In 2003, according to the National Association for Law Placement, the attrition rate among associates by their fifth year was 53.4%.  (The universe of law firms sampled was not disclosed.)   In 2005 (hopefully among the same universe of firms), it was (pick one):

• down by more than 20 percentage points to one-third
• more or less the same at half
• up by more than 20 percentage points to three-quarters.

In 2004, according to The American Lawyer, 2,081 partners left their firms for another job as a lawyer.  In 2005, that number was (pick one):

• down 20% or so to about 1,600
• more or less the same
• up 20% or so to about 2,500.

Ready?  Answer (c) in both cases.  The 5th-year associate attrition rate in 2005 per the NALP study was 78.4%, and the headcount of partner departures per TAL in 2005 was 2,429.

So we arrive at the question du jour:  What have you done for your firm’s alumni network lately?   This is partly prompted by two articles, one from each side of the pond, in The National Law Journal and in Legal Week.

What’s the value of that network?  Let’s turn the question around:   What have you invested in those who have left?  The business reality of the value of that investment is changing the tone of conversation from, "They’re gone; goodbye; so long" to "Stay in touch; drop by; come to our alumni-network events."  To Skadden-Arps, it’s setting up a contact network for lawyers on maternity leave.  According to Earle Yaffa, Skadden’s managing director, "we would love to get them back." 

Or consider the Vinson & Elkins partner who left to become GC of a Texas health-care company hoping she could spend more time with her three daughters.  Eighteen months later, after a few visits from V&E managing partner Joseph Dilg, she came back as a partner with the understanding that V&E could provide some flexibility and let her attend after-school events if she could up on work later at home.  Improbable?  So they thought, but so it was not: “I thought it would feel a little awkward coming back,” she said. “It turned out to be really comfortable.”

Meanwhile, in the UK, according to a Thomson Elite survey (no US analog reported), only 15 of the top 100 firms mention their alumni networks on their websites—but that includes 8 out of those in the top 10, and only 7 of those ranked 11—100 (and just 2 in the second, 51—100, half).

Now, the contrarians in the audience may be asking yourselves, "If so few firms seem to invest in the care and feeding of their alumni networks, maybe there’s a reason; maybe, in other words, it’s a poor investment."

But consider:  McKinsey, not known for an unsophisticated or unwise approach to business strategy, invests a tremendous amount in creating and nurturing its alumni network.  Indeed, it’s virtually a "core competence" of the firm.  And if you happened to graduate from an Ivy League or similar high-caliber, high-endowment fund university, you’ve had first-hand experience of an institution that works assiduously on its alumni network.  (According to the Legal Week piece, "US universities" raised $7.1-billion from their alumni last year, and "more than 20" raised over $50-million apiece.

While that’s admittedly not squarely on point, consider this:

"[A] top 100 law firm in the US, with about 550 lawyers on its staff, decided to initiate an alumni programme. Within six months, it had more than 400 registered alumni, had benefited from 10 significant business leads from the programme and had achieved more than $500,000 (£268,000) in new client work."

$500,000 will pay for a fair amount of website development work and networking events.

To make this more than an exercise in setting up a backwatered email list-serv and some episodic cocktail parties, consider putting real intellectual teeth into your "programme:"

• Group your alumni by practice area and have periodic briefings and updates in their specific areas of expertise provided by your firm;
• Convene groups of similarly like-minded alumni together with your firm’s own "thought leaders" in those disciplines and discuss the implications of cutting-edge developments (stock options backdating for the securities-law crowd, anyone?);
• Communicate clearly, albeit in an understated way (this won’t be hard for you!), that you welcome overtures by selected alum’s about returning to the firm, in roles TBD but which can you are prepared to discuss with flexibility and creativity.

The more anthropologists and evolutionary biologists learn about human behavior, the more firmly established is that we instinctively trust local groups (those aren’t the only groups we can trust, of course, but they’re the readiest to fall to hand).  Capitalize upon these instincts. 

Consider this:  How large is the potential number of people who could bring business to your firm or otherwise benefit it reputationally or intangibly?  Thousands?  Tens of thousands?  Your alumni constitute the minute percentage of that potential audience that your firm has actually made a sizable investment in, whom you have selected from among scores of ostensibly qualified competitors, who have intellectual and emotional bonds to your firm. 

Ignore or overlook them?  Emotionally immature, intellectually arrogant, and financially imprudent.  Don’t be among the 85% (UK 100) going down that benighted path.