Legal Innovators, an alternative legal services provider focused on innovative talent management solutions, and Orrick, a global law firm known for talent innovation, are collaborating on a pilot program through which two Legal Innovators lawyers will join Orrick’s incoming class of law school graduates as “Orrick Legal Innovators’ Fellows.” In addition, a larger group of diverse lawyers joining Orrick this year will participate in a Legal Innovators-led training program.
Through this collaboration, Orrick’s Legal Innovators Fellows will be fully integrated into Orrick client teams while continuing to receive the support of Legal Innovators’ unique training and mentorship program. After their second year with the firm, the Fellows may be offered full-time associate positions.
“The opportunity to be trained and mentored while working with world-class firms like Orrick, plus the opportunity to secure permanent employment, are the hallmarks of the value proposition Legal Innovators offers to young lawyers who work for us,” said Bryan Parker, CEO of Legal Innovators.
Under the pilot, five new Orrick associates also participated in the Legal Innovators training program, which helps lawyers develop analytical, writing and business development skills. The Legal Innovators’ training program was designed by David Cruickshank, Principal at Edge International and the former head of Professional Development for Paul Weiss, and Legal Innovators co-founder and Chairman, Jonathan Greenblatt.
“We’re focused on applying science-backed insights to the way we recruit and develop lawyers in a way that’s inclusive and attractive to top, diverse talent,” said Orrick’s Chief Talent Officer
Siobhan Handley. “While we’re experimenting with a number of approaches, we’re especially impressed by Legal Innovators’ methodology and excited, not only to welcome the two Orrick Legal Innovators’ Fellows, but also to learn from their creative thinking and curriculum to ensure we improve the way we support diverse talent.”
Legal Innovators moves beyond traditional hiring metrics. Utilizing predictive analytics, they look at more than 20 factors, such as accolades and work experience in undergrad, to determine the potential success of a candidate.
Driving systemic change in diversity and inclusion in BigLaw remains the aim of many in the legal industry. Orrick and Legal Innovators envision this collaboration leading to further learning in this area and hope to build on the experience to devise strategies that can drive systemic change in diversity and inclusion – an important part of the missions of both organizations.
“We’re humbled and thrilled to add a firm of Orrick’s quality and innovative nature as our first and foundational law firm partner,” added Parker. “We’re excited to assist the firm in driving real progress in the areas of diversity and inclusion, including what we believe may be the development of new tools that may further accelerate progress.”
Bechtel Corporation, a global leader in engineering, construction and project management, also announced a collaboration with Legal Innovators in December to expand its in-house model.