Lateral Partners

Your first contact will be a preliminary discussion with one or more partners to determine your interest in exploring opportunities at Ballard Spahr, to talk about your practice and ours, and to decide whether to move forward.

The next step is to meet with partners in the office in which you would work. This is an opportunity to get to know our firm and culture, the specific practice group, and the lawyers and staff. You should expect to field questions about the nature and economics of your practice, your business plan, and your reasons for considering a move. Our goal in this phase is to assess the opportunity.

In this phase, you will be contacted by the Manager of Lateral Partner Services or a partner to plan for a meeting with partners in your practice group and to request your employment history, client list (for a conflicts check), financial data, and business plan. This information is shared confidentially with members of our Board and key partners involved in the hiring process.

You will visit our Philadelphia office to meet with partners in your practice group to review your business plan and discuss mutual opportunities. This meeting provides further opportunity to learn more about the firm and to meet lawyers in your practice group from other offices. You will be asked substantive questions about your practice, billing rates, billable hours, portable business, and client base. During this phase, the Strategic Planning Partner will share information about Ballard Spahr's partnership and its operations and benefits.

Following the successful completion of the practice group meetings, you will meet members of the firm's Board. This meeting will occur in Philadelphia, although some exchanges may take place via video conferencing. The format of these discussions is the same as the meetings with partners in your practice group. This is your opportunity to meet the partners who govern the firm.

If the meetings are successful, you will have a final round of discussions regarding compensation and terms of admission to the partnership with the Strategic Planning Partner. The partnership will then vote on your admission, and we will confirm your offer in writing. Following your successful admission to the Ballard partnership, our Manager of Lateral Partner Services will contact you to set an arrival date and begin to plan for your arrival, orientation, and integration.