Big Law Firms Build Out Career Coaching and Alumni Programs, Inspired by Consulting Firms

Kirkland's Chief Administrative Officer Chiara Wrocinski discussed with The American Lawyer the benefits of the Firm's strong alumni network programming. 

Large law firms are building out their alumni programs with events, websites, career development and coaches — taking a page from the playbook of programs at big consulting firms, said firm leaders and industry observers.

Firms such as Kirkland & Ellis and A&O Shearman say their alumni programs have become more structured, robust, and ingrained into their firm's DNA—and the programming is partly inspired by consulting firms.

According to David Schoeman, senior partner and co-leader of alumni relations at McKinsey & Company, the consulting firm playbook includes a dedicated alumni website, virtual and in-person events, alumni newsletters, job boards, learning and professional programming, career coaches, and more.

By building out their alumni programming, Big Law's alumni networks have proven to be significant talent and business tools for firms.

Chiara Wrocinski, the chief administrative officer at Kirkland & Ellis, pointed out the "business development benefits." She added it was a "wonderful retention" tool, too. "While you're at Kirkland for however many years, you have this vast network of alumni that you can tap into and learn from, and you also know that there are people within the firm who can help you toward whatever your career goals may be."

Wrocinski joined the firm from Deloitte back in 2013. She said in an interview that she helped model the firm's alumni networks by taking inspiration from management consulting firms like her former employer.

"When I came to Kirkland, we were really one of the innovators in the alumni relations space. Professional services had a long history of doing this — consulting firms in particular — and that was a great framework to work around," she said. "Kirkland hit the ground running in more of an innovative way, but many other firms have joined us, because building out a robust alumni network really is a smart thing to do."

"It is fair to say that the Big Four and other leaders in alumni relations like Goldman [Sachs] and McKinsey as well as top colleges and universities inspired foundational elements of Kirkland's alumni engagement program," she added.

'Law Firms are Waking Up'

Boyan Wells, a securities attorney and co-chair of A&O Shearman's alumni team, said that he was “brought on board to look at other companies' alumni network programs,” mainly management consulting firms.

“A&O Shearman has actually not looked to the UK's Big Four but rather to management consultancy firms for insights into how best to operate our alumni network,” he added.

Now, he says that programs are more developed than ever.

“When you're as old as me, you can remember a time when firms did not prioritize alumni relations. It used to be that when you put in your notice, you had to go stand in the corner. Law firms are waking up to that and are trying to be good employers not only when attorneys are there, but also after employment,” Wells said.

Alumni networks are more important than ever as law firm loyalty declines and more attorneys make lateral moves, he noted.

“As a practical matter, that mobility is a fact — it's not saying much about you anymore, and saying more about the market in general. That's something we live with and something that should not dissuade us from investing in our people,” he added.

Current initiatives at A&O Shearman include an alumni advisory board composed of current and former partners and business team leaders who represent the firm's “priority regions” and largest offices.

The alumni events serve an even larger purpose after Allen & Overy’s merger with Shearman & Sterling in May. Antonia Stolper, a retired partner and now of counsel who co-chairs the firm’s alumni program with Wells, said that the combined firm has done huge events of firmwide alumni networks, which they took from A&O, while Shearman used to do practice area parties.

In particular, A&O Shearman hosts events around the world, including in Switzerland and New Zealand, where the firm does not have offices but where they have a “significant alumni presence,” Wells said.

A&O Shearman is also “in the process of developing a structured approach to working with our partners to identify talent and match that talent with client vacancies,” he added.

Career Networking

Helping partners find jobs with clients and other contacts has now become a familiar approach for both law firms and consulting firms.

David Schoeman at McKinsey said the consulting firm provides “job transition resources, such as a job board with more than 950 top-tier opportunities from the McKinsey network, and a searchable candidate board for hiring organizations, including alumni looking to hire McKinsey talent.”

For its part, Kirkland & Ellis's alumni network programming features an interactive website with networking and in-mail news stories, regular newsletters and events based on practice group and region. The firm has also launched a CareerLink Initiative, a career development and coaching full-service program for attorneys, alums and friends of the firm, said Wrocinski.

Kirkland in addition offers a workshop entitled “In-House Insider,” where they bring a cohort of attorneys and alums to “dig deep” into their legal careers.

“This helps our attorneys develop their client service skills, or prepare them for a transition in-house should they desire,” said Wrocinski.

Despite its foundations in the Big Four consulting programs, Wrocinski said that Kirkland’s program today is “fairly unique” as it has “chosen to focus on both outreach and also career development through learning opportunities and programs like the In-house Insider and CareerLink, which provide targeted support for our alumni as well as clients.”

Wrocinski said Kirkland's alumni population may be large by law firm standards but “it is exponentially smaller than the Big Four and that allows us to craft the kind of bespoke offerings that are just harder to accomplish on a larger scale.”

Law.com previously reported that the largest, most profitable firms likely spend in the low millions of dollars annually on their alumni programs.

When asked about the return on investment for Kirkland's alumni program, Wrocinski said it's not something the firm sets out to measure.

“Rather, we see the amazing feedback, strong network and recruitment benefits as a sign we've hit the mark,” she added.