Law firms do—and should—bear the responsibility of efficiently managing a lateral attorney’s effective integration into a new law firm. Marketing and business development teams write thorough lateral integration plans, practice management teams schedule strategic meetings connecting a lateral to existing attorney partners, and finance teams work to transfer portable client files. All of these integration tactics are spearheaded by the lateral’s new law firm and are crucial elements of a lateral’s integration process. With strategic growth being a core operating tenet for a majority of law firms, law firm professionals managing integration efforts find themselves overseeing an increasing class of lateral attorneys, which in some cases, impedes a preferred comprehensive integration experience. With this in mind, lateral attorneys are encouraged to be empowered in actively partnering in, and better yet actively contributing to, their integration efforts. Following below is a sampling of proactive tactics a lateral can employ, always in collaboration with their law firm, to support an efficient, thorough and productive integration into their new law firm and role.

Integration efforts begin before day one at your new firm. Most laterals turn their attention to integration once they officially join their new firm (an understandable approach). The most successful laterals however—they proactively prepare for their lateral move before their official start date by crafting a meaningful individual business plan (a must when interviewing with law firms), organizing their contact lists so that they are easily transferable, and becoming an expert on their new law firm. The first month of an integration is often a whirlwind of orientations, computer training and meetings (and more meetings). Own the integration efforts you have control over before you start at a firm, so you can hit the ground running after you navigate through the necessary orientations and firm trainings.