JD Journal » recruitment

McKenna Long & Aldridge to Include Psychological Test as Part of its Hiring Process

marvins — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 00:21:16 +0000

McKenna Long & Aldridge, an leading international law firm with more than 475 lawyers, announced that aside from grades, law review note, or Dalai Lama internship, the firm is now including another step in its hiring process- a psychological test. McKenna is now taking the recruitment process to a whole new level by employing a psychological test. McKenna is now requiring their potential associates to undergo a psychological test as part of the firm’s callbacks. Aside from the usual behavioral questions, the firm wants their new recruits to take psychological test to asses their psychological makeup.

Jennifer Queen, the firm’s head of recruiting and development, explained that the main reason behind it is the fact that they want to invest in the right people. “We started looking into [how we hire associates] back in 2007 when the salary increases hit. The salary was at $160,000 in D.C., and there were rumors that it might go to $180,000. That’s serious money. We’re a business, and want to invest in candidates the right way.”

Queen added that those who want to be part of McKenna will have to go through the new hiring model. “There’s the on-campus interview, where we look at the package of grades and experience. For the callback, we ask for a writing sample, and we ask candidates to do an online assessment test that takes 30 minutes. Then they come in, and lawyers are designated to ask certain questions-like “Tell me about the time you shared credit for an accomplishment,” or “the time you worked with someone you had a disagreement with.”

Morning Roundup

sara — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:14:39 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, April 19th, and here’s a look back at Friday’s stories…

New law grads face a difficult economic climate…

Associates at DLA Piper receive a 10% pay raise…

Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto receive awards in two categories from Managing Intellectual Property Magazine…

An intellectual property lawyer from Haynes and Boone is nominated for the European Patent Office’s Inventor of the Year Award…

Recruitment levels are back to normal at Clifford Chance…

Dewey & Leboeuf has raised $125 million in a bond offering to refinance its existing bank debt…

The Oregon Supreme Court sides with the employer in a case involving medical marijuana…

Two partners leave Mayer Brown following layoffs…

Recruitment Levels Get Back to Normal at Clifford Chance

joshua — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:04:33 +0000

In another sign the legal jobs market is improving, Clifford Chance has re-invited students from last year’s recruitment drive in England to re-apply with the firm.

According to LegalWeek, Clifford Chance normally recruits 120 trainees a year during its two intakes, which occur in August and February. However, because of the tough economic climate last year, the firm recruited “cautiously.” Now it’s asking students at Europe’s College of Law to re-apply during the next two trainee intakes so it can bring the number of trainees back to “normal” levels.

When confirming the news, a Clifford Chance spokesperson said the firm has used “rolling recruitment” in the past, but didn’t do so last year because of the economic climate.

LegalWeek goes on to note how retention rates have declined during the recession. According to its research, the retention rate in March 2010 was 75 percent, which is a pretty substantial drop from 83 percent in March 2009. As for Clifford Chance, Legal Week reports the firm retained 70 percent of its March qualifiers, which is down from 80 percent the previous year.

Clifford Chance is global London based firm with 29 offices in 20 countries and 3,600 legal advisers.

Morning Roundup

sara — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:54:35 +0000

Good morning everyone! Today is Monday, March 1, and here’s a quick look back at Friday’s news…

Profits and revenue decline at Debevoise & Plimpton…

Ogletree Deakins open a new office in Orange County, California…

Donchess & Notinger claim in a court filing that a bankruptcy case is creating a financial hardship for the firm…

Seyfarth Shaw releases details about it’s merit based plan…

Revenue and profits increase at Cahill…

10 lawyers leave McDonough Holland & Allen for DLA Piper…

Revenue decreases at DLA Piper…

U.S. firms scale back London recruitment according to a new survey…

Former University of Maryland law dean Karen Rothenberg is asked to refund $60,000 to the university…

Laurence Tribe accepts a position at the Department of Justice…

Freshfields unfreezes associate lockstep…

Obama nominates 4 U.S. Attorneys…

The Citizens United decision could lead to a constitutional amendment…

Congress considers a U.S. patent overhaul…

Jones Day Opposes NALP Recruitment Plan

joshua — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:41:04 +0000

Last month we told you about a report issued by the National Association for Law Placementthat recommended changes to the way firms recruit on campus. They asked for feedback, and Jones Day has filed this objection. At the heart of the 8 page complaint, dated January 29, is an assertion that implementation of the plant would be an antitrust violation. According to Jones Day, “…the Commission’s proposals would impermissibly alter the competitive market for the hiring of law students and would constrain students’ ability to reach early employment decisions that they individually judged to be in their best interests. It would also adversely affect the ability of law firms to make recruiting and hiring decisions in their own individual interests”.

