Employers

Even before the pandemic, Davis Wright Tremaine partners were considering long-term structural changes at the firm. But the fallout from COVID-19 accelerated that schedule, according to Pete Johnson, the partner-in-charge of the firm’s Seattle office.

With the impact of COVID-19 and the transition to remote working for many industries, how is recruiting for your clients different? What remains the same?

There’s no question that COVID-19 changed the world and your interviewing strategy should reflect this new reality. Prospective employers can learn much about the candidates under consideration by exploring how they handled the resultant business shutdown. Digging deeper into lateral prospects’ work experience during the pandemic and their reactions to the transition from office to remote working (and, at some point, back again) can be quite informative.

Since March, Seyfarth Shaw labor and employment partner Brett Bartlett has been quarantined in his Atlanta home with his wife, children and pets. 

“Stay home and stay healthy” and “we’re all in this together” have become common mantras during this trying time. The COVID-19 crisis has shown us that we are sharing common experiences, but individual circumstances within that broader common experience vary greatly. 

During a recent meeting between large law firm leaders, a question was posed: “What percentage of your lateral partner hires are successful or achieve their performance commitments within two years of being hired?” The consensus? Less than 20%.

Didn’t get the bonus you were hoping for? Reached a dead end. Unhappy with your overall compensation, workload, colleagues? Time to take a deep breath and thoughtfully consider your career options.

Emails are becoming a thing of the past as more clients ditch email for chat and text tools. Lawyers and their firms are being forced to navigate risks of using short responses instead of paragraphs. This leaves firms wondering, can we keep up with the times?

Companies are starting to use AI as a way to speed up the interview process and to weed through a long list of candidates. In August, the state of Illinois pushed forward and passed the first U.S. law that regulates the use of AI to analyze video interviews with job applicants.
This type of AI is used to help analyze qualities like body language or facial expression and this programming could set the tone for similar laws to be created.
While some find this to be a great new way to conduct a rigorous process, others fear this could have broader legal implications outside of what’s likely to be a patchwork of similar state laws. Some businesses and their legal representatives are hesitant to embrace this technology.
Are you interested in learning more about AI job interviews and why companies might be resistant toward using this type of technology? Learn more in this law.com article!

Law offices across the nation are struggling to appeal to associates and get them to make lateral moves to their firms. There is one city though who is trying a different approach: Atlanta. This city’s large firms are using bonuses and a viable partnership path to lure in-demand associates.
Last year’s national wave of associate pay raises further enlarged the compensation gap in law firms in Atlanta, which took a toll on boutiques and regional firms to obtain and retain associates because they are unable to compete salary wise.
However, some AM Law 100 and 200 firms that pay below the top associate pay scale in Atlanta are wooing top midlevel and senior associated by offering these higher bonuses and chances to actually make partner, and they are successful.
Do you think this strategy is something your firm would be interested in to attract new associates? Learn more in this law.com article.
Author:
Victoria Ostrander
Assistant Editor
The American Lawyer | National Law Journal | Corporate Counsel
Email: [email protected]
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