In response to the economy and so they don’t lose their new shining stars, law firms are instituting delays in the starting dates of new employees. And stipends (nice ones) for the new hires’ wallets) for sabbaticals and public service endeavors are part of the deal.
Like so many other fields, law is on shaky ground as the economy continues to rock and roll. While the idea of “hiring them and sending them away” seems a tad more innovative than some organizations can handle, lawyers loosen up their starchy shirts to declare they are in the war for talent with a clear strategy – to win.
Scooped up by the New York law firm, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, Heather Eisenlord who graduated from George Washington University near the top of her class plans to leaves her Brooklyn apartment to visit 10-15 destinations around the world, teaching English to monks in Sri Lanka and helping bring solar power to remote parts of the Himalayas. Eisenlord’s year-long sabbatical starts July 1st, and her $80,000 salary certainly paves the financial way for a profound journey.
She won’t meet up with Juan Vladiviesco, a Harvard Law School student who graduates next month. He’s using his stipend of $60,000 to pursue pro bono work in the public service sector before he joins up in the fall of 2010 with the Washington-based firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
How logical is this for a business? Mark Weber, assistant dean at Harvard Law, says the idea of granting sabbaticals on the front end of a career is “financially convenient” for such high-profile law firms that offer starting salaries of around $160,000.
Convenience and money aside, while others futz around, these firms will keep the talent they selected this year as well as gain employees with broadened perspectives of the world and life outside of work. The law profession combines work-life flexibility, the war for talent, developing high potentials and innovation in this unprecedented move … and other organizations should take note.
So when it comes to being clever AND taking action, give credit and lay off the lawyer jokes. There’s nothing funny about smart people being smart.
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