Bringing Lateral Attorneys on Board: A Blueprint for Success

Part Two of a Two-Part Article

Part One of this article discussed the importance of personal ownership of the lateral integration process and the importance of a formal business plan for lateral moves. This second installment addresses the more specific elements of the business plan and other 'how's' and 'how not's' in the lateral integration process.

There are two fundamentals to successfully bringing a lateral on board. One, someone of authority in the firm must own and drive the process and be compensated for it. Two, the firm and the lateral should jointly build a business plan to accomplish the integration of the lateral. This plan should include a detailed marketing and business development plan and should deal with the specific elements discussed below.

Focus on Clients

Of course, the firm and the lateral will have dealt with conflicts early on. This item focuses on new business development with respect to the lateral's clients and the firm's existing clients relevant to the practice of the lateral. Prompt introductions should be made all around. This should be done personally rather than through a bulk mailing of announcements, or via e-mail, and, unless clearly not warranted, face-to-face introductions should be arranged. The lateral's clients should receive personalized introductions to the firm and relevant professionals, and the relevant firm clients should receive the same regarding the lateral and his practice.

There may be some internal resistance to introducing existing clients to the new practice or new professional. However, if the business plan does not include such personal introductions and 'cross-selling,' a commitment to cross-marketing, the message is: We are here to exploit you, not to make you a member of the team. A comprehensive personal introduction program sends a clear message to the lateral and to clients that he is a part of the firm and more than a source of new clients or a hired gun. The MLA Survey found that 'often the most unhappy laterals were those whose firms failed to make them true partners with a stake in the enterprise other than a purely financial one.'

Firm Awareness and the Lateral

The reason this list is not in order of importance is that all elements are critical. This one especially so. The awareness portion of the program works best when the lateral is still new, still energetic, and fired up to prove himself. The firm should feel the same way about proving itself to the lateral and validating the sound decision he made to join the firm.

Internal communication should include Meetings A and B, described below, and it is best to do these as separate meetings to avoid too much information and too lengthy meetings. This is the time to focus:

Meeting A ' Firm awareness of who the lateral is. Arrange meetings with practice groups or sub-groups so that the lateral can make a detailed introduction of himself and his practice and clients. According to Major, Lindsey & Africa's Elizabeth Purcell (see Part One of this article), as with clients, these meetings should be face-to-face even if the firm has different offices in different cities. Teleconferencing can be used, but personal contact is clearly the best. Use appropriate handout materials including the lateral's resume and a narrative career and practice summary. The lateral's business plan can be briefed at the meeting. Throw modesty out the window.

Meeting B ' The lateral's awareness of the firm. Use a series of separate meetings between the lateral and all firm practice groups, or at least the leadership and business development motivated members of those groups, to give the lateral a detailed awareness of what each practice group is doing, who its clients are, what its practice is, what work it is promoting, and of possible fits with the lateral (of whom the practice group should already be fully aware via Meeting A). This should lead to brainstorming on cross-marketing opportunities.

Meetings A and B should be followed promptly by one-on-one meetings between the lateral and those attorneys who are identified as potential good fits with the lateral, either for development of the lateral's practice and his clients or the other way around. Develop a system to account for, report on, and reward opportunities that arise from these meetings. Amend the lateral's business plan by adding newly identified opportunities so the firm can monitor and help accomplish follow through.

One lateral providing input for this article noted with chagrin that he had been with the new firm almost nine months when, at his first firm retreat, there was such a firm-wide practice group briefing. He said he was stunned by the information available and still regrets the missed opportunities because he did not know this stuff when he came in the door.

Firm leadership should help facilitate all such discussions to get around any inclinations toward modesty or the 'I don't want to brag' tendency, which, on reflection, might not be much of a problem for most lawyers.

Periodic Firm-wide Cross-Marketing Briefings

Assuming the firm will have laterals entering the firm at intervals, use the now very important and firm-management-supported lateral integration plan as a bridge to hold practice group briefings for all attorneys on a regular basis. You can feature one to three practice groups per month to accomplish the purposes discussed above, which of course benefits not just laterals but everyone.

