OTLA Trial Lawyer Winter 2021

36 Trial Lawyer • Winter 2021 By Timothy Walsh I f there’s one word that best describes our present moment, I think it’s “un- certain.” Thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we’re uncertain when Oregon courts will be able to restart civil jury trials. Thanks to insurance companies’ intransigence, we’re uncertain as to how that will affect the value of our cases — though the early returns on that front haven’t been great. Thanks to the surge in remote working and learning, we’re uncertain if the dip in client intakes is temporary or permanent. In the midst of all that uncertainty, it’s tempting for small and mid-size plaintiff firms to buckle down and put any new hiring plans on the back burner. After all, most solo and small firm practitioners have a business model that already works, and hiring new help — Timothy Walsh especially new lawyers — can seem like an even bigger challenge than a weeklong jury trial. Without a human resources department or office manager, many plaintiff lawyers aren’t even sure where to begin searching for a new associate. There could be significant up-front ex- penses. Hiring someone who doesn’t fit well into your office model or working style, or with whom you have a tough time communicating, can lead to conflict and frustration all around. Fortunately, at least here in Oregon, there are a host of inexpensive, low- barrier ways that plaintiff lawyers who might want to hire a new associate can connect with lawyers who want to be hired. And even in these uncertain times, those connections can lead to an expand- ing legal practice that gets better results for its clients. Network connections Most of the thoughts in this article are drawn from my most recent job search, which took place a little over a year ago. Over the course of a couple of months, I got the chance to interview with several fellow OTLAns, who each explained what factors led them to start looking for an associate. The most com- mon one I heard about was “the cases that got away.” I suspect we all have certain types of personal injury cases we might refer away from our office, cases that might be marginal, or difficult, or expensive, or just ever so slightly out of our comfor t zone. But once our practices grow to the point where we’re referring away cases we would actually want to keep — if only there were just a couple more hours in the day — an associate starts to look more and more attractive. I mean, as happy as we are to see our colleagues successfully help one of our potential clients, we’d probably be even happier to have had that success ourselves. If you think your practice has reached that point, I really can’t stress enough that your best resource is absolutely your OTLA colleagues. As an introvert, cold- calling potential employers just isn’t something that comes naturally to me. But I did let a couple of friends know I was looking for work — friends who are far better connected than me—and they were absolutely invaluable in contacting colleagues, making introductions and helping to expand my professional net- work. For attorneys looking to hire, my best suggestion is to follow the same process in reverse. Rely on your profes- sional network to connect you with po- tential hires. Chances are someone in your immediate orbit knows an attorney who’s qualified, capable and looking for a new challenge. But bringing on an associate imme- diately isn’t necessarily the best option for attorneys whose caseloads are riiiight at the tipping point between manageable and not. Attorneys in that position, or those who just generally aren’t sure an TOHIREOR NOT TOHIRE WHEN,WHEREANDHOWTO FINDYOURNEWASSOCIATE