Hi folks, need your help please!
When Law Firms talk about "lateral hire", what exactly does that mean? I know it has to do with some sort of high level hiring (eg. when Partners are "poached" from other Firms) but I would be grateful if anyone could tell me what the term means literally.
Thanks in advance!

Hey james
You got it right. Lateral hires are when a firm hires someone who did not start his/her career with the firm (from 1st year associate). It can be for partners but also for associates (by definition, from 2nd year associate, but most often with some more years of experience for the hiring firm to get added value in hiring such a "lateral")