Mentoring and Retention

Associate Advancement & Recruiting Committee

Taft believes that consistency in recruiting and professional development efforts is very important. To this end, we have created an Associate Advancement & Recruiting Committee. The committee is co-chaired by three partners who have spent several years working in the recruiting, professional development, and evaluation processes related to associates. In addition, the committee consists of a partner or two from each office, the firm’s chief recruiting officer, chief operations officer, and senior director of professional development. The committee is charged with hiring and retaining attorneys who will be successful at Taft on a long-term basis. The members not only conduct on-campus and in-house interviews, but also play a major role in the firm’s summer associate program. In addition, these partners are responsible for overseeing the progression and evaluation of associates, which is done through open lines of communication and transparency about what is needed to be a successful attorney at Taft.

Associate Advisory Group

The firm also has an Associate Advisory Group, which includes two associates from each office and the professional development team. The group meets periodically to discuss issues, concerns, and areas for improvement and works closely with the Associate Advancement & Recruiting Committee.

Mentoring Process

All associates are assigned a partner mentor and an associate mentor upon joining the firm. Typically, mentors are members of the associate’s assigned practice group. On an annual basis, associates are given the opportunity to choose a partner mentor to assist them in professional development. This partner assists in helping the associate achieve practice group milestones pertinent to their level of experience.