Example Of The Interview Protocol INTERCONNECTIONS WITH OTHER LAWYERS
Interview Protocol Opening: Our team would like to hear about your legal career since law school. If you have other relevant professional experience prior to law school, we want to hear about that as well.
F
D
C
B
A
0
1
2
3
4
The candidate claims the ability to port a large book of business but contemplates departing the firm without any of the other partners or senior counsel who support the practice or share the core clients.
Explains interrelationships with other lawyers at the firm; realistically assesses probability that others would move with lawyer.
DEVELOPMENT OF OTHERS
Part I. Career Chronology Please tell us about your first job out of law school. Who did you work for and what type of work did you do? Who was the client base? How did your responsibilities change over time? What accomplishments were you most proud of? What were some low points? Can you tell us about the team of people you tended to work with – for example, division of roles; communication; work styles?
D
C
B
A
1
2
3
4
Candidate has no demonstrated history of advancing the practice development (including business development) of fellow partners, nor of advancing associate colleagues to partner or promotion within their organization.
Candidate specifically shows a pattern of assisting fellow partners in developing their own practice, as well as a pattern of advancing associate colleagues to partnership or promotion within their organization.
FUTURE STRATEGIC PRACTICE EXPANSION
[Repeat through each legal employer, including current] To what extent has your pre-law education or work experience been relevant to your career development?
F
0
F
D
C
B
A
0
1
2
3
4
Looking to leave a firm when candidate’s current firm is growing by size, reach and financial metrics -- can be an indication that the candidate’s own performance is going in a different direction.
Current firm is slow growing or not a market leader; alternatively, current firm lacks complementarity with candidate’s practice area.
Part II. Current Practice; Status at Current Firm Can you describe your current practice to us? How did you build it? Were any colleagues particularly helpful or instrumental? Can you give us an example of how you have contributed to the success of another lawyer at your current firm? Why did you help him/her? What challenges are you facing at your current firm? Based on what you know today, what are some of the reasons why a move to our firm might benefit you and/or your clients?
BIG PICTURE FOCUS D
C
B
A
1
2
3
4
Candidate focuses more on compensation and claimed success at his/her present firm without seriously attempting to explain how the candidate’s practice can be strengthened at your firm.
Candidate is able to articulate a concrete strategy for growing his/her practice within the new firm. Candidate evinces passion / vision as to why and how the deal would work.
MOVE MOTIVATED BY TREATMENT, PERCEIVED FIT OF CLIENTS
What are some of the reasons in favor of staying at your current firm? Can you describe the quality of fit between your clients and the other practice areas and industry concentrations at your current firm?
F
0
F
D
C
B
A
0
1
2
3
4
Candidate’s clients are unlikely to be perceived as valuable or high potential at the new firm; candidate seems unaware of misalignment between clients and proposed new platform.
The candidate’s clients are increasingly feeling that they are not large enough to be given first class treatment at candidate’s current firm; candidate is strongly motivated to fix this perception.
STATUS AT CURRENT FIRM F
D
C
B
A
0
1
2
3
4
Looking to leave a firm when other partners from that firm are simultaneously entering the lateral market, thus suggesting that current firm may be pushing out or putting pressure on underperformers. © 2015 Lawyer Metrics | Proprietary and Confidential
Few others are looking to leave candidate’s current firm at this time.
© 2015 Lawyer Metrics | Proprietary and Confidential
© 2015 Lawyer Metrics
27