In this episode of Jackson Walker Fast Takes, Bridgette McNulty Stahlman, Chief of Partner Recruiting and Integration, and Liz Gilman, Director of Lateral Partner Recruiting, provide an inside look at the firm’s approach to recruiting and integrating lateral partners.

The discussion highlights the firm’s unwavering commitment to culture and how it shapes every step of the lateral partner recruiting and integration process. Bridgette and Liz share behind-the-scenes insights, feedback from recent lateral partners, and the firm’s unique approach to ensuring new attorneys feel welcomed and supported from their very first day.

Featured This Episode

Our Host:
Courtney White Research Attorney, Dallas & Houston Follow on LinkedIn » Instagram: @courthousecouture
Episode Guests:
Bridgette McNulty Stahlman Chief of Partner Recruiting & Integration Follow on LinkedIn »		Liz Gilman Director of Lateral Partner Recruiting Follow on LinkedIn »

Episode Transcription

Courtney White: Hi everyone, I’m Courtney White, and this is Jackson Walker Fast Takes. Jackson Walker is only as strong as their employees, and recruiting plays an important role in attracting and hiring attorneys who enhance the firm’s personality, culture, and values. Today I have Bridget Stahlman, the Chief of Partner Recruiting and Integration, and Liz Gilman, the Director of Lateral Partner Recruiting, here to discuss the recruiting process for lateral partners at our firm. Thank you both for coming on the podcast today.

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: Thank you for having us, Courtney.

Liz Gilman: Yes, thanks, Courtney; we’re glad to be here.

Courtney White: So how does Jackson Walker’s culture influence the way you approach partner recruiting and integration?

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: I’ll start on that one. I know Liz probably has her thoughts, but in general the focus of the firm is culture first. What I really loved and learned really early on in my tenure at Jackson Walker was that if a partner candidate was not a cultural fit, regardless of their economic contribution, if they had a $5 or $10 million book, we would still say no as soon as we found out that they weren’t a cultural fit. So that to me was something that really stood out: that culture is definitely first over the economics. Economics, of course, is important, but culture remains paramount.

Liz Gilman: And we have heard that from a lot of our lateral partners that have joined us, that they have really enjoyed meeting the partners and seeing how close everyone is and how people treat each other like family and friends.

Courtney White: I think the culture is definitely a defining point of Jackson Walker. I love that.

Liz Gilman: And it’s really important, as we’ve been growing, to make sure we maintain that culture even though we’re getting larger.

Courtney White: And so, what feedback have either of you received from recent lateral partners about their experience transitioning to Jackson Walker?

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: So, this is absolutely my favorite question currently because we have two wonderful female partners that we hired recently in Austin. And one of them I went to lunch with recently, and her comment to me was, “Bridgette, everybody is as happy as they said they were during the interview process.” She’s been at a number of different larger firms. She’s absolutely one of my favorite hires. She just has it all going on. She is very smart, and just to hear her say that about Jackson Walker was amazing. As well as commenting on our advanced business development program. So, she participated in that. She has some of her own portable work, but we thought she’d be a good candidate, and it ran right after she started.

So, she was able to really utilize that as an integration opportunity. Liz, I think we had 5 to 10 new partners in that program last spring. Her comment on that program was, “I’ve done these programs at a number of different large firms, but the difference here is that the consultant that is working with everyone really knows Jackson Walker.” So, the input and the feedback that they were able to give were pertinent to the firm, not just in general. She thought that was amazing and had never experienced that before.

Liz Gilman: Also, our firm as a whole is definitely in growth mode. And so, with that being said, so many departments here make it a priority to make the transition for a partner as smooth as possible, our team included. We know moving can be hard. Some partners have big books of business and a lot of clients they have to port over and have to do all the engagement letters, and everything could be daunting, and our team and firm really help do the best that we can to make it as easy as possible.

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: And one thing I’ll add to that is that we think we do a great job, but we always know we can do better. So, we’re focused on continuing to improve our process. One recent addition we’re rolling out, which hopefully will be in effect soon with our next lateral hire, is to have someone that is more of an onboarding specialist on our team or working with us to help smooth out that transition process with opening files and bringing clients onboard. That is a really challenging time for a partner if they are busy to not only try to get to know our system and open files and transition everything, but to still maintain client deadlines and get their work product out. So, we’ve added someone to our team, and the firm has been very supportive about that, and we’re excited to roll that out and continue to improve our process.

Courtney White: In talking about process, I’d love to know how does the firm maintain its commitment to excellence and values during the overall recruitment and integration process?

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: So, I do think with the commitment to values and excellence, I said this term the other day to our COO, that we as a recruiting team really want to provide white-glove service. And so that has changed over the course of Liz and I’s tenure here. I think now she and I are both communicating very directly with candidates. We are super responsive, and I think the responsiveness and connectivity to the candidate really highlights the process so that we’re all very transparent, and so we’ll communicate and be straightforward with how it works here. We want someone to know exactly what they’re getting into when coming to Jackson Walker versus trying to sell a candidate on a firm that may or may not be the right fit. And so, I do think we provide that white-glove service to our candidates through our communication with the candidate, but also our interview process. We’re very thoughtful in how we set up our interviews and who each candidate is meeting with, both making sure that we have the right information to make a hiring decision, but also to lay the groundwork for integration into the firm in case they were to accept an offer from us.

