced associates in the lateral market — due in large part to how the firms either laid off or didn’t hire in the first place so many members of the so-called “lost generation” (the classes that graduated from law school around the time of the Great Recession).
Around 9,500 lawyers got laid off during 2009 and 2010 from the top 250 firms in the United States, according to The Economist. First-year associate positions also decreased by more than 8,700 during the 2009 to 2010 timeframe. So around 18,000 lawyers are missing from the talent pool that law firms are now considering. People who work in recruiting should use these and other data points to explain to impatient partners why lateral searches for midlevel to senior associates are so challenging.
In light of how tight the market is for experienced associates, firms should consider being flexible if they want to fill a given position. For example, firms can de-emphasize law school grades (in favor of actual experience), consider candidates coming from midsize firms (as opposed to Biglaw), and have realistic timeframes for bringing a candidate aboard.
Finding the “perfect” candidate can be difficult because many firms are seeking that same person. But if a firm is willing to be flexible in terms of the nature or amount of experience required, it might be possible to fill a position.
5. To attract a lateral candidate, you need to “think like a lateral.”
The panelists urged recruiters and law firms to adopt the mindset of a lateral lawyer when trying to pitch themselves to potential hires. Think about the leading reasons laterals leave their firms, which include enhanced advancement prospects, more-interesting work, better cultural fit, improved work/life balance, better exit opportunities, enhanced compensation, or “some level of respect” (this was met with laughter). Try to figure out internally what message you want to send to potential recruits and make sure that everyone involved in the process, from partners to associates to recruiting personnel, emphasizes that message when communicating with lateral candidates.
6. Don’t forget the big picture.
Amidst all the logistics and paperwork associated with lateral hiring, including lateral partner questionnaires and deal sheets, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture. The final panel I attended on lateral hiring, “To Build Or Not To Build: The Relationship Between Increased Lateral Partner Hiring And Firm Revenue,” emphasized keeping in mind what the process is all about.
Marguerite Durston of Quarles & Brady argued that firms should take a strategic as opposed to reactive approach to lateral hiring. This requires some introspection. Firms need to ask themselves what they are trying to get out of lateral hiring and why they want to grow in this manner.
Figuring this out is easier said than done, according to Charlotte Wager of Jenner & Block. Different constituencies within a firm may have different views about what the firm’s focus in lateral hiring should be — for example, expanding the firm’s geographic footprint, strengthening certain practice areas, or changing the mix of work at the firm.
Firms pay a great deal of attention to financial considerations in lateral searches. But at the end of the day, Wager said, it’s not all about the benjamins. Instead, she said, “Lateral hiring is all about improving out ability to help our clients.”
(Flip to the next page for detailed panel descriptions, including the names and affiliations of the panelists.)
Earlier: 7 Thoughts About The Lateral Hiring Process
2015 Annual Education Conference [National Association for Law Placement (NALP)]
