Megan Senese authors article in Bloomberg

Lateral Partner Recruiting Must Focus on Honesty and Clear Data

Legal experts explain the state of lateral partner recruiting

• Hiring teams must build trust and manage expectations

Increasing competition for shrinking profit margins has only escalated the war for talent. Meanwhile, 44% of lateral partners cited a lack of confidence in firm management and strategy, according to a 2023 Major, Lindsey & Africa report.

The report found this lack of confidence to be the biggest reason law firm partners consider leaving their firms. Effective integration of laterals into their new firms was the best predictor of their satisfaction.

Lateral partner recruiting should begin with, and be driven by, plans that assess where the firm is right now, where it wants to go, and how lateral partner hiring is going to help deliver its goals. Hiring plans should align with the firm’s overall strategic plan—as well as plans of key practices—to ensure consensus on types of sought-after candidates to target.

A strategic framework helps stakeholders share why the firm’s culture is different, the firm’s value propositions, and its core principles. It also shares how a particular attorney or practice fits into the firmwide strategy.

Firms should be able to articulate how they allocate resources to support individual and practice growth, enhance client service, and drive revenue. Hiring committees should partner with their firms’ marketing communications and business development teams to share this messaging in a way that builds trust and manages expectations.

Next-Level Recruitment

Firms need to focus on telling compelling stories about how potential lateral partner candidates can help achieve longer-term goals—a firm’s ability to support its partners in a top “pull” factor, the report noted.

It’s important for firms to emphasize their clients, capabilities, and commitment to relevant practice areas, as well as the marketing and business development support for lateral partners. Firms also should show how they foster cross-selling and cross-pollination opportunities.

While it’s important to be enthusiastic, firms shouldn’t overpromise. They should use this early contact as an opportunity to set a tone.

Right Fit

Many firms require lateral partner candidates to complete an extensive questionnaire, or LPQ, which solicits essential information for the due diligence process. The responses tell firms what a prospective candidate hopes to bring and allows the hiring committee to vet those clients, including for potential conflicts of interest.

LPQs are an important part of the process, but they are only one diligence tool. Ultimately, hiring should be driven more by the strategy at the center of the firm’s lateral partner hiring plan rather than by a potential lateral partner’s projected book of business.

It’s important to contextualize LPQ information. Further diligence, probing questions, and verification often can help distinguish between projected potential business and projected portable business, such as clients with a high likelihood of following the lateral partner to the new firm.

Future potential business may include existing clients and whether they’ll follow the lateral partner candidate to the new firm, and prospective clients that the lateral partner candidate will continue to cultivate in hopes of bringing them aboard.

Big Picture

Recruitment processes that used to take four to six months before the Covid-19 pandemic are now taking four to six weeks.

Firms should develop a standardized, efficient recruiting process that respects candidates’ time and sensitivities inherent in meeting with a potential new firm. Many attorneys have spent their entire careers at one firm—this process may be the first time they’re entering the lateral partner market.

Firms should realize that for every lateral partner candidate hired, there often are dozens more who weren’t. Some of those who weren’t hired (or who didn’t move forward in the process of their own volition) could be future clients, prospects, referral sources, or simply a better fit for the firm later. It’s critical that they walk away with a positive impression of the firm.

To gain the best talent, firms will need to adopt a data-driven, deliberate approach to lateral partner hiring while emphasizing transparency throughout the recruiting and hiring process.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Author Information

Brian J. Carrozza is director of client development at Goulston & Storrs.

Courtney C. Hudson is business development manager at Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz.

Megan K. Senese is co-founder and principal at stage, a women-owned business development and legal marketing firm.

read the article HERE

podcast: megan senese + The Legal Burnouts

Episode 25. Pregnancy, Parenting, and Entrepreneurship With Megan Senese

Rhia Batchelder and Kate Bridal speak to Megan Senese, cofounder of Stage, a women-owned legal marketing and business development firm that offers- among many other services- a free program to support working parents before and after parental leave.

This program, called Courderoy, was partially inspired by Megan’s previous experience hiding her pregnancy from her firm for SIX MONTHS.

