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Professional Development Programs As Formidable Recruiting and Retention Tools

By Amy Sladczyk Hancock and Martha L. Smith

At top-rated firms, lawyer development and training has become the cornerstone of successful recruiting programs for both law school and lateral recruiting efforts. This trend assures that firms with active development programs will continue making significant investments in their attorney and potential attorney's futures via their professional development programming. Law firms whose professional development programs have recently evolved as the logical offspring of identified recruiting and retention needs and demands are actively engaged in the process of showcasing their professional development programs to their much sought-after recruits.

Law firms 'expend enormous resources recruiting law students and lateral attorneys for summer and full-time positions.' See, Vanessa L. Johnson, Paradigm Shift: Applying Human Resource Management Theory to the Large Law Firm Recruiting and Selection Process, 10 (2006). Lower than expected success rates and declining retention rates are frustrating after the tremendous time and money spent on recruiting efforts, and have resulted in some firms' re-evaluation of how to address the needs of its prospects and new attorneys. During the recruiting 'courtships,' most firms have witnessed a paradigm shift: Law students are no longer shy about telling law firms what they need and expect upon joining their privileged ranks, or about asking firms what the firm will do to ensure the professional success of its new hires. This paradigm shift is one of the most forceful factors behind the birth of the formalized Attorney Professional Development Program. The recruits' demand for more structured professional development, mentoring and other integration programming has been a strong catalyst for implementation of such programs in the law firm setting. Many firms have responded by developing, and then showcasing, their professional development programs throughout their entire recruiting process.

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