During the three and a half decades since the 1982 founding of our firm — Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA) — the legal recruiting and staffing industry has undergone enormous changes; indeed, in many respects, it has changed more than the legal industry it serves.

The Role of Legal Recruiting and Staffing Firms

Legal recruiting and staffing firms make professional placements for a variety of positions and professional roles at client companies and law firms, either for permanent placement or for more limited durations of time. They include:

·       In-House Legal Departments: in-house counsel positions, e.g., general counsel (GC), corporate counsel, or legal secretary.

·      

Law Firms: partner and associate candidates who typically work exclusively with a single recruiter to identify firms that would be the best cultural, financial, and practice fit.

·      

Business Management: retained searches for firms’ business management professionals, e.g., chief operating officer (COO), chief marketing officer (CMO), chief strategy officer (CSO), chief financial officer (CFO), and corporate legal department operations professionals.

·      

Permanent: full-time employees, whether at law firms or in-house at companies.

·       Specialized/Temporary: legal professionals for specific projects or on an interim and temporary-to-permanent hire basis (both at companies and law firms).

Most of the scores of legal recruiting firms in the U.S. have a small handful of recruiters in a single city; several have offices in more than one city. Our firm is unique in having more than 200 recruiting professionals in more than 25 locations worldwide, including London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Amsterdam, Sydney, Delhi, and cities across the U.S. This provides the distinct advantage of having market information about law firms, corporate clients, and practice trends globally rather than just for a single city.

Why Use a Recruiter?

There are five main reasons that law firms and companies utilize legal recruiters:

1.     Attract top talent: Top legal talent is difficult to find because those professionals are usually not looking for new opportunities; one must “search” for them, thus necessitating the role of legal recruiters and staffers.

2.    Save money: The cost of hiring mistakes often exceeds the annual salary of the person hired. The fees for a legal recruiter are relatively modest in comparison. A successful recruiter should find candidates of the highest quality who match specific needs and efficiently complete the placement, making the search cost effective.

3.    Save valuable time: Time spent by a company’s or firm’s internal team directing a search is time lost on other important business tasks. Legal recruiting and staffing by an outside professional saves valuable time, considerable effort, and the associated costs of internal resources. 

4.    Minimize hiring mistakes: The right fit is critical to business objectives and company culture. Top-notch legal recruiters and staffing consultants who know the legal market intimately are able to look beyond the resume, providing frank assessments of potential candidates.

5.  Ensure that your offer is competitive: The market changes rapidly. Legal recruiting and staffing firms should work with clients (companies or law firms) to ensure the compensation package is competitive and will attract the right candidates.

Law firm partners and associates utilize a recruiter to assist in assessing the market of firms that might be a good fit; to provide information about the firms’ cultures, finances, practices, and other pluses and minuses; to serve as an intermediary throughout what can sometimes seem like an interminable recruiting process; and (in appropriate instances) to help in negotiating aspects of the lateral’s compensation package.

For partners, this process often includes the recruiter’s assistance in fashioning a business plan to help firms evaluate how a lateral can be accretive and help advance the firm’s long-term strategic goals. An experienced recruiter familiar with client firms can also provide critical information about issues such as capital contributions, pension arrangements, partner compensation systems,[2] lease obligations, potential client conflicts, and the like.

As noted in MLA’s most recent Lateral Partner Satisfaction Survey,[3] partners who used the services of a recruiter when changing firms had significantly higher rates of satisfaction with their move than those who did not, especially when the search consultant had:

·       Analyzed the fit between their client base/practice area and the firm’s;

·       Acted as intermediary or otherwise assisted in negotiations; and

·       Provided detailed information about potential firms.

Partners who worked with recruiters were also more likely to review a firm’s financials before moving than those who moved without assistance.[4] For both groups, however, the percentage doing thorough due diligence before investing their professional future and their capital in a new partnership was shockingly low.

Keeping the Keepers III: Mobility & Management of Associate Talent, a national study and report of law firm associate hiring and retention from 2006–2011, includes findings from more than 22,000 associate hires and more than 17,000 associate departures. The report found that very few firms anticipated changes in non-partner recruiting budgets or the number of administrative staff who are dedicated to non-partner recruiting in the near term. At the same time, however, a significant number of participating law firms (56 percent) reported an expected increase in lateral hiring.[5] The report’s supplemental study of 85 law firm administrators found that search firms, internal referrals, and online searches or solicitations initiated by the firm accounted for the largest percentage of lateral hires within the last two years. The majority of firms reported that law school job postings, external referrals, and unsolicited write-ins each accounted for 10 percent or less of lateral hires.[6]

Law firms recognize that while recruiting fees are not immaterial, search consultants can add enormous value in helping them add senior laterals who can in turn add significant revenues, expand the firm’s talent and client bases, and bring new energy and vitality. For that reason, lateral partner hiring is more competitive than ever — e.g., in a recent survey, 96 percent of law firm managing partners said they viewed lateral partner recruiting as a primary growth strategy.[7] To be successful in implementing that strategy, firms need to be nimble, creative, flexible, decisive, and visionary (read more specific suggestions for law firms in “To Compete for Laterals — Linger Not, Partners”).[8] In short, law firms and their management teams have concluded that employing the services of savvy recruiting professionals is a productive allocation of firm resources.

