Am Law 100 Firm Partners with Calibrate for a High-Stakes Managing Partner Search 

Calibrate was engaged to apply its signature data-driven rigor and precise project management to the firm’s internal search process, normally only seen in external searches, to identify its next Managing Partner. 

The Benefits of Calibrate’s Participation 

The firm realized many benefits from Calibrate working in concert with the Search Committee, including: 

1. Objectivity & Neutrality. Calibrate provided an unbiased assessment of candidates, mitigating internal politics and favoritism. 
2. Broader Assessment Capabilities. Calibrate used structured leadership assessments and benchmarking data against leaders in other firms to ensure the best fit for the role. 
3. Confidentiality & Discretion. Calibrate conducted confidential outreach and discussions without internal leaks, preserving firm stability. 
4. Access to Best Practices. Calibrate provided insights from other top law firms, ensuring a process aligned with industry-leading approaches and emerging governance trends. 
5. Structured, Transparent Process. Calibrate’s formalized process enhanced legitimacy, reducing skepticism among partners and ensuring the best candidate emerges based on merit rather than politics. 
6. Time & Resource Efficiency. Running the process through Calibrate materially reduced the amount of time firm leaders devoted the process, reserving their time to focus on high-level decision-making rather than administration.

Additionally, Calibrate developed a process tailored to the firm that included the following steps: 

1. Development of a Job Description. Calibrate worked with the Search Committee to develop a clearly defined set of key responsibilities and personal attribute based on the firm’s partnership agreement and guidelines established by the firm’s Executive Committee that would incorporate  industry best practices and resonate with the firm’s culture.  
2. Partner Communications. Calibrate developed a firmwide presentation, along with talking points for various group meetings, to both inform the firm’s partners of the process and to lay the groundwork to encourage interested partners to engage in a confidential process.  
3. Key Stakeholder Interviews. Calibrate customized a series of questions for a cross section of partners and c-suite executives to get feedback on direction, ideal attributes of the future Managing Partner, and other considerations for potential candidates resulting in a quantitative analysis and thematic assessment. 
4. Indication of Interest. Calibrate prepared a process to obtain information from interested partners and filter out any prospective candidates whose credentials did not meet the minimum requirements. 
5. Calibrate Interviews. Calibrate interviewed all candidates who submitted an indication of interest and who were approved by the Search Committee. 
6. Shortlist Presentation. Calibrate prepared and presented a shortlist of recommendations based on interview findings and alignment with firm culture and role qualifications. 
7. Successive Process. Calibrate designed and implemented a process of successive steps consisting of virtual interviews, in-person interviews, written and video statements, along with a scoring rubric following each step, to winnow the candidates to a list of finalists. 
8. Recommendation. Following the final in-person meetings, Calibrate assisted the Search Committee in preparing their recommendation and talking points to the Executive Committee.