Stephanie, I have a ton of experience with this sort of planning and have a lot of ideas for getting actual, usable plans.

Right now, I'm in the middle of Sunday afternoon errands and such. I'll give it a think and come back in thread soon.

First though, I commend you for even thinking about it!

Very tl;dr post...I'm back with more business stuff to mull over...

Several months ago, an attorney approached me with the idea of us being partners. I basically decided that a) I didn't want a partner and b) I didn't really want this guy as a partner or associate. Nice guy but not a good fit. At the time, he mentioned a paralegal in law school at his current firm who also wanted to move. He though it very likely that many of her clients would go with her. She does business immigration, which I don't do at all. It's an area where you can make a lot of money.

When I signed the new lease for my new office, I considered approaching her directly and asking her to come work for me. I have an extra office in the new space and in many ways, she would have been a great fit. But the only reason I knew about her was from the guy who was her boss and I felt like I just couldn't stab him in the back that way.

Yesterday he told me he had left the firm they worked at and was on his own. He didn't take her with him because he couldn't pay her. So I talked to my staff about this possible move and they were in favor. So I called this woman and set up lunch on Monday.

I'm not really worried about the money. I know she makes a lot now but she works very independently. I'd be trusting her to teach me what I need to know to supervise her work. She's a single mom with a 19 year old autistic son. Sh'e s been described as a "prickly pear" but sometimes strong women get described that way. She's in law school and will be done in 2-3 years and would likely want to be a partner which I don't want to do although I can make that clear to her. I can pay her salary for 2-3 months with the assumption that people who know her will come with her. I'm under no obligation to keep her if she can't bring in the clients.

I guess my concern is this. I love the culture of my office. I've worked hard to make it an enjoyable place to work. I treat my employees well and consider them friends, with varying degrees of closeness. Jazmin, my #2, is my best friend, Sammy's aunt, and so on. She knows a lot about our work but hasn't been to college, although she is starting this month. Everyone else in my office is Mexican, and speaks Spanish. I"m obviously not Mexican, but keeping in mind the privilege I have, I am pretty open to their culture and the place has a very "Mexican" feel to it. This new woman does not speak Spanish and she's white.

I'm just concerned about bringing in someone with more education and higher salary expectations than my current #2. Jazmin and I have talked about this and she says she's okay with it. I don't think there would be a lot of interaction between our current client/business and this new woman's area. They just don't overlap much. But I've always heard that it is hard enough to adopt a younger child, let alone one in between children currently in the family and that's sort of how this feels.

I'd love thoughts on what I should keep in mind or ask her or watch out for. Or anything. Jazmin and I have talked about this some, but ultimately it's going to be my decision and I want to be sure I do my homework first.

The business side sounds sound to me, so long as you're willing to stick to the idea that you don't have to keep her if she's not bringing in new business.

Structurally, if you make it clear to her coming in where your expectations are, no partnership potential, etc., but she has a clear grasp of what the advantages for her would be and she is ok with both advantages and disadvantages, I think that you are also in good shape there.

Culturally, that's a whole 'nother ballpark, and possibly something that you won't be able to quantify beforehand. Can you think through the scenarios to see how you could successfully deal with them should they go south? Say she really is a "prickly pear" and that causes friction with your other employees, how will you address that? Say she turns out to not just not speak Spanish, but to actually have latent or visible racist tendencies? How will you deal with the fallout for your firm and for your clients?

I would also suggest broadening your audience for this question by pointing some of the corporate HR folks in natter or Bitches over here to this conversation. They might have valuable insight for you on the hiring process.

What's your gut feel?

I think it boils down to exactly what you said. I'm always hesitant when hiring and this would be the first case of hiring someone for a specific set of skills without knowing them as a person first. Until now, I've always hired someone I thought I could work with and then taught them what they needed to know.

I guess my concerns are almost all cultural and come down to...in small businesses a new person always affects the culture. So I guess I need to meet her and get a sense of who she is.

I know that you said you were comfortable with the money side and an upfront disclaimer is that I don't know the culture of your legal and business community but in my experience, corporate clients don't follow a paralegal to a new firm, even if the para is the primary point of contact and actually does the bulk of the work. Those clients generally have other relationships with a firm and the assumption is that the firm will still find a way to do the work even if the para leaves.

My guess is that you've already thought about the conflict situation but, although there isn't an ethical one, might there be the perception of one? My legal department only helped with immigration for people in "critical" positions and left everyone else to fend for themselves -which sometimes created resentments. Do you think your current client base would care if your firm represented employers as well?

I think getting to know her is probably the best approach and you may want to see if you can have your #2 there for at least part of the meeting, just to see if there is potential for them clicking. If people like working together, salary differnces based on education levels isn't a problem; if they don't, it becomes the wedge between them and, as you say, in a small office, everyone is affected.

It sounds like in both cases (representing businesses and individuals) the firm is on the side of helping immigrants. So long as the corporate business does not means turning down individuals, I can't see a conflict. I don't get the impression Stephanie's firm is doing a bunch of pro-bono anyway, and unless this means not taking pro-bono work that otherwise would be accepted don't see the conflict between helping immigrants who pay out of their own pocket and immigrants whose fees are being paid by their bosses. I have not opinion on the business side, not my area, but I have trouble seeing either an ethical conflict or a perception of one. Doctors will see you whether your insurance is paid for out of your own pocket or whether you have a boss paying your insurance premium. Again if the rich corporate clients would crowd out your existing client base I can see conflict, but otherwise no.

Much of the decision will likely be made on a gut instinct level when you meet with her and discuss expectations.

If she is expecting to become a lawyer in 2-3 years will she then likely strike out on her own at that point if partnership isn't an option? Is this also something to be considered and discussed?

I think you can't discount culture. You want to protect what you have. I'd have her in for a long interview/training day and see how she meshes. She's going to be A. nervous and B. on her best behavior, but that should still give you an idea. If her "best" behavior doesn't show you someone eager to fit in and do things your way, it's a red flag.

OK, on what Scrappy said I do have experience. And she is 100% right. Fit is important, and if her "best behavior" does not show a damn good fit, that is indeed a red flag. In short put a lot of weight on the interview, and have tough standards for how you rate her performance on that interview. It is up to her to sell you, even though you approached her. If she feels otherwise, that itself is a red flag.

Thanks everyone. I wasn't sure I was right putting so much emphasis on culture but my gut was telling me I needed to.

Fwiw, I think the only possible ethical issue is that she can't "bring clients with her". They can follow but she can't approach them. So I need to make that clear and make her understand the risk she is taking. It's worth it for me to risk 2-3 months salary but she won't be able to go back so it's a bigger risk for her.

Other than that, I've decided to take my #2 with me. I can't remember if I had made up my mind in that when I posted but I want to send the signal that she and I are a team and that her vote had a lot if weight with me.

I think I will have to pay close attention tomorrow and see how it goes. She was pleasant and deferential on the phone (probably also a little shocked) but *I* need to remember how much I have accomplished. I'm the opposite of arrogant but in this case, I think I need to be clear to myself that I'm the boss/decision maker here.