In the Media
Big Law Attorneys Are Hitting the Lateral Market. Should Midsize Firms Hire Them?
Read Time: 1 minManaging Member Michael Ferachi (Baton Rouge) spoke with ALM about Big Law attorneys moving to midsize firms for a November 1st Law.com article titled “Big Law Attorneys Are Hitting the Lateral Market. Should Midsize Firms Hire Them?”
At national midsize firm McGlinchey Stafford, headcount has gone up by 25 attorneys so far this year, with many of those attorneys coming from Big Law. “We’re seeing some mid-career laterals who are looking for the administrative resources they’re used to in Big Law, and the opportunity to continue working for sophisticated clients,” managing member Michael Ferachi said. “Mid-market firms have been able to attract some of those folks because of a little more flexibility in the way we operate.”
In addition to rate pressure, Ferachi said some Big Law partners have joined McGlinchey Stafford after their firms abandoned or decreased their investment in the market where the partners were working. “People are concerned about whether the firm will stay committed, so we sometimes hear from people like that.”
At McGlinchey Stafford, incoming partners frequently drill the firm on the size of its business development and talent acquisition groups, as well as all of the other “bells and whistles” partners are accustomed to in Big Law.
Midsize firms also need to question why someone is in the market—not all laid-off attorneys are a poor fit, but a series of job changes in quick succession may be cause for concern. However, that problem isn’t exclusive to Big Law. “We worry about those things but we also worry about that for everyone we talk to regardless of where they’re coming from,” Ferachi said.
Read the full article here (subscription required).