Specialist, Professional Development

Foley & Lardner LLP•Washington, DC

1d•$77,500 - $130,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Specialist, Professional Development supports firmwide attorney integration and professional development initiatives, with a primary focus on non-partner attorney onboarding, orientation, integration, mentor programs, and related training efforts. Working closely with the Manager of Attorney Integration, Director of Professional Development, Professional Development Managers, practice group leaders, office leadership, and other business professionals, this role helps ensure new hire attorneys experience a smooth, comprehensive, and strategically aligned integration into the firm, their office, and their practice group. This position is responsible for independently coordinating key aspects of the attorney integration lifecycle, including developing customized integration plans, managing integration touchpoints, facilitating attorney connections, coordinating training resources, supporting New Associate Orientation, and providing updates and recommendations to stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have experience in attorney professional development, talent development, human resources, or a related function within a law firm or professional services environment. Success in this role requires strong project management skills, excellent judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple priorities while delivering exceptional client service to attorneys, firm leadership, and internal business teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree required.
Minimum of three (3) years of professional development, recruiting, talent development, human resources, legal talent, business development, or related experience required.
Law firm, professional services, or other client-service-oriented corporate environment experience strongly preferred.
Experience supporting attorney onboarding, integration, orientation, mentoring, training, or professional development programs preferred.
Previous experience with Asana, ViGlobal, Chrome River, SharePoint, NetDocuments, learning management systems, applicant tracking or talent management systems, or equivalent platforms preferred.

Responsibilities

Manage and maintain tracking for all newly hired attorneys and patent professionals in Asana, including mapping first-year integration timelines, key milestones, and follow-up touchpoints.
Develop customized integration plans for lateral attorneys and patent professionals, tailoring each plan to include appropriate integration video modules, substantive training resources, office and practice group connections, and other relevant onboarding support.
Partner with stakeholders involved in the hiring and onboarding process, including practice group leaders, office leadership, recruiting, professional development, and other administrative departments, to gather feedback and incorporate relevant input into integration plans.
Independently conduct 1:1 meetings with laterals to review integration plans, identify individual needs, and connect new attorneys with appropriate firm resources.
Monitor attorney integration progress during the first year and conduct three- and six-month integration check-in calls with lateral hires; identify trends, concerns, or resource gaps and escalate or follow up as appropriate by distributing integration summaries and updates to relevant leadership/integration teams.
Oversee the firm’s Foley Bound program, including sharing resources with eligible attorneys, managing the proposal process with department leadership, tracking participation, and gathering feedback to ensure ongoing success.
Customize substantive training learning paths for attorneys and patent professionals based on level, practice group, and individual integration needs using Foley Academy LMS.
Coordinate and support the execution of firmwide attorney integration initiatives, including preparation of lateral hiring announcements, scheduling internal connections, facilitating introductions, and helping ensure attorneys relate to key contacts across offices, departments, and practice groups.
Organize connections and/or roadshow visits for partner-level laterals to support their integration into the firm with the Manager of Integration.
Plan and execute the New Associate Orientation program, including agenda development, event coordination, presentation preparation, handouts and materials, rosters, communications with new associates, and coordination with office-level support teams.
Interface with administrative departments to review, maintain, and update the firm’s virtual library of integration-related training resources on an annual basis.
Facilitate integration surveys as needed; analyze feedback and assist in identifying opportunities to enhance attorney onboarding and integration programming.
Provide metrics, reports, and updates on attorney integration, orientation efforts, training participation, and related professional development initiatives as needed.
Assist the Director of Professional Development, Manager of Attorney Integration, and Professional Development Managers with training, projects, and other professional development initiatives as assigned.
Manage multiple, competing priorities and projects while delivering high-quality work product and client service to attorneys, firm leadership, and internal stakeholders.