Lateral Process and Reference Check Forum

[Anonymous User]

I am in the process of making a lateral move. Do most firms do a reference check?

What kind of questions will they ask my references? i.e. just general if he was a good employee? etc?

How many references would you give? I was thinking 3? Two from jr. partners and one from an in-house counsel that I worked closely with.

Also, I am on my 2nd legal job moving to my third. Would they also ask you to provide references from your current job?

Thanks

[Anonymous User]

Currently lateral interviewing myself and interested in knowing this. Anyone know?

[Anonymous User]

When I lateraled to a V30, the firm just sent an email questionnaire with fairly generic questions to my references. Another friend who just recently lateraled to a different firm had a similar experience. I know that some firms (e.g. Covington) care lot more about references and will actually call them.

[Toni V]

In the world of V, there is no way to sugarcoat this …. the reference check is INDEPTH.

The time to check out CONFLICTS can take longer than expected ― you might receive the offer before the conflict result is known ― it is your call on whether you resign prior to learning if the conflicts are an issue. Some do, some don't. I waited, that was a three-week waste of time.

FWIW: After you accept and start work, some firms (through their vendor) will circle back and talk to your previous firm (makes sense, sort of, since they couldn’t talk to them earlier). With that in mind: On your way out the door, play nice.