Never mind Valentine’s Day and Presidents’ Day—think of February as Laterals Month. There is now quite a bit more information available on laterals than there once was, or maybe it is just easier to turn up. To cite only two examples, there are occasional notes on the main page of our flagship publication, The American Lawyer, under the heading THE CHURN. Once a month, the Incisive Legal Intelligence database updates its list of laterals, including moves that involve a law firm on one end but that can also have on the other end not only another law firm but also possibly an in-house law department or a government agency.
What will be of great interest to those within law firms who are involved in the lateral recruiting process or to recruiters or search professionals is the February number of The American Lawyer. It is there that the journalists publish not only figures but analysis as well, with observations about the lateral process.
Finally, there is quite a bit of academic research being carried out on the process of recruiting and retaining laterals. Interestingly, much of this work is being done in business schools. I think it is a fair conclusion that the professionalization of law firm management over the past two decades has perked up interest in academia. More about that will be coming in future posts, including links to some very comprehensive studies.
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