New York Lawyer
April 19, 2001

Q:
A young law school student came to interview recently at our firm. Many of us thought she was an excellent candidate, but her offer was torpedoed when the receptionist and a secretary said the candidate was snooty to them. Apparently when she came in she asked kind of imperiously for the partner she was interviewing with, didn�t make eye contact with the receptionist or try to relate in any way, and acted the same with the secretary. Personally I think this is an overreaction and that we should have gone ahead with the hire. And I�m not clear that it makes sense to give support staff such a say in hiring lawyers. It�s so hard to get good attorneys these days.

Submit Your Question

Find More Answers

A:
I guess it depends on your definition of �good attorneys.� Some might say the definition includes an ability to work well with all levels of employees. A lawyer -- particularly a young lawyer -- who alienates staff and is overly hierarchical in his or relationships, can wreak havoc and cause resentment and bitterness, causing turnover among support staff. (It�s so hard to get good staff these days, too.)

And your firm needs to have as much input as possible to avoid hiring the wrong people. While you�re right that support staff can�t give much technical input on hiring attorneys, their first impressions about a lawyer�s personality and how they might deal with others at the firm can be valuable. Those characteristics are critical in maintaining good working relationships and developing business, so they�re far from irrelevant.

If you are open to input from staff, you can accomplish a couple of things. First, you can gather information from a variety of sources to help with the daunting task of figuring out what kind of person the job candidate really is. We all know that the person who looks great on paper and has the skill set and pedigree you want can turn out to be a disaster due to a poor work ethic or compromised personal values. Little things like honesty and integrity can�t be established by a glance at a C.V.

And you can earn lots of brownie points by welcoming input. Staff will feel that they count and are members of the team, not just part of the wallpaper. That leads to greater commitment and loyalty in the long run. Staff people will stay in jobs longer, even if they could make more money elsewhere, when they are respected and treated as adults who are contributing to the firm, not as off-to-the-side peripheral figures who should be seen and not heard. Forget the snooty gal and look for hires who will fit in.

Sincerely,
Holly English
Principal Consultant, Values at Work