Meetings of minds

By Andrew Roberts, managing director, SSG Legal

When you decide to make a lateral hire, you have done the easy bit. Appointing the headhunter in the expectation of selecting from the cream of the crop is the fun bit. The disappointing bit comes when your poorly-managed process leads to failure.

So why is process so important? It’s simple. Law firms tend to overlook the basic fact the asset they are hoping to acquire is a human being with feelings, aspirations and, most importantly, choices. The concept of dealing with the person, rather than the lawyer, is so basic that it is often overlooked. It isn’t like buying a new photocopier. The target needs to feel valued and respected, and the easiest way to generate these emotions is to manage the process professionally and with momentum. Getting bogged down debating details, arranging interminable meetings with different partners on the one hand, and then cancelling meetings on the other, will lead any target worth attracting to lose interest rapidly.

The solution is straightforward: give yourself an advantage and implement a firm-wide hiring process that all partners understand and sign up to. For senior level appointments we advocate a tightly-managed four-stage process, covering six to eight weeks, as follows:

The first meeting should be a one-to-one discussion between the target and the relevant sponsoring partner. Managing partners and HR should not be involved at this point, because the aim is to allow the individuals to connect on a personal level. As the discussion progresses, details will obviously emerge relating to practice fit, financial fit and willingness, but the only result that really matters is for both parties to decide whether or not they can work together.

Presuming there is a desire to continue, the second meeting should be arranged quickly, and held within two weeks, to develop momentum. The sponsoring partner should attend, along with other interested and relevant partners to develop buy-in. After this meeting, both sides should have a pretty clear idea whether hiring/moving is in their interests.

Only at this stage should the words ‘business plan’ be uttered. All too often firms ask for a business plan after the initial meeting, but putting together a plan after just 60 minutes of conversation is a waste of time for any potential lateral hire. Business plans are a two-way document, and the target only holds half the cards. Asking for one too early gives a negative impression, as it highlights two issues: first, that the interviewing partner hasn’t thoroughly thought through the rationale for the hire, and second, that all they are really interested in is the potential book of business. After the second meeting, however, the potential lateral will have met more people and have a much better understanding of the firm.

We suggest clients use a standard and concise format – a maximum of five pages. As an aside, the number of firms that have different departments using different formats, and thus lose the ability to draw direct comparisons between laterals across different practice areas, is quite astounding.
The plan should take about a week to write, and once submitted the third meeting needs to be arranged promptly to continue the momentum. If this doesn’t happen, the target may worry their plan was not of interest, or worse – is sitting in an in-tray unread!

Again, the third meeting should be a one-to-one with the sponsoring partner, and should be used to construct the business case by combining the target’s business plan with the department’s own plan. If all looks good, a fourth and final meeting should be arranged with the head of department and the managing partner. The business case will have been proved by this stage.

Any offer needs to follow quickly. Discussions relating to remuneration and status need to be left out of these face-to-face meetings. Such discussions should always be held via the recruiter, whose role is to act as advisor to both parties and manage expectations, ensuring there are no unpleasant surprises once the offer has actually been made.

To attract a lateral hire, they need to feel good about your firm on a human level, and the best way to engender this emotion is to manage the process properly. This is simple to do but easy to forget – and in the legal market bad impressions travel very fast.

Andrew Roberts is managing director of SSG Legal. He can be contacted at Andrew.Roberts@ssglegal.com