The Great Recession sparked radical changes in the legal marketplace, including drastically reduced entry-level and junior associate hiring and the rise of core competency systems for their evaluation, compensation, and advancement. As part of this trend, there is a movement to reevaluate traditional criteria for hiring lawyers at all levels of seniority and possibly to…
It’s not when you graduated, but what you know. Most law firms, unlike other businesses, categorize associates by JD graduation year rather than level of expertise for purposes of hiring, compensation and promotion. Until recently, the lockstep model made some sense, assuming that associates who enter law practice at the same time gain like experience…
In this very competitive legal marketplace where law firms increasingly are run like businesses, lawyers need to have a plan. When experienced attorneys wish to find new employment opportunities in private practice, one of the first things a prospective employer inquires about is that attorney’s client base. How much business will move with that lawyer?…
Gone are the days when it is assumed that an attorney will join a law firm out of school, work as an associate for a given number of years, make partner, and retire from that same firm many years later. While it has become the norm to make some moves during the course of a…