Law Firm Business Management Recruiting

This focuses on business management roles at firms, e.g., chiefs and directors of various verticals such as operations, finance, business development, marketing, technology, pricing, and more. The prominence of these professional management positions within law firms has expanded dramatically in recent years. For example, as clients continue pushing for alternatives to the billable hour and greater accountability as to how their law firms manage and staff their matters, there has been a continued interest in the pricing of legal work. Perhaps more importantly, though, is the realization that “pricing” does not exist in a vacuum, but instead is necessarily dependent upon solid legal project management (LPM) and more sophisticated practice management. Consequently, there has been an explosion in the demand for pricing and practice management professionals who play critical roles in pitching, pricing, and ensuring efficient delivery of the work.[9] 

            In order to remain competitive in an increasingly challenging economic environment, firms continue to recognize the value professional managers and administrators bring to the firm; with that value comes increased responsibilities and corresponding compensation. These professionals play a pivotal role in the success of law firms; thus, the support from experienced recruiters is paramount to finding the right match in candidates for those positions.[10]

General Counsel and Other In-House Positions

These are very different from law firm associates, partners, and business management roles. They, too, benefit greatly by utilizing legal recruiters for a range of levels in corporate law departments and across various legal disciplines, whether generalist or subject-matter specific. Searches range from positions at start-ups with fewer than 10 employees to the GC search at Fortune 500 companies and everything in between. Adept legal recruiters help find and place the best-matched candidate for each role, depending on the specific needs of the corporate legal department.

Since our firm began in 1982, in-house law departments have become an increasingly attractive destination for law firm lawyers, including partners. This growing popularity compounds the barrage of applications by interested candidates, which are effectively managed by legal recruiting and staffing firms well versed in the arena.

Typically, the CEO, VP of human resources, chief human resources officer (CHRO), or other senior executive at a company is faced with the task of recruiting a first or new GC. Thus, it is hugely beneficial to defer to well-equipped legal recruiters with high-caliber expertise and experience who work on a daily basis with senior-level lawyers. This is especially true when the hiring authority has not previously faced such a task frequently, if at all. Consequently, senior executives routinely seek the advice of legal recruiting firms to determine whether it makes economic sense to hire an inside lawyer based on a company’s legal workload.

Many legal search consultants have graduated from top law schools and worked in the law departments of some of the nation’s largest and best-managed corporations. This experience provides an unmatched depth of knowledge and contacts. Established recruiters with an extensive track record of successful searches for senior in-house lawyers also have the advantage of a longitudinal view of the candidate market. This knowledge can provide a valuable and long-term perspective on each slate of candidates for in-house legal departments.

Temporary Project Staffing

This previously consisted primarily of support for document review, M&A due diligence work, and project staffing for maternity leave, offshoring, and onshoring. Today, however, it encompasses a more substantial portion of the legal landscape. After the 2008 recession, global demand for legal services contracted, and it has taken several years to get back to a baseline. Now, the legal market is regaining strength as it continues to expand into new and emerging markets worldwide.[11]

While global growth is on the uptick, BigLaw has been and will continue to give up market share to new entrants to the legal services market. Firms such as Axiom, Laterally, Thomson Reuters’ Legal Managed Services, and MLA’s own highly specialized, temporary legal staffing solutions provider, the Solutions Practice Group (SPG), are capturing increased market share and will continue to have a major influence on how legal work will be performed and disaggregated. Major consulting firms are also reentering the legal market and looking to capture some of this revenue.

