From Six Months to Six Weeks: Lateral Hiring Is Speeding Up

In the time before the COVID-19 pandemic, law firm partners that were looking to make a lateral move, particularly to a firm with a national presence, can expect to spend substantial time in the air. However, that is currently no longer the case. And cutting out that travel is serving to compress the timeline for bringing new lawyers on board.

A few recruiters and firm leaders expect that a growing comfort with virtual meetings will result in a permanent shift in how law firm hiring is done, even when the time comes that travel is no longer feared.

That means a process that once took at least six months could well become significantly shorter, sometimes as short as six weeks, said San Francisco-based recruiter Avis Caravello. And these benefits can extend after the hiring process is over.

“Where time is imperative, you’re going to resort to virtual. Where someone has more time, and you want to be able to weigh body language and other considerations, then you’ll resort to the traditional way of doing things,” David Braswell said. “I don’t think we’ll be going back to the old way of always having somebody come in.”

Are you interested in learning more about how the hiring sector is rapidly changing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? Read 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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