Working with a legal recruiter can save law firms and candidates a lot of time. Instead of spending hours sifting through job postings or reviewing resumes, legal recruiters can bridge the gap and take care of the basics for both parties, so you can focus on other things, like making sure you`re in the right area of practice, working with the right people, and not dropping the ball on your current job. 2. Flexibility: The law is undoubtedly a somewhat rigid industry. For rates that easily reach double the minimum wage, every minute of every day counts per minute. The more hours you work, the more productive you are for the company. More importantly, if you`re considering moving in-house, it`s in your best interest to conduct research that involves working with recruiters, joining all job boards, and aggressively networking. We have many mothers and fathers who work from home or plan their work around their children so that they can support their family life while providing for their families. For full disclosure, I probably work more hours as a legal recruiter than in a law firm, but mainly because I don`t see work as a job – I love what I do. Lateral Link is one of the top-rated international legal recruitment firms. With more than 14 offices worldwide, Lateral Link specializes in placing lawyers with the world`s most prestigious law firms. Lateral Link is run by former practicing lawyers from top law schools and has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral jumps of practicing lawyers. Click ::here:: to learn more about us.
Employers will sometimes ask a recruitment firm to submit a more diverse mix of candidates. However, this only applies in cases of particular shortage of experienced talent. 3. Compensation: The compensation system is extremely rewarding for the recruitment of lawyers. We pay our recruiters between 50 and 70% of the activity they generate. At Lateral Link, we pay above the market price, and our effective commission is staggered in a growing structure with an average rate of 60%, which benefits a recruiter who brings in more business. Our average recruiter earns more than the average Biglaw employee while still having the opportunity to live more of their personal life outside of the office. The best part is that you get paid to help people in their careers. Searching for classified ads can be part of your strategy. (Purchasing a subscription to LawCrossing, BCG`s sister company, is one way to ensure you have access to all job postings.) But aggressive efforts to « hit » the market should be a big part of your strategy. The candidates a legal recruiter works with are how the legal recruiter fulfills their role for the law firm. 4.
Teamwork: While not all recruitment companies are alike, and I can only speak for Lateral Link, inexperience in the recruiting world is greeted with constructive help rather than contempt. We work together to help each other, and many of the agreements we facilitate are shared between two recruiters who have tackled the task together. For example, my colleague Scott Hodes and I are working on possible combinations of law firms. Larry Latourette and I are working on several group movements. Two other colleagues, Don Delaney and Jean Howery, are working on an acquisition. Many of my colleagues work with local knowledge and regional relationships. My point is that we work as a team. Our team even meets every year from all over the world to enjoy a retirement together in a changing place.
It`s clear that a legal recruiter could be a good idea. At the very least, you can use them to get market information. So how do you find a talented recruiter who can help you fill in the gaps in your job search and place you in the right company and group? Here are some key steps to finding the best recruiter for the job: 5. Value creation: As recruiters, we not only find the best people for jobs, but also the best companies for people (and vice versa). Even compared to the medical residency system, the practice of summer hiring can be chaotic and often leads to discrepancies. As legal recruiters, we can help correct the market. Often, we bring an idea to both parties after recognizing a value that neither side was supposed to bring to the table. For example, after meeting with a company president and learning about the company`s strategy (as well as concerns), the best recruiters walk away, digest the information, and come back with ideas that the company`s leaders themselves haven`t seen.
We may even come back with a specific solution (e.g., a group candidate or partner) for a problem they weren`t expecting (e.g., succession planning or cross-selling opportunity). Second, the legal recruiter expects to receive between 20 and 25 percent of the new employee`s salary. This means that if you are placed in a law firm with a starting salary of $200,000, the legal recruiter will be paid between $40,000 and $50,000 for a placement in the firm. That`s right. Most legal recruiters work for law firms. Equipped with an impressive law firm offering a salary range of $85,000 to $100,000 (DOE). If you want to present and expand your recruitment. Since a legal recruiter is paid by the law firm and only on a successful placement, there is a very low risk for you (although you can read the disadvantages below). Essentially, a legal recruiter works « for free » from your perspective, so you can get information and help in your legal market search without spending any money. My colleagues and I started out as lawyers at Am Law 200 firms, many of whom were partners, such as Larry Latourette (former managing partner of the Preston Gates, DC office), Victoria Holstein-Childress (former partner at Troutman Sanders), Ed Wisneski (former partner at Patton Boggs) and Holly Moetell (former partner at Shaw Pittman), to name a few.
Through nearly ten years of legal recruitment experience, I`ve found that recruiting is not only rewarding on a personal level, but also very lucrative if you have a fire in your stomach. Between remuneration, hours, atmosphere of collaboration and meaningful work, legal recruitment offers the same advantage as partnering with a law firm, but without the requirement of billable hours. If you`re considering an internal move, a recruiter can play the same advisory role. However, since good internal jobs are harder to identify, working with multiple recruiters is to your advantage. Any research company can be aware of the different possibilities. Not to mention policing behind the curtain: cops aren`t much for transparency. At the top level, our top performers do what partners at large law firms earn. A deal for a partner with $2 million in compensation can generate $350,000 for the recruiter`s personal commission. On an average business, our recruiters earn about $1,583 for every hour spent on the transaction. Of course, transactions aren`t done consistently, and as with law practice, not every hour is billable (in that vague sense), but the time spent cultivating relationships and researching the market isn`t boring or a waste of time. Given the money a legal recruiter can make for a successful placement, you shouldn`t feel bad if you spend a significant portion of their time understanding the market, improving your applications, etc. Most research firms do an in-house investment.
BCG exceptionally focuses exclusively on brokerage for law firms. If you are looking for a recruitment firm that does an internal placement, you should understand that internal research is very different from finding law firms. Virtually all major law firms work with recruitment firms from time to time. But only a subset of companies will rely on a recruitment firm to hire in-house lawyers. More importantly, in the world of law firm search, most recruitment firms are aware of the same lists. This is not the case with internal research. A legal recruiter (sometimes called a headhunter) is tasked with helping law firms find talented people to work for them. They work closely with a firm`s human resources and management staff, making it easier for them to find qualified lawyers who meet all the necessary requirements for an open position. Submitting a CV to a company without the explicit permission of the candidate is an unscrupulous practice.
Any honest recruiter understands that putting your resume in the wrong hands could put your current position at risk. Nevertheless, we sometimes hear stories of recruiters who are only looking for money quickly. Unfortunately, resumes have a shelf life of at least six months. No law firm wants to risk being liable for two research costs. Once your resume has been submitted to the firm by any source, the law firm will not work with any other recruitment firm for at least that period. Frequently Asked Questions I don`t know how to say this, but legal recruitment is a sales job with a high commission, similar to selling insurance, that attracts many lawyers and legal recruitment firms who have no idea what they are doing and no company in legal recruitment. These legal recruiters seem to view their work as a numbers game where if they spam enough people and arrange enough interviews, a few will surely work and the recruiter will make a decent living. It`s your job to sift through the Bozos to find the legal recruiters who can really add value to your legal research.
If you are looking for career advice related to an in-house legal counsel, you should also pay close attention to working with a legal recruiter. This is not because legal recruitment firms and individual recruiters do not work with in-house lawyers, but because the field is much more selective.