The Fresh Eye Of the Lateral

Rather than considering new laterals primarily as strangers that need to be integrated, law firms can benefit by considering them as a resource and fresh set of eyes that can provide “an extraordinary opportunity to reconsider some of their own habits and systems,” writes Yolanda Cartusciello, from law firm consultants Bernero & Press. “The lateral has not only the unique advantage of experiencing the firm culture for the first time, but also a brain that may be in a period of intense creativity, distress, or both,” she says. Integration, and the meetings, mentoring and discipline that often come with it, aren’t to be neglected, but they shouldn’t be so oppressive that they stifle what laterals may have to offer if their input is “welcomed and encouraged.”