Tag Archives: hiring

Law School News: Columbia Law Boasts Highest Hiring Rates

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The results are in from the Law.com Go-To Law Schools list for 2018, and Columbia Law School ranked #1 for the 5th year running based on their strong performance of 2017 JD graduates who took associate jobs at the nations’ largest 100 firms. An impressive 68% of their 432 2017 graduates ended up at NLJ 100 law firms.

There are many factors that go into selecting a law school, but this research gets right to the point of what many prospective students really want to know – how will their degree ultimately lead to a job in the legal field.

So how do they do it?  Here are just a few factors that work in Columbia’s favor:

Location, location, location – Columbia happens to be in one of the biggest legal markets in the U.S., so students are better located to attend recruiting events, network, and join summer associate programs in their own backyard.  This correlation can also be seen in the 2nd and 3rd ranked law schools, University of Chicago and NYU.

Alumni – the Columbia alumni network is active and very involved in the recruiting process.  Having these connections in leadership positions at the largest law firms helps even more – last year 27 Columbia Law School alumni were promoted to law firm partnerships according to the report.

Reputation – quoted in an article on Law.com, Columbia Law School dean Gillian Lester said ‘the firms’ hiring teams know that our students will arrive with superb legal and leadership skills, ready to take on the most challenging assignments’.

Columbia is not alone in their success this year.  Here’s who else ranked highest in the 2018 Go-To Law Schools Report, and how these compare to the U.S. News & World Report:

1. Columbia Law School (ranked 5 by U.S. News)

2. University of Chicago Law School (ranked 4 by U.S. News)

3. NYU School of Law (ranked 6 by U.S. News)

4.University of Virginia, School of Law (ranked 8 by U.S. News)

5. University of Pennsylvania, School of Law (ranked 7 by U.S. News)

6. Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (ranked 10 by U.S. News)

7. Duke Law School (ranked 10 by U.S. News)

8. Harvard Law School (ranked 3 by U.S. News)

9. Cornell Law School (ranked 13 by U.S. News)

10. University of California, Berkeley School of Law (ranked 12 by U.S. News)

 

 

 

How to Optimize Law Firm Onboarding

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Hiring new employees is an expensive and time-consuming task, so it is important to make sure they start on the right foot. In the legal field, proper onboarding and training is vital to ensuring that fewer mistakes are made, and that your new hires will be valuable to you for years to come. Optimization of training and welcoming of new employees can go a very long way toward helping those employees get settled into their new roles.

Training Comes First in Onboarding Legal Talent

No matter how much legal experience or education someone has, every law firm they work for will have different procedures. The laws they work with will be the same, but there are nuances to be addressed. Consider specific training for:

– The procedures for handling files
– Requirements when working with clients
– The best way of providing information to paralegals
– How to optimize scheduling
– Any specifics related to safeguarding client information
– How technology is factored into the daily work
– Who to talk to if stress becomes a problem

If training is not optimized and the legal recruiting process is not taken seriously, it can be difficult for any attorney to get a foothold at a new firm and perform well.

Make Sure New Employees Feel Welcome

Another way to optimize the legal onboarding process is to ensure that a new law firm employee feels welcome, as that can help reduce stress levels. When people do not feel like they are allowed to become a part of their workplace, they can withdraw and avoid asking questions or learning new things. Onboarding is more than just giving a set of instructions, it is also about welcoming new employees to the firm’s culture.

Listen to What Your Employees Need

Ask your current employees for feedback on their onboarding experience. Listening to what they thought was done well, along with what they felt they had to learn on their own, can go a very long way toward the onboarding process. Collecting this information helps law firms realize:

  • Where they might be falling short when they onboard employees
  • What changes need to be made to the legal recruiting and onboarding processes
  • How they can improve their firm’s training

While not all attorneys will need as much onboarding help as others, it is very important to provide more, not less, for optimal value for the attorneys and the firm as a whole.