“Since the recession, businesses across the country have been pushing their employees to do more with less,” explains Inside Counsel’s Ashley Post, regarding why temporary staffing has become crucial for companies, in Strategies for Leaner Legal Departments: Part 1. She adds, “Members of corporate legal departments have encountered the same challenge. Facing heightened performance expectations and heavier workloads, in-house lawyers and their staffs have had to alter their workplaces to conform to leaner budgets — all while maintaining productivity and excellence.”[12]

Law firms are still learning how to effectively use the temporary staffing model, as described by Law360 reporter Erin Coe in 5 Mistakes Law Firms Make with Temp Lawyers:

Firms are increasingly relying on temporary attorneys to scale up legal teams on large matters while controlling costs for clients, but experts say they could take more initiative in offering these lawyers as a staffing option when pitching for business and could improve how they integrate them into the legal team.[13]

Coe includes perspective from MLA partner and global head of MLA’s In-House and Solutions Practice Groups, Gregory Richter, who said: “Big firms have to be mindful that disaggregating workloads is something clients will demand of them. Clients want different price points for different levels of work and different people delivering that work. Firms have to think outside the box and do things differently in this new-normal environment we are in.”[14]

MLA launched its Solutions Practice Group with the goal of finding ways for law firm and corporate leaders to meet evolving needs with appropriate staffing and up-to-date solutions. The methodology and service makes it easier to find highly-qualified lawyers and legal professionals for substantive assignments on a cost-effective, contractual basis. A partnership with the SPG and others in this space provides corporate and law firm clients with the ability to maintain quality of work while enabling it to better manage staffing needs thus increasing efficiency and profitability. Staffing arrangements in this area include long-term, on-site temporary placements; flexible work arrangements; and project staffing for peak periods or interim needs.

Whether the position is at a law firm or in-house at a company, legal recruiters and staffers guide firms and companies to choose the ideal candidate for future business success. The truly adept legal recruiting and staffing firms are those that are also prepared to adapt to change and are skillful at doing so.

Changes to the Legal Landscape Affect Recruiting

Supply and demand accounts for a more competitive legal job market. While the 2008 recession certainly took away legal positions, law students still continue to graduate and look for jobs.

“We are paying the price for having more law schools produce more graduates at a time when demand for legal services has slackened and the landscape has changed,” explains Robert A. Major, Jr., MLA’s founding partner.[15] “As the differential grows between supply and demand, the ‘price’ goes up, and, in a recruiter’s world, that price is quality of resume and the closest match possible between what a candidate offers and what a client requires.”

Specific to the in-house world, there has also been an increased interest in and popularity of in-house positions.

“There are many reasons stated for the rising attraction of in-house practice,” explains Major. “Some relate to the deteriorating lifestyle found in the firms: the grim billable hour demands; the never-ending pressure to bring in business; client conflicts; ‘prima donna fatigue;’ and the feeling that one is being brought in as a lawyer to ‘clean up messes,’ rather than advising on a strategy and course of action that won’t result in messes to begin with.”[16]

Major also listed several perks of going in-house: developing a close relationship with a single client; knowing that your contribution leads to long-term impacts; being part of a team that in many cases creates an instantly identifiable product; strengthening management and teamwork skills that would not otherwise be utilized; and being exposed to a larger variety of legal issues. These other skills, which in a law firm would only be used on an infrequent basis, can help lawyers evolve into other roles within an organization, such as business development, sales, marketing, or even as CEO.[17]

Of course, this is hardly to say that working as an in-house lawyer is preferable to working at a law firm; that depends on the individual. Again, this is where an experienced legal recruiter can guide candidates and clients toward the best match.

The Influence of Technology

Technology directly impacts the legal industry at large and thus legal recruiting and staffing. Perhaps the most significant advancement has been the global connectivity provided by the Internet, email, and social media.

“Years ago when we recruiters relied primarily on the telephone, the mode of communicating with candidates put a premium on brevity,” explains Major in Why Didn't I Get a Job Interview? I'm the Perfect Fit... in his recent post to In Brief. “If asked to provide a detailed explanation of a job opportunity, you were forced to severely limit the number of candidates with whom you would speak on a daily basis. … However, the advent of websites and email changed that.”[18]

Major also adds that the ever-increasing amount of information on the Internet has provided a lot more “noise” for clients and candidates alike. “What has not changed, but become more essential, is the clients’ and candidates’ need to work with highly qualified, savvy, knowledgeable legal recruiters and staffing professionals. Technology will continue driving changes to the legal market, and the successful legal recruiting and staffing professionals will always need to adapt to the oncoming wave of technological advancements.”

“In our search-optimized, app-laden world, anyone with access to the Internet can get a decent snapshot of available options in a given market,” explains Michelle Fivel, a partner in the Associate Practice Group of MLA’s Los Angeles office, and Ru Bhatt, a managing director in the Associate Practice Group of MLA’s New York office.[19] As this generation of lawyers is more technologically savvy than any of its predecessors, it becomes apparent why creating greater access to both openings and candidates is enticing. However, simply sending in a resume to an online database will not get a candidate in the door.

