Managing The Firm's Professionals - Recruitment

December 4, 2019

6 min read

Nearly every BigLaw firm—in Nigeria and across the globe—and aspirants to that status, recruit associates using the Cravath System or a personalized modification. The system was developed in 19th century America by Paul Cravath of Cravath, Swaine, & Moore; a premier American law firm. Under the Cravath system, elite graduates of elite law schools were recruited to the firm, paid high salaries, and provided with rigorous and expansive training in legal practice generally and in the firm’s practice specifically. The firm did not hire associates or partners laterally; they did not hire professionals from other firms. Paul Cravath believed in growing the firm’s professionals organically, he also believed that exposure to another firm’s practice meant exposure to their bad habits too. In his thinking, recruiting graduates right out of law school and grooming them for partnership ensured that the firm’s associates and partners rarely experienced the disappointment of watching an outsider come in over them and further ensured that all of the firm’s professionals were completely imbued in the firm's culture.

The firm’s practice was divided into a corporate and litigation division broadly with practice sub-groups representing practice areas headed by different partners existing within these divisions. These associates were not immediately permanently categorized into a sub-group and did not immediately start to specialize in the particular practice of a sub-group. They were continuously rotated within the different practice sub-groups of a division until they attained ample general experience over a number of years to specialize. The rationale for this method of training was to produce professionals capable of a generalist practice who possessed enough experience in the different practice areas of a given division to handle different tasks in that division. This period—typically six to ten years—also served as a tournament or competition phase for the associates. The firm utilizing the management practice called “Up or Out” continued to thin their numbers until a particularly talented small pool of associates was left—the associates who were thinned out were exceptional professionals who in addition to possessing stellar academic records had been turned into highly outstanding professionals in-demand within the legal and business communities. They typically remained on friendly terms with the partners of Cravath, Swaine, & Moore who helped them secure new positions elsewhere and often referred new business to them. The associates comprising the “particularly talented small pool” were made partners and gained an ownership interest in the firm.

The firm’s leadership should develop a modification of the Cravath system that factors in the realities of modern day practice but preserves the focus on recruiting brilliant, interested, associates, providing them with rigorous formal and experiential training, increasingly increasing their responsibility with a possibility of partnership at the end of a pre-determined period, and providing them adequate remuneration.

Recruitment involves three main activities. Profiling and establishing behavioral, credential, and experiential fundamentals for a specific vacant position; publicizing the existence of the vacancy and receiving applications for employment in that respect and identifying among applicants, the persons that meet the credential and behavioral requisites and incentivizing them to accept offers of employment. This is the standard recruitment cycle of most industries and the legal industry is not exempt.

Vacancies can be publicized and recruitment enabled via public media like daily newspapers and industry and non-industry publications; the internet through industry-focused websites; professional and other social media applications like LinkedIn and Twitter; on-campus interviews (for entry-level positions); internships (enables early observation and vetting); alumni networks; current professional staff; and recruiting firms or personnel (for specialized skill-sets or expertise).

Although behavioral, credential, and experiential fundamentals are subjective and the firm’s leadership will determine exactly what the acceptable required levels of each will be, there are certain standards, of education; expertise or experience; character; performance; and value (books of business) that can play vital roles as the frames of reference for determining the employability of potential entry-level and lateral associates and also lateral partners. To vet applicants and aid the recruitment process, the firm’s leadership should—utilizing the above frames of reference—create a scorecard of the metrics that outline the competencies, objectives, and outcomes sought by the firm.

Below are some of these metrics.

Education

Great university and law school grades are indicators of a sound education and legal faculty. This is a moot point that need not be emphasized. The firm should still keep an eye out for the rare applicant with a measurably sound legal education and faculty that is in possession of bad grades. These individuals typically have an enormous chip on their shoulders and a “something-to-prove” attitude as a result of their situation that can be leveraged to coax extreme performance.

Expertise or Experience

Laterally hiring mid or senior level associates from other law firms will help the firm shorten or eliminate the training curve, possibly attract new clients, and increase the firm’s expertise. When a law firm is desirous of hiring a mid or senior level associate laterally, there is often a recently vacated or newly created non entry-level position that needs filling. The competencies by way of expertise or experience possessed by the former occupant of a position or required of a potential occupant (in the case of a newly created position) will naturally be determined by the objectives and outcomes attached to that position but keeping an out for self-motivation and ambition will not lead to hiring mistakes.

Character

In addition to passing the Bar Finals and being a citizen of Nigeria, to be called to the Nigerian Bar Association, a person is expected to satisfy the Body of Benchers that he is of good character. The measure of this requirement of good character has come to be idealized in the mantra “fit and proper.” Almost uniquely among the professions, lawyers owe their clients a fiduciary duty; a duty to act in their best interests. Lawyers are also expected to maintain very high standards of responsibility, honesty, integrity, discipline, decorum, diligence, and professionalism in discharging their duties. These are industry prescribed character traits that all lawyers are expected to possess by sheer virtue of their being lawyers. The law firm should also screen for a passionate interest in the practice of law, a strong work ethic, emotional intelligence, intellectual thoroughness, and meticulous attention to detail.

Performance 

Stellar academic achievements are a good indicator of a performance orientation. Barring unforeseen circumstances, it is unlikely that an elite student for whom rigorous post-law school professional training has adequately been provided would under-perform in a given role. Personal problems, an inability to function as a member of a team, or a myriad other behavioral inadequacies may cause a professional to perform below expectation but ordinarily, a stellar academic record is prima-facie evidence of a performance orientation. Especially for entry-level associates. For mid or senior level lateral hires, a track record of first-rate performance or a lack of one is a prima-facie indicator of performance. The law firm should keep an eye out for a problem-solving and self-starter orientation.

Books of Business

This metric is applicable to situations where the firm’s leadership, desirous of expansion—typically to increase revenue and perhaps firm expertise—laterally hires a professional from outside its ranks to become a partner. The revenue increasing value brought by these lateral partners is a list of income and potential income generating clients generally referred to as a book of business. In determining the utility of the book of business of a potential lateral partner, the firm’s leadership should closely scrutinize the historical data on income actually generated from these clients, the strength of the relationships existing between these clients and the potential lateral partner, the influence of these clients in their various marketplaces and the possibility of generating even more business from these clients. 

Culled from "A Millennial's Guide To Building A Law Firm." My new book on law firm management.