How Leading a Global Law Firm in an Era of AI Talent and Constant Change with Kath Roberts
A lateral partner hire can look compelling on paper yet still struggle to gain momentum after joining. For firms making substantial recruitment investments, that gap creates financial pressure, reputational risk and uncertainty for the incoming partner.
The difficulty often begins when recruitment is treated as complete at acceptance or arrival. A business case, introductions and induction matter, but they do not by themselves establish the relationships and support needed for sustained performance.
Kath Roberts, Chair of Eversheds Sutherland (International) LLP and co-chair of the firm’s Global Board, brings a governance and leadership perspective shaped by 30 years with the firm. She also sits on the Council of the Law Society of England and Wales, representing major corporate firms.
The sections below break down how disciplined hiring, evolving plans, strong people skills and responsive leadership can improve the conditions for a successful move. The practical implication is clear: integration is the final stage of recruitment, not a separate optional programme.
Why lateral partner integration must start before the hire joins
A well-run lateral process tests more than technical reputation or portable work. It should establish why the firm needs the hire, what success could look like and which people must help turn the rationale into reality.
Build the case around a defined need
Roberts describes a more typical route to hiring as building a business case, identifying the need and setting the scope before approaching the market. That discipline helps the firm and candidate examine whether the opportunity is viable rather than relying on a broad impression of fit.
Make diligence genuinely two-way
The recruitment process should allow both sides to assess the relationship. The calibre of people involved, the quality of discussions and the work done together on a business case can reveal whether expectations about clients, collaboration and opportunity are aligned.
Keep recruitment accountable after acceptance
Around 60% of lateral partner hires are not seen as successful, according to IntoGreat Coaching Limited's client context. Recruitment ownership should therefore extend beyond signing, because the commercial rationale for the appointment still needs to be delivered after the partner arrives.
Define the strategic and client need before launching the search.
Test mutual expectations during the selection process.
Identify the internal partners responsible for early support.
Agree how progress against the case will be reviewed.
These actions do not remove uncertainty, but they make assumptions visible while both parties can still address them. They also give recruitment leaders a practical basis for coordinating the next phase.
The useful test is simple: if no one owns the plan after the hire joins, the recruitment process is incomplete. Lateral partner integration should be designed as its final, commercially accountable step.
Turn the business case into an adaptable first-year plan
A focused first 100 days can create momentum, but it is only the early bedding-in period. A lateral partner’s plan needs enough structure to guide action and enough flexibility to respond when client contacts, market conditions, or priorities change.
Translate the pre-hire case into practical activity
Roberts points to a first-100-day plan that covers meeting the right people, client introductions, navigating the firm and relevant inductions. Those actions convert an agreed rationale for the hire into visible, co-ordinated work rather than leaving the partner to decode the organisation alone.
Distinguish induction from integration
Induction explains systems, policies and immediate contacts. Integration is longer-term work: building credibility with colleagues, working through the business case and creating the conditions in which client relationships and cross-practice opportunities can develop.
Review changes without treating them as failure
A business case can evolve for an incoming partner just as it can for an incumbent. Client personnel move, mandates alter, and opportunities emerge, so review discussions should identify what has changed and decide what support or redirection is now needed.
A review rhythm prevents a plan from becoming a forgotten recruitment document. It also creates a disciplined way to separate external market change from issues the firm or partner can actively address.
The aim is not rigid delivery against every original assumption. It is a shared, evolving route to the strategic contribution that justified the hire in the first place.
Create the relationships and confidence that support performance
Financial expectations are only one part of a lateral move. The partner must establish working relationships, understand decision-making and feel able to raise concerns early, while internal colleagues need clarity about how they can contribute to a shared outcome.
Treat people skills as commercial skills
Roberts places client capability and people capability at the centre of partner success. Winning work and delivering it well remain essential, but partners also need to motivate colleagues, help them thrive and create the conditions for high-quality delivery.
Give concerns a safe route to the surface
Incoming partners can face pressure around expectations, relationships, client transfer and internal politics. A confidential space to discuss those issues can help firms identify practical barriers before uncertainty hardens into disengagement or avoidable conflict.
Use empowerment rather than dependence
Roberts frames empowerment in two directions: partners should take charge of the areas where they can excel, and empower others in areas outside their strengths. That approach supports a broader network around the hire rather than concentrating every responsibility in one individual.
Introduce the partner to decision-makers and likely collaborators.
Clarify who can unblock operational or relationship issues.
Create confidential opportunities to discuss pressures early.
Encourage the partner to delegate to recognised strengths.
Relationship-building should be purposeful, not a diary-filling exercise. Each connection should help the partner understand the firm, contribute to client work or strengthen the delivery of the agreed plan.
Confidence grows when support is visible, specific and reciprocal. That is how a firm turns an individual appointment into a functioning part of its partnership.
Lead through change without losing commercial focus
Integration takes place amid wider change, including new technology, shifting client demands and uncertain external conditions. Firms cannot remove those pressures, but they can help laterals understand how the organisation responds and where they fit within that response.
Support adoption, not just access
Roberts notes that the differentiator is not simply having technology available, but how it is used and how people are supported to adopt it. For a lateral, this includes understanding supervision, research, costing, risk and client engagement in the firm’s operating environment.
Protect learning and supervision
Automation may change how work is delivered, but it does not remove the need to develop future experts and leaders. Incoming partners need to see how the firm invests in supervision, feedback and opportunities for junior colleagues, because those practices affect their ability to build a sustainable team.
Anchor decisions in strategy and values
External developments may require a firm to pivot, yet Roberts stresses the value of clear strategy, lived values and leading by example. That clarity gives laterals a reliable basis for deciding how to prioritise, communicate and act when circumstances become less predictable.
Change is easier to absorb when expectations are explicit and leaders remain available. A partner who understands the firm’s direction can make better decisions for clients, colleagues and their own developing practice.
Commercial focus and human support are not competing priorities. Together, they give a lateral hire a more credible platform from which to contribute through change.
Conclusion
Successful lateral hiring depends on what happens before, during and long after the start date. The strongest approach joins recruitment judgement with deliberate support for delivery, relationships and adaptation.
First, a clear business case and two-way assessment create a firmer foundation for the appointment. Recruitment should remain responsible for ensuring that foundation is carried into the integration phase.
Second, a first-year plan should turn intent into action while allowing for changing clients, markets and internal priorities. Regular reviews keep the plan useful rather than merely administrative.
Third, partner performance rests on people as well as client work. Practical relationships, empowerment and a safe route for concerns help incoming partners gain confidence and build momentum.
Recruitment leaders should review their current lateral partner integration process from business case to sustained delivery, identifying who owns each critical relationship and review point. Firms seeking specialist support can consider IntoGreat Coaching Limited as part of that recruitment-owned process.
FAQs
What is lateral partner integration?
Lateral partner integration is the continuing work of helping an incoming partner deliver the agreed business case through relationships, support, clear expectations and regular review.
Who should own lateral partner integration in a law firm?
Recruitment should retain ownership of the integration strategy because it is the final stage of the recruitment process, working closely with practice, talent and leadership colleagues.
Is a 100-day plan enough for a lateral partner?
No. A 100-day plan can provide an important start, but integration should continue as the partner develops relationships, pursues opportunities and responds to changing circumstances.
Why do lateral partner hires need confidential support?
A confidential space can help a partner discuss pressures, expectations and practical barriers early, allowing constructive action before those issues affect confidence or performance.
How can firms improve lateral partner integration?
Firms can improve lateral partner integration by linking the business case to a structured, adaptable plan with accountable internal sponsors, purposeful introductions and regular progress reviews.
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