New BigLaw Perk for Struggling Associates: Career Counselor

Faced with the likelihood of associate flight, given high attrition rates, a growing number of BigLaw firms are trying a new tactic: hiring an in-house career counselor to help junior attorneys develop professionally.

The career counselor's role is to offer associates "a neutral and confidential third party to go to with questions: How do I stay on track to make partner? How do I better build my practice? How can I switch practices? How do I get out of here?" explains the Recorder.

Even if counseling leads to a new job elsewhere, that may mean future business for the former law firm if the associate has left on good terms—especially if the new position is with a client or in the public sector. However, the result of such efforts is often a happier and more productive attorney who opts to stay with the firm, proponents say.

"We see that as kind of retaining our talent in a different way, in a different capacity," says Diane Downs, the manager of attorney development at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker.

"Some people will leave whether they talk to me or not," adds Jessica Natkin, who was the first career guidance manager at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati before becoming a career counselor for Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. "So I try to help them to figure out what they want to do so they leave as a friend of the firm."

As discussed in an earlier ABA Journal article, having a single career guru coordinate the firm's associate training efforts is also a BigLaw trend.