The Basics:

•  Review your CV – know key dates, prepare to discuss perceived weaknesses, note the highlights.
• Prepare for ‘interview’ questions – most senior level meetings will be more akin to a business meeting than an interview but nonetheless it is worth considering points such as:

Strengths & Weaknesses
Successes & Failures
Career ambitions

• Research the firm – partner profiles, recent news (relevant hires, office openings), financial performance, growth strategy, any negative press. Use the website, legal press, sector specific press, linked-in for Partner backgrounds. Your recruiter may provide this information.
• Know the details – who you are meeting, where they are, how to get there, how long it will take.
• In case of emergency – if it’s unavoidable and you can’t make it, call your recruiter but in case they are not available, have a number handy for the firm or Partner you are meeting.

The Business Case:
The majority of senior level meetings are highly conversational and far less structured than an associate interview. Whilst this is largely positive, it also puts a great deal of emphasis on you to get your key points across and to sell yourself, since you are less likely to be fed questions to bring out your strengths. The meeting is also far more likely to focus on business than on technical expertise since by this stage in your career, the latter will be taken largely for granted.

• Know your elevator pitch – a sales term that won’t sit comfortably with some lawyers but it can be a highly effective tool. It is your three minute answer to the question ‘why should we hire you?’ In reality, you are unlikely to be asked it but it can inform your whole approach and can also serve as a convincing way to wrap up a meeting, leaving them with a clear impression of why they should be offering you a position.
• Think about your business case – it pays to spend a little time thinking about your network of contacts, your business development experience, how you might envisage bringing some of your own work in.

 If you have a following, be prepared to discuss this in some detail – not necessarily naming specific clients but discussing the nature of the contacts, the potential fee income and the likelihood of them following.

If you don’t have a following or if you are in a field where followings are less likely (such as litigation) you should pay even greater attention to how you would endeavour to bring in work. Think about contacts with whom you may be able to secure an opportunity to pitch, think about marketing and profile building opportunities and of course the potential opportunities to cross sell with your new partners.

Consider opportunities to introduce work from your contacts to your prospective Partners. A transactional lawyer may bring opportunities to pitch clients for disputes, tax or employment work for example.