Though nobody told Megan she had to hide her pregnancy, there were plenty of cultural indicators that she should, and she was neither the first nor the last woman on her team to do so. A reasonable move, considering that a woman’s earning potential statistically takes a lifelong hit after she becomes pregnant with her first child.

Megan walks Kate and Rhia through her journey to entrepreneurship, the pressures of being a high-achiever while parenting (especially when schools refuse to call her husband no matter how many times she lists him first), and how escaping traditional firm settings has her feeling like a dragon unleashed.

Listen to episode 25: HERE

how we help

lawyers at all levels and titles are busy solving complex problems and

managing a myriad of demands in high-stakes environments, often leaving little time and energy to think, let alone execute on business development and marketing.

if everything feels like it's ramping up as we head to summer, it's because it is!

if you are are lawyer and you are struggling with finding the time for marketing and business development, we can help with our 1:1 offering.

if you are the head of a marketing team and your team has upcoming vacations that you need to cover, we can help with our fractional services.

if you need assistance with creating business development workshops for your summer associates, we can help with programming.

stage shines in leveraging an empathic approach coupled with Big Law experience. With a dose of humor and the human touch, we tailor each project, request, and interaction to reach your goals (no matter how big or small).

marketing workshops

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we know how to support lawyers. we know what they are facing.
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sampling of workshop titles:
Network Where You Are: Everyone Can Network
The Art and Science of Understanding the Client
Lawyer Love Hurts: Overcoming Rejection, Objections & Unresponsiveness

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fractional marketing field guide

welcome to stage's fractional marketing field guide – inspiration credit Seth Godin.

flexibility:
in a world where rigidity hinders progress, embrace the power of flexibility. while some companies insist on minimum hour commitments, we do not.

fluidity:
picture a senior team capable of swooping in and out seamlessly on any project…from keeping the trains running to orchestrating strategic growth. we all know, those trains gotta run, Chambers is a hungry animal.

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in the realm of fractional teams, innovation reigns supreme. drawing insights from varied creatives, law firms, and macro marketing industry trends, we offer a treasure trove of ideas.

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in the grand theater [could not resist] of business, we recognize that, fundamentally, we are in the service business. relationships stand as the cornerstone of our services – where every interaction is a chance to build lasting connections.

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for some, the term "brand" is a vague notion. we understand its essence. to truly brand yourself or your firm, dive deep into a niche. specialization is more than a choice; it's a strategy. specificity fuels your journey towards a well-defined brand.

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Seth said it best: “Offer the opportunity to have a discussion and invite people into a relationship. Talk about a possibility and give power back to them.”

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want to get to the heart of what your client thinks about a trend, topic, or new regulation?

to find out, we recommend an effective and often underused methodology: ASK THEM

Jennifer Ramsey’s collaboration with TreeHouse Innovation: how to have deeper conversations with your clients and win more work

Lawyers are client-centric by definition. They’re experts in their clients’ businesses and dedicated to meeting their needs.

Regardless of their industry, every client will be facing a huge array of challenges right now – from technological disruption, to sustainability, to shifting customer expectations, and more. So there are more potential ways for lawyers to help them than ever before – and new avenues for growth for law firms.

Here, Treehouse’s El Tong and Jennifer Ramsey from stage – a women-owned business development and marketing venture focused on relationships, revenue, and growth for legal services – share six tips to help lawyers have deeper conversations with their clients and identify other problems they can help them solve.

1. Go deeper with your research

Of course you’re already well-versed in your client’s business and their sector, but to take your conversation to the next level, adopt a mindset of curiosity. Go deeper with your research and try to find something meaningful about what they’re personally passionate about to talk about. What can you learn about their interests, both at work and beyond? What are they proud of?  

Curiosity doesn’t come naturally to everybody, but you can train yourself to be curious by developing a habit of preparing in this way. Gather as much insight as you need to feel comfortable having a really good, open conversation. Remember, it’s not creepy to look at someone’s LinkedIn page – it’s a compliment!

