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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.
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.
74
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.
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.
74
