Innovation In the Recruitment of Lawyers In a Hyper-Competitive Market

In order to understand how law firm leaders from the largest firms in the U.S. are currently navigating the competitive market for legal talent, a tech company called Thine, that develops and deploys pre-hiring and integration assessments, engaged Ari Kaplan Advisors to interviews wide variety of professionals making decisions about hiring, development, and promotion in AmLaw 100 law firms. For this research, Ari Kaplan had the chance to interview 30 chief talent officers along with directors and managers of recruiting between Sept. 3 and Nov. 24 last year. 

The results reveal the affect of the COVID-19 pandemic on entry-level and lateral hiring, the appetite for influencing technology to address the fast acceleration in on-campus interviewing and lateral recruitment, and the increased focus on innovation to fuel law firm success. 

The temporary pause in lateral recruitment in the spring of 2020, and the unprecedented change in summer associate recruiting from summer 2020 to winter of 2021, affected hiring in a meaningful way, but a rapid acceleration in the need for lateral associates increased the size of new hires significantly. 

When asked to describe their firm’s lateral hiring in 2021, one person characterized it as “The highest number in our history.” Another person said, “The market has been insane.”

Are you interested in learning more about innovation in the recruitment of lawyers in a hyper-competitive market? Read more in this law.com article.