Overview:

This episode provides a deep dive into the essentials of business planning for attorneys considering lateral moves. Steve Nelson leverages his extensive experience in legal recruitment to guide listeners on crafting high impact business plans that align with market trends and firm expectations. This episode may be our most practical and actionable let. We even have Steve’s business plan templates in our show notes.

Key Insights:

• Business Plan Importance: Detailed discussion on the necessity of a business plan for lawyers aiming to move laterally.
• Components of a Strong Business Plan: Steve outlines the critical elements that should be included in a business plan, such as market analysis, client needs assessment, and personal value proposition.
• Strategies for Differentiation: Tips on how attorneys can set themselves apart in their business plans by linking their unique experiences to the needs of potential firms.

Episode Highlights:

• Crafting the Business Plan: Steps for developing a plan that addresses both the current landscape and future market opportunities, focusing on the lawyer’s role in navigating these changes.
• Demonstrating Market Knowledge: The importance of showing deep understanding of regulatory trends and how they affect potential clients.
• Networking and Resources: How to effectively utilize existing networks and resources to bolster the business plan’s effectiveness.

Bonus: Steve gives us his analysis of the lateral recruiting market in the the nation’s capital (hint: it is an election year.)
Business Plan Template Option One
Business Plan Template Option Two
Business Plan Template Option Three

Contact Steve
McCormick Group

Contact Murray
M Coffey

The decision to pursue other opportunities is multilayered with no one consideration being more important than the other. Yet compensation often is a driver. But most professionals including lateral partners at law firms don't do a deep enough dive on a target firm's compensation structure. Each firm approaches compensation differently. Which means it is incumbent on the candidate to know what is important to them and to ask the right questions. So to, firms need to be as forthcoming as possible about the compensation structure. Steve knows the ins and outs of compensation systems based on his decades of experience. Have a listen and if you have more questions, please contact Steve at snelson@tmg-dc.com. Mention Steve's Rules when you call and get a prize. We mean it.

Contact Steve
McCormick Group

Contact Murray
M Coffey

Leveraging government service into a lucrative career in government relations can be done. But, it can be tricky to turn your knowledge and connections into a career path. This podcast will be especially informative for those folks currently in Capitol Hill contemplating your next move. We start out the second season of the acclaimed Steve's Rules podcast series with a fast paced discussion featuring McCormick group principals David Ris and Tim Horgan. Join Steve and his colleagues as they share lessons learned in this high stakes area of executive recruiting with a special deep dive for those coming out of government service from Capitol Hill and beyond. We take an insider look at what candidates can expect whether they are pursuing a position in-house, with an association or a multi client practice.

Episode Notes:
Email Steve and his guests:
Steve Nelson snelson@tmg-dc.com
David Ris dris@tmg-dc.com
Tim Horgan thorgan@tmg-dc.com

Article Referenced in Podcast:
Building a Better Mousetrap: A Model for a Lawyer’s Business Plan

Contact Steve
McCormick Group

Contact Murray
M Coffey

Well, here it is the 2023 season finale of Steve's Rules. In this very special episode we are joined by Steve's colleagues Saadia Sultan and Rob Verga who share insights from the 2023 lateral recruiting in market and their predictions for 2024. We end our podcast with some truly hard won observations about how firms and candidate's can impede their own efforts and some best practices as well. As always we welcome your thoughts and ideas about how we can improve our podcast. Please contact Steve or me Murray Coffey at any time. Thank you for listening and tune in next year for season II of Steve's Rules.

Contact Steve
McCormick Group

Contact Murray
M Coffey

In this episode Steve provides some intel on the hottest lateral partner market (hint they call this city the Third Coast, and its the place Murray first drew breath.) Then we discuss contingency and retained search and relative merits of each approach based on your firm's profile and needs. Finally we hear a hunk from Steve's standup show. We packed a lot into 30 minutes. If you have any thoughts or ideas for future programs please feel free to contact Steve or Murray. Thank you as always for listening.

Contact Steve
McCormick Group

Contact Murray
M Coffey

Law firms need to hire business professionals as skilled and capable as the lawyers in their respective areas of focus. And yet, many firms still try to hire professional staff by relying on self-sourcing, agencies, or contingency recruiters. Steve explains why these results are often mixed at best. And what firms need to do to make sure they are recruiting the very best talent. Steve also shares his thoughts on some recent survey results regarding lateral partner financial performance. (Hint, multiples are not what they used to be if they ever really were.)

Contact Steve
McCormick Group

Contact Murray
M Coffey

Contact Steve
McCormick Group

Contact Murray
M Coffey

This episode is a must listen for anyone involved in thelateral recruiting process, especially those in decision making roles. Steve’s Rules dives into the Lateral Partner Questionnaire (LPQ) which has become a cornerstone element of the recruiting process. As lateral recruiting has continued to gain prominence as an essential element of many firm’s growth objectives the need to accurately evaluate a potential partner’s likelihood of success becomes critical. And increasingly the LPQ is a cornerstone of the overall pre-hire diligence for most firms. Every firm has some form of LPQ it has evolved over the years. With such a bespoke approach there is no uniformityto fact gathering and candidates can often find themselves answering multiple LPQs if several firms are courting them. The process is repetitive and often fails to provide firms with the information needed to make the right decision on hiring a candidate. Recently the National Association of Legal Search Consultants has developed a uniform LPQ it believes will help firms better leverage best practices for the diligence element of lateral partner recruiting. Super recruiter Steve Nelson from McCormick Group has closely reviewed this new form and he has notes. We also discuss some of the intangibles that need to be considered that are simply not covered in any LPQ. Finally, Steve offers to email his own short form LPQ he has developed to any of our listeners who send him a request. As always, we welcome your input and are interested inhearing from you what topics you would like covered in further episodes of Steve’s Rules.

Contact Steve
McCormick Group

Contact Murray
M Coffey