Over the course of my legal career I have been at large firms, small firms, and with the government. There is one constant I have noticed throughout my career — that your colleagues change jobs as much as you do. A fact of life is that key colleagues are going to leave their positions at your place of employment. I find that this is a tough process to manage. First, most of the time, you are losing not only a colleague, but a friend. And second, you are losing a good source of knowledge that has been built up over the course of the departing colleague’s time working with you. Thus, the transition process when a colleague leaves is very important. I decided it would be helpful to list how I handle this predicament to ensure that there is a smooth transition for you, your employer, and any clients involved.
The most important aspect of the transition is to have a smooth and effective transfer of knowledge from the departing attorney to yourself or the new attorney taking over the case. I recommend having as many meetings as possible and talking over the case with the departing attorney as many times as possible. If you and the departing attorney prepare for the meetings, this can be an extremely effective way to transition knowledge from one attorney to another. I also believe having the departing attorney’s key work product at these meetings will help. Whether it is a brief or a memo, going over the documents with the departing attorney will help you better understand the case. This will also help you understand the departing attorney’s thinking and reasoning on why certain decisions were made.
Another good idea is having the departing attorney prepare a departure memorandum on each case that the attorney is currently working on. This does not have to be extensive, but it should note the basic story of the case, who the players are, what has been accomplished procedurally, and where the case is heading. A good departure memorandum will save a lot of time for the next attorney who will be picking up the matter.
The next step in transitioning an attorney’s cases to yourself or another attorney is to have a seamless physical transition of all files and work product. In this digital age, this is much easier than it was years ago when key documents were always in hard copy. But to that end, you must ensure that you have access to that attorney’s computer files and documents. It’s also important to have access to the departing attorney’s company email and voicemail. All these things should be saved in the normal course of business, but just be sure nothing is deleted, or access is lost when the attorney leaves. Make sure you have all passwords saved before the departure date so that the moment the departing attorney has left, you can respond to emails and voicemails right away.
One more vital step in this process is to inform all the clients and professionals that the departing attorney was working with. You never want the client to be the last one to know that their primary contact on their case has left and no one bothered to tell the client. Always remember, the client comes first. Make sure you have a plan on how to tell the client about the attorney’s departure and how you are going to address any concerns the client may have regarding the departure.
With regard to professionals such as experts, you want to inform them about the departure or any change in staffing as soon as possible too. You do not want to risk the social capital that the departing attorney has built with any experts or witnesses. Another good idea is to have the departing attorney go over what he or she has spoken to the expert or witness about. If there have been extensive communications between the attorney and the professional, then the departing attorney should prepare some sort of memorandum that summarizes what has been discussed and where the case is currently.
It’s always difficult seeing a colleague depart. But if you try to follow some of these recommendations, then hopefully the transition can be easier and smoother.
Peter S. Garnett is an attorney at Balestriere Fariello who represents clients in trials, arbitrations, and appeals. He focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation and contract disputes from pre-filing investigations to trial and appeals. You can reach Peter at peter.s.garnett@balestrierefariello.com.