Although technically savvy, the firm’s business model is actually a simple one. According to the Wall Street Journal, the difference is that “Lateral Link generally limits access to its job postings to graduates of top-tier law schools with a minimum of two years of work experience. About 5,000 applicants have been approved to date. Unlike most job sites, Lateral Link's recruiters get in direct contact with members who apply for the positions it lists” (Members Only, By Sarah Needleman, February 12, 2008). According to Michael Ray, a Vice President at Western Digital, “Lateral Link has hit on an approach that is ideal for companies that want to locate and recruit top-notch talent as quickly and as efficiently as possible. We received candidates whose credentials and experience were exactly what we were looking for and whose professional goals and personalities fit perfectly with the culture of our department.”

Lateral Link’s web-based model allows the firm to quickly communicate information to attorneys making it more efficient than traditional executive search firms. “Its much quicker for 1,000 attorneys to simultaneously review a single job opportunity than for 10 of us to call 1,000 attorneys to compile the same information,” says Michael Allen, a Principal of Lateral Link. Once the firm narrows down the relevant subset of attorneys by a self-selection process, then the firm’s recruiters personally interview the few best matches. With the time saved from eliminating the initial cumbersome selection process, Lateral Link cuts costs but not corners for its corporate in-house clients by serving up the crème de la crème at a fraction of the fee charged by its competitors.