2. Have an open conversation

It’s human nature to go into a conversation thinking about what you need to get out of it. But then you lead with bias from the get-go. You frame the conversation around what you need and when that’s your focus, opportunities to expand the conversation will pass you by. This is where curiosity comes in again.

Instead of starting with questions about specific business needs or projects you’re aware of, ask broader, more open questions, such as:

What’s on your plate right now?

What’s on the horizon for you in the next few months?

What’s most important to you at the moment?

You can then build on what they say and show your genuine interest. You might say:

That’s interesting, can you tell me more about why that matters to you?

I’m interested to learn more, why do you think you’re struggling with that?

Why is this such an important issue for you at the moment?

By asking why, you give the other person permission to share more deeply. They’re more likely to tell you what else is going on, which you probably wouldn’t have known about otherwise.

When you approach conversations in this way, you naturally start to build empathy and trust, which puts you in a great position to start looking for solutions to challenges together. Rather than ‘touchpoints’ the stage team coaches its clients to think of these interactions as ‘trustpoints’, as it’s trust you’re seeking to build.

You might worry that you’re going to cross a line by asking someone these kinds of questions, but it’s all about getting the tone right. Keep it light and conversational and demonstrate genuine curiosity, and people will feel safe to share.

3. Silence is a powerful tool

It’s very tempting when you ask somebody ‘Why’ to feel the need to suggest possible answers yourself. But try to hold back. If you jump in and say ‘Is this happening because XYZ’ you will immediately steer the conversation in a certain direction, and you will miss the chance to hear their gut response and may miss opportunities.

There may be silence while they think about their answer, but that’s OK. Hold your nerve and see what comes. People are generally quite forthcoming, and especially when they can tell that you genuinely care.

Active listening is a companion of curiosity – they go hand in hand. It’s not an exact science but aim to speak around 10% of the time in a discovery conversation, as your main job is to listen and create a great conversation experience.

4. Co-create the solution together

Now that you’ve developed a shared understanding of the challenge they’re facing, you can naturally start exploring what a good solution could look like.

It’s not about putting all your offers and services on the table, but instead discussing what might help. If you have ideas for solutions, put them out there in a general way, without inserting yourself into it – for example:

I wonder how it would feel if you could plan out your caseload for the next year?

I wonder if it would be useful if you had an easy way to understand how that regulation change will affect you – what do you think?

So you’re suggesting a solution that might help, but you’re not presenting it as a deal you have to sell. This allows you to test the water and see if this is something they’re actually looking for, and to build towards an answer. Continue to hold the curious approach you’ve taken so far, and explore together what they might need.

Remember that you don’t need to work it all out in one conversation. If you’ve built a genuine rapport, you will undoubtedly be invited back to chat again, and then you can put forward how you can help.

A great quote to keep in mind is from Maya Angelou –

5. Follow up

Never underestimate the power of a thank you note! Whether it’s handwritten or an email, a thank you note is always worth sending. It’s a great opportunity to summarize the main points you discussed, and confirm any actions you took away and when you will come back to them.

Quick follow-up is another ‘trustpoint’ and a great way to keep that door open for future discussions.

6. Remain curious

We give a lot of thought to the questions we ask at the beginning of a relationship, but we need to maintain that approach throughout because situations change.

Even when you think you’ve agreed on a solution for a client, keep talking to them as you develop it. Keep checking in and get their reaction to what you’re building. Ask them: How does it make you feel? Can you give me your gut reaction to it? 

Too often people will put loads of time and energy into perfecting a solution, only to show it to a client and discover it’s not what they were expecting. Stay curious, keep asking questions, and you’ll land on a solution that gives you a happy client – and happy partners too.

read here

6 business development tips to show gratitude this season

1. Call them. Old school style and ask them how they are connect on a personal level. 
2. Gift them. Send them a token of appreciation.
3. Invite them. To a webinar, an event, or better yet, a 1:1 coffee, lunch, or dinner.
4. Offer them….insights on the legal landscape and how it will affect business and challenges.
5. Give them something free (that they actually want).
6. Thank them.