Lateral Partners Something To Think About

Developing the Next Generation of Rainmakers Lateral Partners: Something to Think About In this post, I try to answer the question, what is possibly the best firm for you if you are looking for a change. If you are busy and want my idea right away skip to the bottom. Otherwise, here is some background information from my experience. In 1976, when I left the United States Air Force after spending four years and eight months on active duty, I had many options. I took the opportunity in Roanoke, in part because I graduated from Virginia Tech, just 37 miles away. That was only a small part of my decision. I took the opportunity in Roanoke because I believed it offered me the greatest opportunity to control my own destiny. For 20 years I proclaimed I would never be part of a large law firm because I didn’t want to be told what to do. Then, I joined one. In my first year, I doubled my collections because the firm had lawyers who could help my clients with work I could not do myself. By my third year, I had tripled my collections. Our firm leaders were super conscious about where we stood in the AM Law 100. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I could say that the higher we rose, the more each of us was making. I guess that part was nice, but the so-called prestige of our ranking was something that did not resonate with me. Fast forward to my coaching career. In my 12 years coaching lawyers in US and Canada firms, I discovered there are many firms out there that have the resources I would have needed to serve my clients but have far lower overhead. I discovered I could have made almost double what I was paid in the big Am Law 100 law firm. I know many of those firms and many of the managing partners of those firms. If you are a partner in an Am Law 100 firm, looking to make a change, take a look at firms half your size. Look at the bios of lawyers who would help serve your clients, or bring your current colleagues with you. I practiced law for 37 years developing a national construction law practice representing some of the top highway and transportation construction contractors in the US.