Make sure open discussion is a part of all meetings. The sessions have to be more than just a lecture followed by a 'thank you very much for coming' as lawyers drift out of the room. Note attendance and non-attendance; note who interacts with whom. Then, in smaller settings, force together those who have not interacted in the recent past to see if there is chemistry there after all. Again, track the follow through, report on and reward the results.

This brings up another sidebar discussion of general application. It is evident in most if not all firms that there are some attorneys highly motivated to engage in new business development, and some who are not and cannot be forced to do so, even at gunpoint. Do not force them on the lateral. Unless you need a lateral with very unique talents, do not force such a lateral on your firm. Deal with those who will not market or cooperate as you wish. But do not waste a new lateral's time and energies on cross-marketing with complacent, uncooperative, or unresponsive attorneys.

Technical and Human Support; Administrative Matters

Less intense for the firm, but not to be dealt with lightly, implement a structured, extensive, and on-going technological integration for the new lateral, making the lateral aware of the firm's full array of resources. Do not simply leave this to his assistant.

As to human support, make sure the lateral has full access to high-quality associate and staff support at the very beginning, before the lateral has had a chance to learn the firm's politics of associate assignments and the like. One lateral said he included in his list of demands assignment to a highly competent veteran administrative assistant not already overburdened by other demanding lawyers. He got it, but that same lawyer said that he failed to so specify regarding associates, and it soon became apparent he was being assigned the most junior and untrained associates to work on his clients' various needs. This is perhaps indicative of another issue to address.

Take a critical look at whether other attorneys' self-interests, especially under the firm's compensation system, discourage cooperation with integrating laterals. If the compensation system recognizes and rewards only self-serving effort ' billable hours and new business origination ' why would other attorneys help the lateral or give up veteran associate support to the lateral? This would be a firm of silos. You will eventually have a discouraged lateral. If your culture does not foster sharing the real compensation credit for cross-marketing and team origination of new work, if the attitude is (as one lateral said of a few attorneys in his new firm), 'if I don't share the origination credit, I don't do the work,' you have bigger problems but also a potential lateral satisfaction problem.

Take care with the lateral's office placement and choose an office in the midst of active, dynamic attorneys, perhaps near another synergetic practice group or near attorneys who will be good ambassadors for the firm's values. One lateral said his new office was chosen by his firm on the edge of his own group and another, with two motivated business development partners on either side, each from different but complimentary practice groups. The dynamics energized him, he said. Make sure others seek out the new lateral for lunches or casual meet-and-greets. These events should extend for months until the lateral has established his own internal network. Make sure the lateral gets a decent parking space rather than that one no one wanted under the dripping pipe in the far reaches of Siberia.

Place laterals on meaningful firm committees or management positions. One lateral interviewed mentioned his disappointment in not being put on a firm committee until he asked. He said committee membership would have done a lot to make him feel like a true member of the team a lot sooner.

Leave the lateral out of firm politics. This of course requires that you have partners who exercise good judgment. It will be hard to police this one. Perhaps it should be made clear to all attorneys that the lateral is an expensive investment and thus is not a good recruit for any side of political factions. One lateral related that in 'touring' the firm's practice groups, one group's leadership was not shy in giving their negative critique of the lateral's new practice group.

Conclusion

This blueprint for success was gleaned from a number of sources. It is validated by the results of the MLA Survey, which found that 'Lateral partners view their law firms' ability to support and expand their practice the single most critical factor in shaping their choice of a new firm.' Elsewhere, the MLA Survey said, of both the 1996 and 2006 surveys, ' ' firms whose lateral partners had the greatest satisfaction were those seen as most effective at integrating them into the partnership.'

According to Purcell, 'Once the decision has been made to bring the lateral on board, integration should be at the forefront of everyone's consciousness.'

There is one last thing. Actually tell the laterals the firm has a well-defined and managed lateral integration plan. Tell them in writing what to expect. There is nothing like a commitment to help motivate actual implementation.

Bruce Jackson, a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is a partner in the Atlanta law firm of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, where he is a member of the Corporate Practice Group and the firm's Benefits and Lateral Hiring committees. He can be reached at 404-873-8590 or at [email protected].

