Opinion: Thought leader

By Caroline Kendal, consultant, Jane Ridley Consulting Ltd

It is a startling fact, but recent compelling and reliable research reveals that lateral hires in professional-services firms can take up to five years to reach the level they attained at their previous practice. Five years, that is, to produce the benefits that prompted, and were hoped for, at the time of the hire!

Lateral hires may bring new talents, more clients and additional work. But in order to perform, they must also engender a level of respect and trust from their colleagues – and that clearly requires significant time to grow.

Until a lateral hire understands and accepts exactly how things are done in the new organisation, he or she won’t service the clients and the firm optimally. The client might remain loyal for the time being, but it won’t have received the best possible service, and although service can’t always be brilliant, it must be at the highest level an organisation can possibly offer.

In addition to expertise, lateral hires are generally expected to bring some clients with them. Reputable new clients are an enticing factor, but they can also raise complex conflict issues for the recruiting firm. Confidentiality obligations limit the amount of detail a potential hire can reveal, while under the Law Society’s new conflict and confidentiality rules, a firm cannot take on work adverse to a client or former client – where anyone in the firm holds confidential information from the client or former client that would be material to the new work – without consent. Although common law means the firm can theoretically act without consent where there is a very effective information barrier, this is not possible under the new rules.

Without successful integration, moreover, lateral hires risk moving on, or at best becoming ‘lone stars’. Although individual talents must be encouraged, team players are a significantly better risk proposition.

Much of the current integration process revolves around politics and personalities. A senior lateral hire will be hard pushed to form the same bonds as a long-standing partner with an entire working life at the firm. Provided it is wholly understood and followed, however, a risk-management framework can minimise politics and provide a platform to joining the practice.

A law firm that goes to the trouble of recruiting a particular partner will want to do its best to make the union a success. Employees are more likely to thrive if they function within a clear framework – ideally with risk management at its core. If this is embedded in a firm’s culture and strategy – and considered in every aspect of its operations – a new lateral hire will readily understand what is expected and will have the necessary support to maximise their contribution to the firm.

Caroline Kendal is a consultant with Jane Ridley Consulting Ltd. She can be contacted at carolinek@janeridleyconsulting.co.uk