If you haven't been through a lateral search, it's hard to know what to expect. Here's how ours works, from the first call to an accepted offer, including what we'll handle and what we'll need from you.
The ten steps
Every search we run moves through the same sequence. Timelines vary with your schedule and with the market, and a few of these stages overlap, though the order holds.
A quick call
We start with a short call to discuss what you're looking for and how we can help you get there. You tell us what you like about your current seat, what you don't, and where you want your career to go over the next several years.
Treat it as a conversation. Everything that follows is built on the criteria that come out of it, so it's worth being candid with us here.
The role search
We research roles using our market tools and firm relationships, then narrow the options using the criteria you set out on our initial call.
We come back with the opportunities available to someone with your background in the markets you'd consider. That list is usually broader than candidates expect.
Your application materials
Send us your application materials, typically a resume and transcript. We'll review them and help refine the resume if needed.
A small change in how you describe a matter can help a hiring partner understand your experience. This review is usually quick and worth the time.
Your opportunities and our perspective
We send you an organized list of every opportunity we identify for your background and priorities, with the role details in one place. For those we think are especially relevant, we add personalized notes on why they might make sense for you.
Those notes draw on our proprietary research and hundreds of conversations we have across the industry on an ongoing basis. We share confidential background on what's happening within each firm and practice group, along with our professional opinion on where they're headed.
You decide which opportunities to explore. We obtain your written approval for each firm before sending your materials.
Pitching your candidacy
For the firms you select, we write the additional materials explaining your candidacy and contact their recruiting teams.
Your submission arrives with an explanation of your experience, and someone who already knows the firm follows up on it.
Coordinating interviews
When firms want to interview you, we coordinate around your availability. Billable hours don't pause for a search, so we work with your calendar.
We handle the back and forth with each firm, including the rescheduling that inevitably comes up when a deal or a filing takes over your week.
Interview preparation
We run through likely questions and brief you on the firm. You'll also get written background on each interviewer.
Where they trained, what they work on, what they've written or spoken about, and how they tend to run a conversation. You should walk in already knowing who's across the table.
Managing the offers
Once we receive an offer, we use it. We go back to the other firms in your process and press them to shorten their decision timelines, so we have all of your options in front of us as soon as possible.
We review each offer with you and speak with our contacts at the firm about what it's like to work there. That gives you a view from people inside the workplace you're considering.
Negotiation
We negotiate with each firm you want to move forward with. Depending on what matters to you, that can include a signing bonus, a guaranteed year-end bonus, hybrid work, class seniority, or other terms.
There's usually more on the table than people realize. We handle those conversations so you're never the one pressing on money with people who are about to be your colleagues.
You accept your offer
You accept your offer. By that point you've seen what's actually out there, you know what the group is really like from people inside it, and the terms are ones we negotiated together.
The aim is a role you want, on terms you understood before you signed.
What we need from you
Your part is the initial call, sending your materials, choosing roles, attending interviews, and telling us what you're thinking as the search develops. It usually takes less of your time than people expect.
We handle the research, preparation, and coordination described above. If something changes mid-search, including deciding you'd rather stay where you are, tell us. That's a completely acceptable outcome, and we would much rather hear it early.
Where to start
Step one is a conversation, and it's confidential. You tell us where you are and what you want, and we tell you what we're seeing in your market. There's no obligation attached to it and no pressure to move on any particular timeline.
Start with a confidential conversation
Tell us about your work and what you're looking for. We'll share what we're seeing, and you can decide whether to take it further.
Talk with us