![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Lateral-Performance-in-Law-Firms-Integration.jpg?resize=769%2C495&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
\n
Law firms continue to view lateral hiring as a key growth strategy. According to statistics from the legal database provider Firm Prospects<\/strong>,<\/a> partner hiring increased in calendar year 2025 by nearly 10% over 2024, following a similar increase from 2023 to 2024. Interestingly, hiring at the counsel level increased at an even higher level.<\/p>\n At the same time, skepticism continues to grow about the efficacy of lateral partner hiring overall. According to consulting firm Decipher<\/strong>,<\/a> which advises law firms on strategies to improve lateral hiring, nearly half of laterals leave within five years of joining their new firms, while 62% fail to deliver the collections predicted during the interview and due diligence process.\u00a0<\/p>\n And according to Decipher, the situation continues to get worse. In a separate study, the percentage of clients joining a lateral\u2019s new firm declined from 65% in 2021 to 57% in 2024.<\/p>\n Related reading: \u201cSmart Growth Strategies for Small and Midmarket Law Firms.\u201d<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n This situation has not been lost on law firm leaders. In the past few years, firms have focused on efforts to better integrate laterals into their firms. Here are a few of the strategies being deployed.<\/p>\n Firms have brought on executives who either focus exclusively on integration of new partners or who view onboarding and integration as a significant portion of their responsibilities.\u00a0As a result, several new titles have been created in the last few years, such as:<\/p>\n Historically, integration efforts have largely targeted the time period after offer and acceptance, and have focused on things like transition of clients, meetings with partners in different practice groups, inclusion in firm events and affinity groups, introduction of clients, and participation in client pitches.<\/p>\n But what has changed over the past five years or so is that, at many firms, the integration process begins during the recruiting process.\u00a0In reality, firms are putting more emphasis on determining whether a lateral is a good fit and will ultimately succeed at the firm.<\/p>\n According to Jennifer Queen, Chief Talent Officer at Bracewell in Houston<\/a><\/strong>, her firm is particularly focused on determining the cultural fit of lateral candidates.\u00a0For example, she says, \u201cWe\u2019re a firm where virtually all of our partners are in the office most days, and we\u2019re looking for candidates who share that viewpoint.\u201d\u00a0She adds that the firm also zeroes in on a candidate\u2019s approach to mentoring, their leadership qualities and overall firm citizenship.<\/p>\n According to Mark Carlson, Chief Growth Officer of Baker Donelson in Atlanta<\/a><\/strong>, his firm has for years used a detailed integration plan, developed jointly by the firm and the candidate, as its starting point. That document serves two purposes: to determine a lateral\u2019s probable success at the firm, but also to ensure that candidates meet and interact with the right people at the firm once they start.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t employ a sink-or-swim philosophy here. So it\u2019s important to us that there\u2019s a joint commitment to do whatever is possible to ensure success.\u201d<\/p>\n According to many integration leaders, one of the keys to successful lateral integration is to ensure someone is assigned to a one-on-one role with the new lateral.\u00a0Usually, that is a member of the firm\u2019s integration team or a department operating official. <\/p>\n According to Debby Usher, the Chief Integration Officer at Barnes & Thornburg in Chicago<\/a><\/strong>, that interaction is critical to a lateral\u2019s success: \u201cIt\u2019s important that there\u2019s someone who can immediately respond to any number of questions or concerns that a new lateral has.\u201d<\/p>\n During their official two-year integration period, laterals have access to that \u201cdedicated ambassador\u201d service. The relationship continues informally through their tenure.<\/p>\n Integration is one of the most significant keys to lateral hiring success, according to outside observers. According to Pirical<\/strong><\/a>, firms with structured integration programs often report higher retention and success rates, with some firms reaching in excess of 90% retention.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t ignore these numbers.<\/p>\n Related reading: The Lateral Hire Dilemma: Successfully Onboarding New Lateral Partners<\/a> by Wendy Merrill<\/em>.<\/p>\n Image \u00a9 iStockPhoto.com. <\/p>\n Sign up for Attorney at Work\u2019s daily practice tips newsletter here<\/a> and subscribe to our podcast<\/a>, Attorney at Work Today.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Law firms are stepping up efforts to improve lateral performance and retention. Steve Nelson points to a few key strategies that are making a difference. The post Full-Scale Integration Can Be the Key to Solving Unproductive Lateral Performance in Law Firms appeared first on Articles, Tips and Tech for Law Firms and Lawyers. Is it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Lessons on Integrating and Retaining Lateral Hires<\/h2>\n
Adding New Law Firm Roles: The Chief Integration Officer<\/h3>\n
\n
Focusing on Fit Early in the Recruitment Process<\/h3>\n
Providing One-on-One Attention<\/h3>\n
Structured Integration Is Key to Retaining Lateral Hires<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.attorneyatwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/AttorneyatWork-Logo-%C2%AE-2021-1.jpg?resize=372%2C106&ssl=1\" "\\"\\""){kind=logo}
<\/a><\/figure>\n