Successfully launching a new practice in a law firm with a new lateral hire requires a mix of strategic planning, clear communication, marketing and proper integration of the new hire into the firm’s culture. Here are some key steps to ensure your lateral hire and their new practice is successful at your firm.
- Create a Strategic Plan: Start by developing a clear business plan for the new practice. This plan should define the goals, target clients, competitive landscape and key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be used to measure success of the new lateral and their practice.
- Understand the Lateral’s Expertise: Spend time understanding the lateral hire’s specific area of expertise and how it can contribute to the firm’s broader strategic goals. This will be crucial in identifying the most profitable and strategically relevant opportunities for the new practice.
- Marketing and Business Development: Use a mix of digital marketing, public relations and business development strategies to raise awareness about the new practice and the lateral’s strengths. This can involve creating new content for the firm’s website, strategically taking out ads, announcing the new practice in relevant industry publications, creating a LinkedIn visibility strategy, using content marketing and events to enhance the profile of the lateral and their practice, and leveraging the lateral hire’s professional network.
- Integration and Culture: It’s important to ensure that the lateral hire feels part of the firm’s culture and is integrated into the firm’s existing workflows and practices. This could involve things like mentorship programs, team building activities and regular check-ins with peers and senior leadership across the firm.
- Internal Communication: Keep everyone within the firm informed about the new practice. This will help other lawyers within the firm to understand when to refer clients to the new practice, and it can also contribute to a sense of shared purpose and excitement about the new opportunity. Some ways to do this include setting up internal group and one-on-one meetings for the lateral to get to know their new colleagues, inviting the new partner to speak at an internal lawyer lunch, featuring the lawyer discussing their new practice in a firm internal newsletter, asking them to be a guest at a firm town hall, etc.
- Regular Review and Adaptation: Regularly review the performance of the new practice against the KPIs established in your strategic plan. Ensure you are thinking about practice growth and increasing capabilities in the new group – either by hiring externally or moving existing lawyers to work in the new practice. Be prepared to adapt and tweak your approach based on these reviews to ensure the ongoing success of the new lateral and their practice.
Remember, patience and persistence are key to ensure a successful and smooth transition for lateral hires and their practices – especially when it’s a new practice for a firm. Building a successful new practice takes time, so it’s important to keep focused on your long-term goals while also being flexible enough to adapt to new information and changes in the market.
Reach out to me for help marketing your law firm and lawyers.