A summary of the objection can be found on the firm’s website here.

Orrick Moves Away From Lockstep

joshua — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:50:06 +0000

Orrick presented its new compensation plan to its associates today, and there was much rejoicing. Unlike many firms that cut base salaries with discretionary bonuses, Orrick kept the $160k starting salary for first year associates. After that associates will be arranged in three tiers, associates, managing associates and senior associates. The three tier system is something we’ve seen from several firms that have abandoned lockstep this year, but Orrick also has multiple pay scales within each tier. At the high end, senior associates will pull down a base salary of $250k, plus bonuses. In addition, Orrick says it will pay bonuses at market rate plus an additional discretionary amount of 5-15%, depending on tier. This is a very competitive structure and should make Orrick a strong competitor for recruitment. The salary changes will begin in 2010 but the firm says it will pay bonuses for 2009 based on this structure.

Survey: Law Firms Offering Fewer Summer Associate Slots

Erik Even — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:53:54 +0000

A National Association for Law Placement survey of 2008 law firm recruiting found that law firms offered fewer summer associate positions to current 2Ls for 2009, and fewer 2008 summer associates received full-time job offers.

In addition, the acceptance rate for those summer associate and permanent positions was unusually high.

Last year’s recruiting climate was the worst the legal industry has seen in four years, according to the NALP survey, and 2Ls were hit hardest.

The median number of offers to 2Ls for summer associate positions at firms fell from 15 in 2007 to 10 in 2008. The decline was even steeper at firms with 700 or more attorneys, where the median number of offers fell from 30 in 2007 to 18.5 in 2008.

Additionally, fewer callback interviews yielded summer associate offers in 2008. In recent years, about 60% of callback interviews led to summer associate offers. Last fall, however, only 47% of callback interviews led to offers.

Acceptance rates for summer associate offers increased by about 3% from the previous year, to 32.5%.

About 90% of 2008 summer associates were offered full-time positions, compared to about 93% in 2007.

Law Schools Hunt for New Deans

Erik Even — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:37:11 +0000

According to the National Law Journal, numerous law schools are hunting for new deans, even in the economic downturn. But qualified professionals may not want the job.

Even in this economy, there seems to still be a demand for one high-paying job — law school dean. At least 27 law schools throughout the country are searching for new deans — and many are having a tough time filling the position.

Law schools from Harvard to the University of Arizona to Case Western to the University of Miami have all embarked on dean searches, and some are finding somewhat slim pickings, with the same applicants recycled for many of the jobs.

That’s because law school deanships, once highly sought after, are now high-stress jobs, thanks in part to the economy.

Via NLJ.

Law Students Face Drought in Summer Associate Posts

Erik Even — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:51:10 +0000

A shortage of legal work in 2009 is sure to dry up the pool of summer associate positions for law students.

From the WSJ Law Blog:

Summer law-firm programs are typically heavy on the play side of the work/play equation. Still, summer associates usually have to do some billable work for paying clients. This year, with the slowdown in transactions, some firms expect to have less to assign, particularly corporate work.

David Gordon of Latham & Watkins suggests firms will have to make busy work for summer associates, and that partners will have show up to recruitment events, because they won’t be interacting with summer associates through actual work.

Via Boston Business Journal.

What’s Really Happening on the Ground in China? [Update]

Erik Even — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:18:42 +0000

JDJournal’s A. Harrison Barnes just emailed me:

I just spoke with a candidate from the China office of a large US firm, and was told that “corporate practices are VERY slow in Hong Kong and Shanghai, despite what you are reading on blogs. Firms are slow and laying capital markets associates off. In short, the reality in China is much different than what the blogs are telling people.” [Of course, he was clearly referring to Kinney’s Asia Chronicles on ATL]

Asia Chronicles is a series of posts on the Above The Law blog by Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney of Kinney Recruiting, an ATL advertiser. While the latest post admits that “associate hiring is falling significantly” in Asia, the series, while informative about issues like expat allowances and taxes, contains what are basically advertisements for legal jobs in Asia (and using Kinney Recruiting to find one).

Also, this New York Times article from November, entitled “Lawyers Wanted: Abroad, That Is,” reports that “lawyers and analysts say that the most promising places for legal careers are such far-flung locales as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong.” But are they really?

UPDATE:

Harrison has since spoken to two recruiters who confirm that qualified candidates are having a rough time finding positions in East Asia and the United Arab Emirates, two regions that are supposedly hungry for new associates.