“Unfortunately, the process of lateral movement is not that simple,” said Fivel and Bhatt, as there are numerous additional factors to consider, including the unknowns that only a trusted advisor can identify and address for all parties involved.”[20] Posting jobs online is passive and will not yield the same results as a good recruiter, one who is familiar with the firm’s needs regarding a new candidate. For instance, the ideal candidate might not even be actively searching for a new job. A recruiter, on the other hand, knows who is working where and can get ahead of the game by actively finding these lawyers. “The waiting game isn’t aggressive enough because targeting only those active job seekers can delay finding the perfect fit, costing money in missed business opportunities for the firm.”[21]

Technology can be a useful tool for an experienced legal recruiter, but in the same way that it cannot replace high-level professionals who are lawyers, it cannot (at least for the foreseeable future) replace legal recruiting and staffing professionals.

Conclusion: Legal Recruiting and Staffing Are More Significant Than Ever

Change is in the air, but certain constants remain:

·        Nearly half of 85 law firm administrators in a recent survey reported an increase in alternative career path/non-partner track lawyer recruitment and temporary lawyer recruitment.[22] 

·        Alternative business solutions have forced the legal industry to take a hard look at how it provides high-quality, cost-effective, efficient legal services.

·        Law firms are embracing the non-partner track and other staffing alternatives, and legal recruiters and staffing firms are specializing in order to provide those options as well.

·        Law firm partners faced with multiple options increasingly rely on professional counsel from recruiters with market intelligence in order to make the most informed choices.

Legal roles in firms and corporate legal departments have always been competitive. However, increased supply and demand and the global connectivity provided by technology make it essential for companies and law firms alike to work with legal recruiting and staffing experts to navigate the continually changing legal landscape.

[2] Jeffrey A. Lowe, 2016 Partner Compensation Survey, Major, Lindsey & Africa, 2016, https://www.mlaglobal.com/publications/research/compensation-survey-2016.

[3] Jon Lindsey & Jeffrey A. Lowe, Lateral Partner Satisfaction Survey, Major, Lindsey & Africa, 2014, http://www.mlaglobal.com/~/media/Allegis/MLAGlobal/Files/Articles/LateralPartnerSatisfactionSurvey_2013_MLA_Web.pdf.

[4] Id. at 42.

[5] Keeping the Keepers III: Mobility & Management of Associate Talent, Major, Lindsey & Africa & The NALP Foundation, 2014, at 16.

[6] Id. at 17.

[7] LexisNexis & ALM Legal Intelligence, Oct. 2012, at 21.

[8] See Jon Lindsey & Robert Brigham, To Compete for Laterals – Linger Not, Partners, Nat. L. J. (Dec. 8, 2014), http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202678232309/To-Compete-for-Laterals-mdash-Linger-Not-Partners.

[9] These newer positions are typically at the director and chief level, and include such titles as: director of pricing and project management; director of pricing and profitability; director of strategic pricing & analytics; director legal pricing, practice and profitability optimization; director, global pricing and legal project management; chief practice management officer; chief practice officer; and department operating officer.

[10] Id.

[11] See, e.g., Jeffrey A. Lowe, BigLaw 2017: A Look Ahead, Major, Lindsey & Africa (Jan.13, 2017), https://www.mlaglobal.com/publications/articles/biglaw-2017-a-look-ahead.

[12] Ashley Post, Strategies for Leaner Legal Departments, Part 1, Inside Counsel (Feb. 26, 2013).

[13] Erin Coe, 5 Mistakes Law Firms Make with Temp Lawyers, Law360 (Aug. 22, 2014), http://www.mlaglobal.com/community/news/5-mistakes-lawfirms-make-with-temp-lawyers.

[14] Id.

[15] Robert A. Major, Jr., Why Didn’t I Get a Job Interview? I’m the Perfect Fit… Major, Lindsey & Africa (Oct. 7, 2014), https://www.mlaglobal.com/publications/articles/why-didnt-i-get-a-job-interview.

[16] Id.

[17] Id. See also David Maurer, Law Firm to In-House: Things to Consider before Climbing Mountains, Major, Lindsey & Africa (Oct. 23, 2014), https://www.mlaglobal.com/publications/articles/law-firm-to-in-house-things-to-consider-before-climbing-mountains;

contra Michael Sachs, Law Firm to In-House: a Different Type of Mountain, but not Insurmountable, Major, Lindsey & AFRICA (Nov. 11, 2013), https://www.mlaglobal.com/publications/articles/law-firm-to-in-house-a-different-type-of-mountain-but-not-insurmountable.

[18] Id.

[19] Michelle Fivel & Ru Bhatt, Don't Click Through Your Career, Major, Lindsey & Africa (Oct. 2, 2014), https://www.mlaglobal.com/publications/articles/do-not-click-through-your-career.

[20] Id.

[21] Id.

[22] Supra note 4.