Several months ago, we ran a story on CalLaw about Quinn Emanuel’s innovative approach to recruiting: inviting all the recruits for a weekend in Deer Valley instead of the traditional call-back interview.
This week, Legal Pad checked in with partner Bill Urquhart to find out how that much-discussed weekend went, during which 48 recruits schmoozed with 30 Quinn attorneys.
“It went smoother than a wedding,” Urquhart said. “It couldn’t have been nicer.”
The activities included hiking, horseback riding, ATV cruising and a group breaking off to watch the Oregon/USC football game. The attorneys also dined at a restaurant in Park City, where partner Kathleen Sullivan delivered a captivating speech.
“I was ready to sign up again,” Urquhart said. “She has this Clintonesque ability to speak to people individually.”
And, there was karaoke, some of it really good — associate Sara Brenner has recorded a CD — and some, he said, that was really bad.
Urquhart said he took careful steps ahead of time to ensure that only the top-notch recruits be invited to the weekend getaway. He gave Quinn attorneys a matrix detailing the minimum GPA for each law school and advised them not to invite back anyone unless they were “prepared to fight for them.”
His self-described “enforced discipline” paid off.
On Saturday morning, in a private meeting, he asked partners and associates if there was any reason any of the recruits in Deer Valley should not be offered a job.
“During their afternoon activity, we pre-printed job offers for every single one of them,” he said.
— Kellie Schmitt
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