Laterals

A legal education doesn’t end in law school. It continues throughout a legal career, with flexible, engaging, and challenging growth opportunities that develop a Ballard-training lawyer. We offer all of the training resources lawyers need to advance their careers. Seminars build on the legal knowledge gained on the job, while hands-on workshops on a variety of subjects, such as depositions and negotiation, simulate real-life challenges to build practical legal skills. Professional skills training on topics such as executive presence, financial literacy, and business development help lawyers build a well-rounded profile and give them the tools needed to succeed in a rapidly-changing world. We also encourage our lawyers to devote time to pro bono matters, for billable hour credit, as another way to broaden their legal experience.

Ballard Spahr strives to create an inclusive, equitable, and diverse environment where all associates and attorneys can develop their technical skills, grow both personally and professionally, and contribute at their highest levels to client work and to the firm. Mentoring is a key component of the Ballard Spahr culture, and it allows for the growth of important and authentic connections among our lawyers. The firm's partners have made a commitment to such relationships through formal and informal attorney mentoring programs, spending one-on-one time with junior colleagues to guide and counsel them on business, career, and personal development, and client relationships. AMP, our Associate and Attorney Mentor Program, provides tools to help lawyers at all levels the opportunity to learn from their more experienced colleagues and vice versa.

Evaluation

Our attorneys receive annual, formal written and oral performance evaluations. Evaluators consider the attorney’s performance across a number of competencies, such as knowledge of practice area, judgment, written and oral communication, crisis management, project management, business development, overall quality of work, and commitment to teamwork.

Associates, attorneys, and of counsel who join the firm later in the year -- including entry-level associates and lateral hires -- participate in a mid-year review process in the spring, which provides feedback on their work during their first months at the firm.
Associates and other lawyers on the partnership track are first eligible to be considered for admission to the partnership eight years after law school graduation.

Rolling Feedback

Our attorneys don’t just hear from evaluators once a year. The firm also maintains a rolling feedback platform, where associates receive more frequent and real-time feedback from lawyers with whom they regularly work.

Work Assignments

The firm’s assigning partners work hard to ensure that our attorneys receive assignments and opportunities that stretch their abilities and allow them to grow. The firm developed a technology platform so associates can provide real-time availability that allows for a more efficient and uniform assignment process. The platform also empowers assigning partners with information to quickly and efficiently staff matters with associates who have the right level of experience.

Every attorney must be an active member in good standing of the bar in the state or jurisdiction of his or her resident office or must be actively pursuing such admission.

We do not sponsor a program for foreign-educated attorneys seeking a temporary position in U.S. law firms as a prerequisite for receiving their LL.M. degree. We do accept applications from individuals with a foreign LL.M. degree who have taken steps to be admitted to the state bar of their resident office or who are eligible to sit for a U.S. bar examination.

Our minimum annual billable requirement for full-time associate employment is 1,900 hours. Hours committed toward the firm's pro bono practice are also given billable hour credit.

Offices and practice groups handle attorney mentoring in a variety of ways. Some formally assign senior attorneys and partners as mentors for the professional development of new attorneys, while others focus on group mentoring. No matter how each program is designed, the goal is the same: to ensure that each attorney has a mentor who is committed to investing time in his or her professional growth.

Training takes many forms. New attorneys learn on the job, working side by side with more senior attorneys. Our orientation programs and seminars offer more structured training. Departments and practice groups present nuts-and-bolts sessions for junior attorneys, while the groups' monthly luncheons give attorneys at all levels a chance to exchange information and keep abreast of new developments in their areas.

We believe that our clients are best served when the solutions we offer spring from varied experiences and perspectives. We foster an environment that welcomes and includes all people, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identification. Our Chief Diversity Officer and Diversity Committee oversee our efforts to increase diversity in the legal profession through the daily operation of the firm and through an array of outreach efforts. We support national, regional, and local organizations that work toward the advancement of diversity in the legal profession; we host and participate in minority job fairs; and we have developed a landmark pipeline project in Philadelphia to nurture the skills and aspirations of inner-city high school students.

Ballard Spahr staffs its cases efficiently, which gives all attorneys an opportunity for a high level of responsibility. Our professionals have access to excellent resources, allowing for the highest-quality services to be provided to our clients.

Ballard Spahr prides itself in offering the best legal services possible, which includes the ability to call upon all attorney resources in all offices, for each matter.

Attorney requests to work part time are evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the needs of the firm and the circumstances of the individual.

Attorneys are first eligible to be considered for admission to the partnership eight years after law school graduation.