Part Two of a Two-Part Article

Part One of this article discussed the importance of personal ownership of the lateral integration process and the importance of a formal business plan for lateral moves. This second installment addresses the more specific elements of the business plan and other 'how's' and 'how not's' in the lateral integration process.

There are two fundamentals to successfully bringing a lateral on board. One, someone of authority in the firm must own and drive the process and be compensated for it. Two, the firm and the lateral should jointly build a business plan to accomplish the integration of the lateral. This plan should include a detailed marketing and business development plan and should deal with the specific elements discussed below.

Focus on Clients

Of course, the firm and the lateral will have dealt with conflicts early on. This item focuses on new business development with respect to the lateral's clients and the firm's existing clients relevant to the practice of the lateral. Prompt introductions should be made all around. This should be done personally rather than through a bulk mailing of announcements, or via e-mail, and, unless clearly not warranted, face-to-face introductions should be arranged. The lateral's clients should receive personalized introductions to the firm and relevant professionals, and the relevant firm clients should receive the same regarding the lateral and his practice.

There may be some internal resistance to introducing existing clients to the new practice or new professional. However, if the business plan does not include such personal introductions and 'cross-selling,' a commitment to cross-marketing, the message is: We are here to exploit you, not to make you a member of the team. A comprehensive personal introduction program sends a clear message to the lateral and to clients that he is a part of the firm and more than a source of new clients or a hired gun. The MLA Survey found that 'often the most unhappy laterals were those whose firms failed to make them true partners with a stake in the enterprise other than a purely financial one.'

Firm Awareness and the Lateral

The reason this list is not in order of importance is that all elements are critical. This one especially so. The awareness portion of the program works best when the lateral is still new, still energetic, and fired up to prove himself. The firm should feel the same way about proving itself to the lateral and validating the sound decision he made to join the firm.

Internal communication should include Meetings A and B, described below, and it is best to do these as separate meetings to avoid too much information and too lengthy meetings. This is the time to focus:

Meeting A ' Firm awareness of who the lateral is. Arrange meetings with practice groups or sub-groups so that the lateral can make a detailed introduction of himself and his practice and clients. According to Major, Lindsey & Africa's Elizabeth Purcell (see Part One of this article), as with clients, these meetings should be face-to-face even if the firm has different offices in different cities. Teleconferencing can be used, but personal contact is clearly the best. Use appropriate handout materials including the lateral's resume and a narrative career and practice summary. The lateral's business plan can be briefed at the meeting. Throw modesty out the window.

Meeting B ' The lateral's awareness of the firm. Use a series of separate meetings between the lateral and all firm practice groups, or at least the leadership and business development motivated members of those groups, to give the lateral a detailed awareness of what each practice group is doing, who its clients are, what its practice is, what work it is promoting, and of possible fits with the lateral (of whom the practice group should already be fully aware via Meeting A). This should lead to brainstorming on cross-marketing opportunities.

Meetings A and B should be followed promptly by one-on-one meetings between the lateral and those attorneys who are identified as potential good fits with the lateral, either for development of the lateral's practice and his clients or the other way around. Develop a system to account for, report on, and reward opportunities that arise from these meetings. Amend the lateral's business plan by adding newly identified opportunities so the firm can monitor and help accomplish follow through.

One lateral providing input for this article noted with chagrin that he had been with the new firm almost nine months when, at his first firm retreat, there was such a firm-wide practice group briefing. He said he was stunned by the information available and still regrets the missed opportunities because he did not know this stuff when he came in the door.

Firm leadership should help facilitate all such discussions to get around any inclinations toward modesty or the 'I don't want to brag' tendency, which, on reflection, might not be much of a problem for most lawyers.

Periodic Firm-wide Cross-Marketing Briefings

Assuming the firm will have laterals entering the firm at intervals, use the now very important and firm-management-supported lateral integration plan as a bridge to hold practice group briefings for all attorneys on a regular basis. You can feature one to three practice groups per month to accomplish the purposes discussed above, which of course benefits not just laterals but everyone.