Liz Gilman: We also, our team shows kind of a personal side of the recruiting, which we think is a big part of Jackson Walker’s culture. Recently, we had a lateral partner that we found out it was her birthday, and our team sent flowers to her. And so, we just try and make them feel as involved and as welcome throughout the process, even if they end up not coming to Jackson Walker. We’ve had multiple candidates go through the process with us, maybe not come for various reasons, and then they come back because they remember how great our firm and how great our people were.

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: We do not hold a grudge. Anyone who, if you decline us once, we’ll still be open to talking to you again.

Liz Gilman: It will be exciting.

Courtney White: I love that. I know when I first started at JW, I thought it was so amazing that I got Tiff’s Treats. That seems like such a small thing, but I love cookies, and people remember that. And it just makes your transition to coming to a new place so awesome. So that’s wonderful to hear.

Liz Gilman: Exactly, it’s the little touchpoints that just remind them that we’re all human and we’re in this process together, whether it works out or it doesn’t.

Courtney White: Absolutely, absolutely. And so, I’d love to just walk our listeners through a typical journey of a lateral partner candidate from initial contact to joining the firm.

Liz Gilman: We like to say that our process can be as fast or as slow as the candidate needs. We’ve moved people pretty quickly. We’ve also gone a couple of years in doing that. But a typical process would be an introduction to one of us, either through a headhunter, through a referral service, or a cold. We usually like to do an introductory meeting with our team. It’s a quick zoom. If the person is in Austin, sometimes Bridget and I will take them to lunch, a coffee, and then after that we set up a preliminary meeting, usually with our managing partner of that office and practice group leader. That meeting sometimes is lunch, a dinner, happy hour, or just a meeting in the office. And then, assuming that goes well, we move forward with a combination of filling out our firm’s lateral questionnaire and conflicts as well as meeting other practice group members, compensation committee members, and kind of going through the process of that until we get to the end to get to the offer stage. I will say throughout that our team can be pretty creative depending on the candidate. We’ve done dinners, lunches, events, things like that and so we really tailor it to each individual.

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: I do think, again, that process has changed over the last few years with our team becoming a little bit more involved and communicating directly with candidates. And I do think that has been an addition. And I’ll just add the great thing about working at Jackson Walker and with our compensation committee and all of our practice group leaders is everyone is really focused on growth and very supportive. I think we have the most supportive lawyers in interviewing. When we ask people to interview, they try to be available. So, I just think we’re able to create, again, really great schedules for people to meet, the perfect mix of people to help them sell Jackson Walker, but also integrate them if they were to join.

Courtney White: So, once people get here, I’d love to know what support systems are in place to help these new lateral partners really succeed at Jackson Walker.

Liz Gilman: So, one of the great things about our firm and our team is that once a partner starts with us, we don’t just hand them off and say, “We’re done; you’re here.” We stick with them once they get here. We just don’t drop them off once they’ve joined or walked in our doors. Our team also handles their integration. One of our team members, Avery Ferguson, is responsible for assisting with integration. She sets up a partner liaison for each person. This partner liaison, we have a whole program for it. They stay in touch with them. They help guide the partner. They take them to lunch. They kind of have a check-in that we ask for to keep in touch with them for over a year. In addition, we also send the laterals, if they would like to, to our other offices to present, kind of tell people about their practice, what they’re here for, and what they hope to do. It really helps with cross-selling and also introducing them to other members of the firm.

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: And I’ll just add on the lighter side of things, some of the events that we’ve done for a lateral, we’ll do lateral get-togethers. And so, we did a pop-up event last year where we went to every office and we had coffee, and we had sunglasses because your future’s so bright at Jackson Walker. So, we handed out goodies. I remember even handing them out to someone, and he was like, “I’ll pay you. How much do I owe you?” We’re like, no, these are gifts for everyone coming to support the lateral hiring team. I’ll also add if you have the unfortunate or fortunate experience of being on Liz and I’s floor when you start. There might be some pranks, there might be some wig wearing, and there might be all kinds of things that help kind of instill the culture. One of the partners that joined was on our floor. She was like, Jackson Walker should always put lateral partners on your floor so that they can interact with you, and then they can move to the right floor after that, after three months or so.

Liz Gilman: I’ll also add that I have a candy jar in my office, and I think almost every lateral that joins in the Austin office comes by on a regular basis. We recently just moved floors, and one of our laterals that was right next to us came in; she was the first visitor because she wanted her daily candy fix. So, it’s just fun. We have fun.

Courtney White: I love it. I love it. Jackson Walker, the place to have fun, meet new friends, and do great work. So, I absolutely love that. And so, I want to thank you both for joining the podcast today. I learned a lot about our lateral partner recruiting process.

Bridgette McNulty Stahlman: Thanks, Courtney, we’re really happy to be here and to share what we do because, as you can tell, we absolutely love it.

Liz Gilman: Yes, thank you, Courtney. Happy to do it again and glad that we were able to join.

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The music is by Eve Searls.

The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the firm, its clients, or any of its or their respective affiliates. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.