Founding Partner, Michelle Foster, Quoted by The National Law Review on Trends in Remote Work & Litigation

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The legal industry faced many challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a shift to remote work, adapting to remote litigation, and facing increased competition for talent. While it remains to be seen if the legal industry will adopt remote work and litigation permanently after the pandemic subsides, law firms that adapt to these challenges may better position themselves for success in the post-COVID world.

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Founding Partner, Michelle Foster, Quoted by The American Lawyer on Law Firms Outside Am Law 100 Elite Stepping Up in Recruiting Talent From Rivals

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The battle for lateral partners among elite firms in the Am Law 100 has been especially ”wild” lately. But Second Hundred firms, those firms with annual revenues ranging from about $100 million to $365 million, have also stepped up the competition, analysts and firm leaders say.

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Rainmaking Tips for Women: A Primer

/ The Foster Group/
Rainmaking Tips for Women: A Primer

Women constituted a mere 16 percent of equity partners in U.S. law firms in 2009—unchanged from 2008 and barely up from 2006—according to the National Association of Women Lawyers’ latest Survey on the Status of Women in Law Firms. Almost half of firms have no women among their top 10 rainmakers; another third have only one woman among their top 10. The imbalance is having an increasingly negative effect on women. Rainmakers tend to be better compensated and are more likely to hold positions of power. It also makes them more marketable should they choose to switch firms. “If women attorneys have any hopes of achieving a longer life span in the modern law firm, they must learn to generate business,” confirms Stephanie J. Cohen, a partner at McCarter & English (in “The Importance of Business Development for Women Attorneys,” The Woman Advocate, Volume 15, Number 2, Winter 2010). 

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How to Make a Successful Hire

/ The Foster Group Legal Search/
How to Make a Successful Hire

As the economy continues to take a beating and more layoffs take place, competition for new jobs is at an all-time high. While companies may initially view the large candidate pool as an embarrassment of riches, it also provides them with a challenge. Companies face a more difficult and certainly a more time-consuming task identifying the right person for the job, and often with greater risk that the wrong decision will be made. In these days of “doing more with less” and stricter labor laws, hiring mistakes can take a bigger toll than in the past. What, then, is the advice we can offer corporate and executive recruiters to increase their chances of success in making the right match with minimal wheel-spinning?

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Conducting a Successful Hire: A Postscript

/ The Foster Group Legal Search/
Conducting a Successful Hire: A Postscript

My previous article "How to Make A Successful Hire," (found in issue 37 of search-consult magazine) provided tips for initiating a search, and setting up the search process.  But as I noted then, even with the most organized, efficient and effective process, finding the right candidate for the job is not guaranteed.  In today's economic climate, with no shortage of candidates for each job, this "buyers market" poses challenges in sorting through all the resumes, deciphering out the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, and determining if the best person on paper is really the right one for the job in real life.

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