Anyone hear about "secondments" in BigLaw? Forum

[ukjobsonwetton]

Next, consider the increasingly common phenomenon known as
“secondment,” in which large law firms lend their associates and
partners to their clients for a few months at a time. Historically, large
law firms have treated secondments with suspicion, and of course, they
would, pursuant to an autonomously self-interested perspective:
associates and partners are the human capital property of the firm and
corporate clients are the enemy trying to lure them away. Viewed in
this light, secondments were understood to be a dangerous tool by which
corporate clients could recruit a law firm’s top talent and undermine its
diversity efforts. Indeed, even as law firms have increasingly come to
terms with secondments, they have done so from an autonomous
perspective, conceiving of these arrangements as consistent with the
firm’s self-interest at the expense of others. If, for example, a corporate
client did lure a firm attorney away into its in-house department,
that attorney might later direct work to his old law firm rather than to
its competitors.
The Relational Infrastructure of Law Firm Culture and Regulation:
The Exaggerated Death of Big Law
By
Russell G. Pearce
EDWARD AND MARILYN BELLET CHAIR IN LEGAL ETHICS, MORALITY AND RELIGION
AND
Eli Wald
CHARLES W. DELANEY JR. PROFESSOR OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF DENVER STURM
COLLEGE OF LAW
42 Hofstra L. Rev. 109 (2013), at page 132.

[CharlesWhoo]

Many people at my firm, especially in the corporate group, have done it. Seems like great opportunity, to be paid biglaw salary to work in-house, and to get a feel of in-house dynamic. People who did it have only good things to say about it. The only downside I see is that you may be a couple months behind biglaw experience than your classmates, which I think is not a big deal.

[Anonymous User]

I've seen secondments play out in two ways in terms of associate career development:

Type 1: The firm loves you, they want you to stay, but they have this mega-valuable client that they want to continue deepening the relationship with. They send you over for a few months to develop your knowledge, further tie-in the client. It's a setup for you to have a great relationship when you're back at the firm in 3/6 months.

Type 2: The firm wants you to leave (or you want to leave) but you have enough goodwill a/o they perceive enough of a business opportunity that they're going to work to place you in-house and aren't in a rush to push you out. Your secondment is effectively a trial period at the new co. If it goes well, you move over there (maybe after a brief stint back at the firm while paperwork ties up).

Note that, in both cases, the secondment is in the business interest of the firm because, ya know, that's how it always works lol

[Anonymous User]

I've seen secondments play out in two ways in terms of associate career development:

Type 1: The firm loves you, they want you to stay, but they have this mega-valuable client that they want to continue deepening the relationship with. They send you over for a few months to develop your knowledge, further tie-in the client. It's a setup for you to have a great relationship when you're back at the firm in 3/6 months.

Type 2: The firm wants you to leave (or you want to leave) but you have enough goodwill a/o they perceive enough of a business opportunity that they're going to work to place you in-house and aren't in a rush to push you out. Your secondment is effectively a trial period at the new co. If it goes well, you move over there (maybe after a brief stint back at the firm while paperwork ties up).

Note that, in both cases, the secondment is in the business interest of the firm because, ya know, that's how it always works lol

You know OP is a troll, right?

[Anonymous User]

I've seen secondments play out in two ways in terms of associate career development:

Type 1: The firm loves you, they want you to stay, but they have this mega-valuable client that they want to continue deepening the relationship with. They send you over for a few months to develop your knowledge, further tie-in the client. It's a setup for you to have a great relationship when you're back at the firm in 3/6 months.

Type 2: The firm wants you to leave (or you want to leave) but you have enough goodwill a/o they perceive enough of a business opportunity that they're going to work to place you in-house and aren't in a rush to push you out. Your secondment is effectively a trial period at the new co. If it goes well, you move over there (maybe after a brief stint back at the firm while paperwork ties up).

Note that, in both cases, the secondment is in the business interest of the firm because, ya know, that's how it always works lol

You know OP is a troll, right?

I didn't even pay attention to the OP lol. But now that I read it, yeah, sure, it's a weird post.

[ukjobsonwetton]

Thank goodness Anonymous is here to point out trolling

Don't know how we'd get along without that

[nixy]

Sure, but why are you randomly posting quotes from various articles with citations?

[ukjobsonwetton]

2 days ago was the first time I heard about "secondments" so I looked it up. I was wondering how many TLS readers had heard of it.

There must have been some interest since it got hundreds of views in a day.

Reread the original post. It has nothing in common whatsoever with someone going on an Astronomy forum and posting that the Earth is flat, to get a rise out of people. Trolling.

Regarding randomness, that's always there when someone starts a new thread.

I thought others might be interested in reading about it so I gave the law review citation.

[ukjobsonwetton]

It's amazing that the daggers have to come out during a "secondments" discussion. Just imagine what it will be like when the Harvard affirmative action case is decided.

[Anonymous User]

It's amazing that the daggers have to come out during a "secondments" discussion. Just imagine what it will be like when the Harvard affirmative action case is decided.

This is 100% sweedishblue (or whatever the name was) all over again.

*I'm not going on forums and starting stupid culture wars*
*Flames culture war*

Let's just stop responding plz and let the mods do their job.

[ukjobsonwetton]

Thanks Anonymous for adding evidence in support of my claim