Make sure open discussion is a part of all meetings. The sessions have to be more than just a lecture followed by a 'thank you very much for coming' as lawyers drift out of the room. Note attendance and non-attendance; note who interacts with whom. Then, in smaller settings, force together those who have not interacted in the recent past to see if there is chemistry there after all. Again, track the follow through, report on and reward the results.

This brings up another sidebar discussion of general application. It is evident in most if not all firms that there are some attorneys highly motivated to engage in new business development, and some who are not and cannot be forced to do so, even at gunpoint. Do not force them on the lateral. Unless you need a lateral with very unique talents, do not force such a lateral on your firm. Deal with those who will not market or cooperate as you wish. But do not waste a new lateral's time and energies on cross-marketing with complacent, uncooperative, or unresponsive attorneys.

Technical and Human Support; Administrative Matters

Less intense for the firm, but not to be dealt with lightly, implement a structured, extensive, and on-going technological integration for the new lateral, making the lateral aware of the firm's full array of resources. Do not simply leave this to his assistant.

As to human support, make sure the lateral has full access to high-quality associate and staff support at the very beginning, before the lateral has had a chance to learn the firm's politics of associate assignments and the like. One lateral said he included in his list of demands assignment to a highly competent veteran administrative assistant not already overburdened by other demanding lawyers. He got it, but that same lawyer said that he failed to so specify regarding associates, and it soon became apparent he was being assigned the most junior and untrained associates to work on his clients' various needs. This is perhaps indicative of another issue to address.

Take a critical look at whether other attorneys' self-interests, especially under the firm's compensation system, discourage cooperation with integrating laterals. If the compensation system recognizes and rewards only self-serving effort ' billable hours and new business origination ' why would other attorneys help the lateral or give up veteran associate support to the lateral? This would be a firm of silos. You will eventually have a discouraged lateral. If your culture does not foster sharing the real compensation credit for cross-marketing and team origination of new work, if the attitude is (as one lateral said of a few attorneys in his new firm), 'if I don't share the origination credit, I don't do the work,' you have bigger problems but also a potential lateral satisfaction problem.

Take care with the lateral's office placement and choose an office in the midst of active, dynamic attorneys, perhaps near another synergetic practice group or near attorneys who will be good ambassadors for the firm's values. One lateral said his new office was chosen by his firm on the edge of his own group and another, with two motivated business development partners on either side, each from different but complimentary practice groups. The dynamics energized him, he said. Make sure others seek out the new lateral for lunches or casual meet-and-greets. These events should extend for months until the lateral has established his own internal network. Make sure the lateral gets a decent parking space rather than that one no one wanted under the dripping pipe in the far reaches of Siberia.

Place laterals on meaningful firm committees or management positions. One lateral interviewed mentioned his disappointment in not being put on a firm committee until he asked. He said committee membership would have done a lot to make him feel like a true member of the team a lot sooner.

Leave the lateral out of firm politics. This of course requires that you have partners who exercise good judgment. It will be hard to police this one. Perhaps it should be made clear to all attorneys that the lateral is an expensive investment and thus is not a good recruit for any side of political factions. One lateral related that in 'touring' the firm's practice groups, one group's leadership was not shy in giving their negative critique of the lateral's new practice group.

Conclusion

This blueprint for success was gleaned from a number of sources. It is validated by the results of the MLA Survey, which found that 'Lateral partners view their law firms' ability to support and expand their practice the single most critical factor in shaping their choice of a new firm.' Elsewhere, the MLA Survey said, of both the 1996 and 2006 surveys, ' ' firms whose lateral partners had the greatest satisfaction were those seen as most effective at integrating them into the partnership.'

According to Purcell, 'Once the decision has been made to bring the lateral on board, integration should be at the forefront of everyone's consciousness.'

There is one last thing. Actually tell the laterals the firm has a well-defined and managed lateral integration plan. Tell them in writing what to expect. There is nothing like a commitment to help motivate actual implementation.

Bruce Jackson, a member of this newsletter's Board of Editors, is a partner in the Atlanta law firm of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, where he is a member of the Corporate Practice Group and the firm's Benefits and Lateral Hiring committees. He can be reached at 404-873-8590 or at [email protected].