New-lawyer orientation: on-boarding and its value

Once a year, all newly-hired General Electric lawyers are put through a three-day orientation. The orientation tells them about the huge law department’s various practice areas, their roles, players and functions. “In the second half of the program, new attorneys use a GE case study to learn basic finance and accounting concepts, including the company’s financial statement as well as GE’s business.” This comes from GC Mid-Atlantic, March 2008 at 15. “GE also runs a week-long in-house advance business course where the company’s lawyers learn financial analysis, performance measurements, issues with profitability, and operating margins and leadership skills.”

Few law departments can afford such a comprehensive on-boarding. All law departments can think about how to bring new lawyers into the fold most effectively (See my post of Jan. 4, 2008: socialization of new hires.).