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Law School Rank and GPA Don't Predict Law Firm Success
A recent study by Kerma Partners, in conjunction with Redwood Analytics, a property of LexisNexis, shows that grades and school rank aren't the best predictors of lawyer success at their firms. (H/T Jeff Yates, Voir Dire). The Kerma study was designed to help identify and attract recruits who have both the credentials to enter the firm, but also have the right "stuff" to thrive at the firm. To determine which factors matter most, Kerma first identified the outperformers and underperformers, apparently based on billable hours. Kerma then developed a list of 200 different attributes, and identified those that predominated in the group of overperformers. Though the study summary available online doesn't specify which attributes are the best predictors of performance, it's clear that GPA and law school rankings are not among them.
While the results of the study might come as a news to law firm hiring committees, which have defined the "best and the brightest" by GPA/law school rank for years, they don't surprise me. Nor should it surprise a majority of the public who realize that characteristics like drive, willingness to take risks, marketing skills and passion for one's work matter far more on the job than paper credentials. And though you'd think that the lawyers with high GPAs from top-ranked law schools would possess these characteristics, that's not necessarily so. Many lawyers are naturally bright and obtained good grades effortlessly in law school. So when the time comes to hunker down and put in long hours, they can't hack it. Other lawyers may have toiled so mercilessly to attain top grades in a subject that they enjoy -- but that doesn't thrill them -- so they burn out by the end of the first or second year at Biglaw.
Still, don't expect the hierarchical law firm hiring system of focusing on grades and scores to come crashing down overnight in the wake of this study. If anything, the system may become even more rigid. The study authors are quick to caveat that:
The study was not meant to debunk the importance of school/grade criteria. To the contrary, we expect that, after a firm incorporates success factors into its recruiting program, its new incoming classes will have better school/grade profiles than those of their predecessors. That is, having a keen understanding of what makes associates successful at the firm will elevate the firm's competitive position in the talent markets, as the firm can deliver a convincing message to top prospects that they have the right profile for success at the firm. In a similar vein, some of our collateral findings tell us that intelligence around success factors can contribute to the sustainability of the results of a firm's diversity efforts.
Posted by Carolyn Elefant on October 15, 2008 at 07:55 AM | Permalink
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