Amy McCormack Quoted in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin Article

January 18, 2013

A recent article (subscription required) published in the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin heavily quoted McCormack Schreiber's Amy McCormack regarding current attorney recruiting trends.  Below are some excerpts:

McCormack said the time needed to complete a lateral partner move is often "much longer in duration."

This was more pronounced in the second half of 2012, she said.

In the second half, "clients who were not able to move a search more quickly often lost top candidates to clients who were more nimble," McCormack said.

Also, McCormack said, portable business is not the sole qualification for a lateral lawyer anymore.  Today, firms examine a candidate's "practice area and expertise, client synergies" and a candidate's effect on other practices before they even talk to the candidate.  She said this scrutiny was always done, but today is more far reaching.

Regarding in-house recruiting, McCormack said experienced temporary lawyers - as opposed to permanent hires or outside counsel  - are oten sought for general corporate work and to counsel a company's sales force.

For 2013, McCormack predicted for recruiters that there would be "a lot of activity in the first two quarters, and hopefully for the entire year.  We were very busy in November and December. "