General Legal Employer Resource Center

Are you looking to fill attorney in-house openings in your company but don't know how? Learn how to hire the attorneys you need in this article. READ MORE >

There have always been law firm mergers, but this year brought the largest law firm merger (by headcount) to date. READ MORE >

Law firms are just like any other organization, sometimes achieving great success, and other times going defunct. This article goes over the latter firms. READ MORE >

Learn how to plan for growth in your law firm in this comprehensive guide. READ MORE >

We have provided a sample childbirth and parenting leave policy that you can use as a reference in developing or fine-tuning your law firm’s policy. READ MORE >

What holds back many law firms from achieving greatness? Self-delusion about their current market position. READ MORE >

Does your firm actively seek out minority applicants for attorney positions? If you are waiting for minority lawyers and law students to contact you, you may be waiting a long time. Given the small number of minorities in the practice and in law school, law firms must be proactive when seeking minorities. Take a close look at your firm's hiring practices. READ MORE >

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Participating in the call-back interview process is different than being an on-campus interviewer. Most firms spend more time training the attorneys who interview on campus than the larger number who participate in the firm's in-house interviews. While on-campus interviews are initial screening interviews, in-house interviews are a mix of initial screening interviews with students who have sent unsolicited resumes to the firm, call-back interviews resulting from on-campus interviews and second visits from students who have received offers and want to visit additional attorneys before making a decision. READ MORE >

Use this sample annotated retained search agreement in drafting an agreement with a legal recruiting firm.

Introductory Sections 1.    Introductory section which defines the parties to the agreement.

This letter is an agreement between [Firm](the "FIRM"), a California partnership containing professional corporations and SEARCH FIRM LEGAL SEARCH, INC., an California corporation ("SEARCH FIRM") (the "Agreement") concerning a search [describe search] the [department or practice group] of the [city] office of the FIRM (the "Search"). READ MORE >

Across the business world, recruiting has changed drastically, responding to the styles, preferences, and culture of the Millennial Generation (ages 18-34). No longer are they reading newspapers, they read blogs; no longer are they mailing out résumés, they are posting them on LinkedIn; no longer are they hobnobbing in person, more and more of their social life happens on the internet. Most hiring managers have caught on, and matched their search to work in tandem with the emerging interconnected economy. The legal profession, however, has only slowly changed their hiring to incorporate social media in their legal recruiting. READ MORE >

How successful has your firm been with its laterals? Even if your firm has few problems luring qualified lateral hires, retention among this group is more of an issue than it is with homegrown practitioners, law firm leaders tell BCG Attorney Search. One reason, according to the people we contacted, relates to problems with general integration. READ MORE >

Seventy-five percent of all placement requests are for associates with two-to-four years of experience, largely because firms want lawyers with few rough edges and no immediate expectation of partnership. But the simple rules of supply and demand dictate that having focus is essential, if you want to improve your firm's chances of success. Another necessity: Spell out all expectations to save yourself the aggravation that comes with having to go back and explain to your hiring partner or committee what went "wrong" with a search. Start by asking partners to thoughtfully consider what they want before they ask you to begin the search for a lateral. To help you get them more attuned to actual needs, below are guidelines detailing minimum level requirements you need from partners before you make the first call to a headhunter: READ MORE >

Few areas have more potential for internal criticism and strife than determining the appropriate compensation level for lateral partners. And even large firms that recruit tremendous numbers of lateral partners can have a hard time figuring out how to attract and compensate these new owners. The difficulties in compensating lateral partners vary depending on the compensation system employed at each firm, so the tried-and-true tactics outlined below should be helpful to law firm leaders who need ideas for recruiting and compensating lateral partners: READ MORE >

In 2001, the NALP Foundation for Research and Education released its groundbreaking study, The Lateral Lawyer: Why They Leave and What May Make Them Stay with an eye on revealing: 1) the primary and secondary influences on the decisions of lawyers to change jobs including the role of practice interests, financial incentives, work/life balance priorities, work environment characteristics, and professional and career development needs; 2) the perceptions of laterally hired attorneys about how their new (current) employers are meeting their expectations for assimilation, marketing of the lawyer to clients, compensation and more; 3) The relative degree of loyalty or anticipated longevity of lateral lawyers as they report their own expectations for tenure; and 4) How law firms recruit and hire lateral lawyers, including the role of referrals, self-initiated contact, search consultants; law firm lateral hiring criteria and selectivity; and lateral hiring incentives. READ MORE >

Were most of your partners satisfied when the firm allocated remaining profits last year? READ MORE >

In many firms, lateral hiring resembles a revolving door: Lawyers come in, spend three or more years with the firm, and then depart. Indeed, when it comes to integrating laterals, most law firms do a good job of detailing the programs, policies, and paperwork needed to cover the administrative aspects associated with joining a new firm, but they fail to describe the business objectives they have for the lateral. READ MORE >

Most law firms have taken on a lateral who didn't produce as expected because something fell through the cracks during due diligence: READ MORE >

Lateral hires are on the rise, which means law firm leaders must review their due diligence practices, especially when considering prospects who seem too good to be true. There are a number of now crucial areas in which to concentrate your due diligence: READ MORE >

Marketing is now part and parcel of what it means to be successful with lateral recruitment, especially in a marketplace where the most coveted prospects want to know why they should join your law firm and not the one down the street. Consequently, it's up to you to devise ways to communicate your firm's uniqueness. In order to effectively market your firm, you must first develop a plan to: READ MORE >

When can hiring a lateral be detrimental to your law firm? All firms consider the impact the potential lateral hire will have on the firm's professional liability insurance and take the following precautions: READ MORE >

These days most law firms are constantly on the lookout for groups of laterals in key practice areas. While there's no denying that a lateral strategy can work for the bottom line, law firm leaders will attest that it has its pitfalls. READ MORE >

BCG Attorney Search’s research, interviews, and informal conversations with law firm leaders suggest that lateral hires and practice group procurements fail as often as full-scale mergers. The reasons. READ MORE >

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Has your firm been hiring new associates who seem to meet your criteria in the hope that they'll learn and improve and still be with the firm when its time to make partnership decisions? Rather than hoping, now may be the time to identify the competencies your law firm needs. Then you can teach lawyer/interviewers to uncover the desired behaviors that will create a legal workforce that can develop those competencies and is reliable, productive, and stable. READ MORE >

While the desire of your firm to land a promising lateral may be nigh overwhelming, caution is the watchword. Consider this cautionary tale before your firm rushes to retain even its most prized prospect: "Hiring is up, yet my firm seems to be riding into these unions with blinders on," one law firm leader confides, explaining her firm's lateral hiring strategy. "I'll wager that one out of two will end up being a drag on the firm's profits and morale." READ MORE >

For the World’s Largest Collection of Law Firm Interview Resources Click Here

While law firms' lateral hiring pace is likely to slow somewhat this year as many begin refocusing on first-year recruiting, most data suggest that attracting and retaining top laterals in hot practice areas will remain a priority for law firm leaders for some time to come. READ MORE >