Attracting and retaining talent is the No. 1 issue for practice group leaders, according to a Withum survey of law firm leaders. And sadly, in the same survey, just 36 percent of respondents described their practice group leaders as “mostly successful.”
The good news: There are some straightforward steps that practice group leaders can take to address the talent challenge – and in doing so, elevate not only their group’s performance, but their perception among the firm’s top brass.
What should practice group leaders do now to ensure a successful 2025?
Learn from 2024. While every team (and every firm) is different, the average turnover for AmLaw 200 firms is 26.3 percent. How does your group compare, and why? Review the list of lawyers who both arrived and departed, and analyze whether turnover worked for or against you in 2024. Paying careful attention to your departures – and identifying the reasons behind them – can serve as an important culture check and shine a light on any toxic partners, untenable client situations, and more.
Draft (or update) your formal talent strategy. Identify exactly the types of laterals your practice group wants to pursue, then formalize it in a written plan shared with all of the stakeholders in the lateral recruitment process, from referring partners to the Talent staff. This will keep everyone focused on the hires that complement your existing roster and advance the firm’s strategic plan. Consider:
- Geography: What markets do you want to enter or grow? Make sure to review regional data for a true understanding of the market; advanced analysis of lateral moves data can provide essential insights into client portability rates, compensation benchmarks and more. (For example, partners in Boston have a 36 percent higher portability rate than partners in Washington DC.)
- Practice and Experience Needs: What facets of your practice are missing expertise? What facets of your practice are missing junior lawyers for leverage and execution?
Again, rely on the data to ensure you are budgeting appropriately. In 2024, trust and estates, antitrust, and banking and finance laterals were among the most actively recruited partners; law firms were likely to pay more for this talent than lawyers in less active practices. Refer to data to see who has the hot hand in compensation negotiations.
- Target Clients: Have you struggled to land a new marquee client? RFPs are uncertain, and organic brand-building can take years – but lateral partners bring 35 to 57 percent of their claimed book of business. The most direct route to bring on a specific client is often to recruit the lawyers doing their work.
Make your own seat at the table. If you are not currently an active participant in the recruiting process, lobby to change that. This is critical to making your talent strategy a reality – and to limiting the “random acts of hiring” that contribute to high lateral failure rates (approximately 55 percent in 2024). Beyond the talent strategy, high-performing law firms include practice group leaders in lateral interviews, screening and more.
Provide direction to your search firms. Work with your firm’s Talent team to share your wish list with preferred recruiters who source your lateral partner candidates. When you work directly with search firms, refer to our 10 Game-Changing Questions to keep your interactions productive and purposeful.
Double-check your data sources. You need quantitative and qualitative intelligence to inform your talent decisions, but you must make sure it’s accurate and reliable. Unrefined lateral moves data can be inconsistent, inaccurate or incomplete – leading well-meaning law firms to target the wrong candidates or misread the market. (Trying a do-it-yourself data program or relying on the Library staff? Be very, very careful.)
For your group’s candidates, commit to a thorough review of the LPQ. The Lateral Partner Questionnaire should be the first line of defense for screening lateral partner candidates, but too many firms operate with either basic forms that do not collect adequate detail or lackluster participation from candidates (or both). Insist that all of your practice group’s candidates fill it out completely; roughly 30 percent of LPQs reviewed by Decipher are incomplete. This slows the due diligence process – and makes the firm vulnerable to bad surprises.
Pursue Q1 candidates with caution. On the subject of due diligence, remember that off-cycle laterals – those who are screened in Q1 and Q4 – are considerably more likely to carry major red flags, issues that often result in total disqualification from hiring consideration. For example, these candidates have a 48 percent higher incidence of business development or client relationship issues, and a 35 percent higher incidence of personality or cultural fit issues. Let the reactionary months of Q1 pass, and you are likely to find more steady, strategic candidates in Q2 and Q3.
Smart practice group growth in 2025 can be a resolution, or it can be a reality. It takes actions like the above, to be sure – but it also takes data and strategy tailored to your practice group’s specific context.
