How, then, should Big Law firms address family ties?

Case-by-Case

Although it may seem straightforward to draft strong anti-nepotism policies, few law firms have hard-and-fast rules about nepotism and, in practice, it is rarely easy to enforce one with an even hand, said Jonathan Segal, a partner and managing principal at Duane Morris in Philadelphia.

Segal has seen very few formal anti-nepotism guidelines among the policies he's reviewed for Am Law 200 firms. Most often, family ties are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Legal industry consultant Kent Zimmermann adds that, in the same way a guarantee can be thrown in as a sweetener to a rainmaker, some firms have allowed partners to hire or retain family members or spouses as a retention tool.

"My experience is that many firms don't like it, but allow it if the people have really strong practices," Zimmermann said, while noting that "You never want to have somebody in a firm who you can't fire."

David Morley, who led Allen & Overy for roughly 13 years, said his former firm had always taken a strong stance against nepotism, making it an expressed policy in recruitment and internship programs. In fact, Morley spoke out against nepotism in civil service, law and journalism in 2009.

"It was absolutely a merit-based organization. You progress by virtue of your ability rather than by virtue of your family name," Morely said. "There's lots of good reasons for having a no-nepotism rule, not least of which that you're creating opportunities for people that might not otherwise have it."

Morley notes that there were "one or two" examples of exceptions to the rule. In one, the partner related to the family member was retiring and the candidate was more than qualified for the position. But it was generally understood that if a candidate was related to another lawyer at the firm, they would be best served applying elsewhere.

The issue with hiring family members, Morley said, is that even if the person was qualified, it's hard to shake the perception that they got hired or got promoted because of their last name, a sentiment echoed by Zimmermann and Segal.

Morley added that he believes it's a viable model for smaller firms and expressly family-run businesses, but large organizations must be careful that the appearance of nepotism does not hurt the recruitment or retention of attorneys who are not related to a senior partner.

Merle Vaughn, a recruiter at Major, Lindsey & Africa who specializes in placing diverse candidates, noted that nepotism, or even the appearance of nepotism, can negatively affect women or racial and ethnic minorities.

"Referrals and nepotism are just semantics," she said in an interview. "But to me, as a diversity recruiter, referrals can act as a perpetuator of a lack of diversity. If you are not already diverse and you are relying on your existing cohort of people to bring you people you feel comfortable with, then you have a pretty good idea of who you are going to end up with."

But the advantages don't stop at getting the opportunity to interview. Once hired, the referring person (or the person responsible for the nepotistic hire, depending on how you decide to view it) can often feel a sense of obligation or investment in the person they brought in.

"What follows after the hire is that the person who made the investment in bringing someone in really wants it to work," she said. "That can lead to a series of advantages, from different standards of success to the type of work they get and what clients they are introduced to."

Vaughn said this phenomenon can, and does, affect non-diverse candidates as well, but that the ramifications for diverse candidates are more severe, as the opportunities for them are often fewer and further between.

Risks and Benefits

That being said, many don't see family ties as exclusively negative. As Morley noted, some firms take pride in being a family-run business. Segal added that having a spousal or familial bond, if handled correctly, can be a boost to retention.

"You may have someone who is family member and [be] committed not only to the firm but to the family member's success," Segal said. "We live in a time where people are leaving firms at a high rate, so they may have an interest in longer-term retention."

Segal noted that another reason why nepotism policies can't rely on hard-and-fast rules is because of personal relationships that pop up between individuals within the organization. Stringent anti-nepotism policies, in his experience, force these relationships underground, then creating more problems and sending a bad message to the rest of the firm. Ignoring relationships, and the complications that could arise when one person has more power than the other, isn't often a viable option either.

In the end, Segal said, the best policy hinges on communication and acknowledgement, often by asking people in a relationship to notify management and avoid situations involving direct supervision.

"Risks and benefits," Segal said. "The key is to make sure risks are minimized and any benefits are maximized."