What You Need to Know about the Role of a Legal Recruiter
A legal recruiter is a professional who specializes in matching attorney candidates with law firms and in-house legal departments. Their primary goal is to help both candidates and firms find the right fit for their professional needs. Legal recruiters are hired by both law firms and legal professionals. They help law firm clients find qualified candidates and assist candidates by matching their requirements with those of the firm.
A legal recruiter works on behalf of a law firm or legal department to identify, screen, recruit, and present potential hires. They usually focus on a specialist area of the law or specific geographic area. Law firms seek legal recruiters to find candidates when they have unfilled positions they need to fill. In addition to representing firms, legal recruiters may also represent candidates with the goal of finding suitable employment in law firms or corporate legal departments.
When an attorney contacts a legal recruiter, he or she has typically updated his or her resume and sent it to the recruiter. If the attorney is interested , the recruiter will discuss the attorney’s skills and career interests to determine the best position for the attorney at this time. If the attorney is currently employed, the recruiter may ask the attorney to keep the recruiter’s role in the job search confidential. The recruiter may also ask the attorney to provide references who can support the attorney’s candidacy.
Law firm clients seek out legal recruiters to help them fill positions for several reasons. A firm may turn to a recruiter if it does not have the internal staff or experience to conduct a thorough search. The law firm may also have a specific skill set, level, or practice area that it is seeking which requires using a recruiter. It may have more applicants than it has time to sift through or it may need help in its search.
For law firms, working with a legal recruiter can save both time and money. Having an advocate who is looking out for your best interest can protect you by helping you find the right fit for your firm culture. A legal recruiter can also help you create and hone a job description to focus on the candidate qualifications and avoid any unnecessary language that would discourage applicants from applying.
Key Traits of an Effective Legal Recruiter
The top qualities of an effective legal recruiter are useful when you’re searching for a recruiter around Philadelphia or anywhere else in the country. These skills separate the average legal recruiters from those that really provide value for their clients and candidates.
This is particularly important for those looking to recruit for specialized practice areas like legal IT specialists and the legal tech trend. With the arrival of technology like AI and other machine learning tools in the legal industry, firms are looking for more candidates who can work with these changes.
Recruitment is a skill. The best legal recruiters possess a range of qualities and skills that make them successful mediators between candidates and law firm partners. These include:
Industry knowledge
Recruiters should be able to demonstrate a deep knowledge of the legal industry. This includes the trends affecting the field, challenges for firms and individual lawyers and the past experiences of firms with candidates. Essentially, a good legal recruiter should be knowledgeable enough to qualify law firms that contact them and be able to help candidates figure out which law firm would be a better fit.
Networking skills
Essentially, most placements come from strong networks. Many candidates will only go to recruiters if they have a strong brand and a reputation for bringing strong candidates to the table. They can also depend on their network to learn about firms that may not be public about hiring but still need strong candidates. An industry-wide network is invaluable for a legal recruiter.
Effective communication
You want your legal recruiter to be able to communicate effectively with everyone involved in the process. For candidates, recruiters should be able to connect with them and learn about their interests, strengths and weaknesses. The more they can learn about the candidate, the better they can market them to law firms.
On the other hand, it’s just as important that they effectively communicate with law firms about the candidates’ experiences, strengths and values. Both clients and candidates want to be heard and have questions answered.
Why Philadelphia is an Epicenter for Legal Recruiting
Just as it’s often said that everyone wants to be married with kids, but no one wants to be the parent picking out the summer camp – firms want to hire and place legal staff, but no one wants to be the one chasing those elusive hires.
That’s anathema to me as a recruiter.
I love the challenge that recruiting for law firms in Philadelphia presents. As you know, I am a Philadelphia — or, if we’re being honest, Allentown – girl. And there is no city in the world I’d rather recruit for, particularly your fellow lawyers.
And there are a lot of them. Philadelphia ranks as the eighth largest legal market in the country, with 692 active law firms to choose from, including five of the country’s top 100 law firms. And while not all of these firms recruit year-round, they are always "on the lookout" for attorneys that fit their needs.
In addition to Philadelphia being home to several large, fast growing firms, as well as a number of smaller ones who hire and fire less frequently, there are a number of reasons that the City of Brotherly Love is an especially hotbed for recruitment activity among the ranks of the legal professionals.
First and foremost, the collegial atmosphere fostered by firms, small and large, allows for closer relationships between associates and senior management. Those relationships foster mentoring opportunities that allow associates to hone their skills, furthering their careers. While this might not seem like a positive for a recruiter, it is. Firms that foster such relationships between their associates are able to offer them a more positive experience.
Diversity is increasingly becoming important to lawyers of all generations, and Philadelphia’s strong commitment to diversity – check out the PA Bill of Rights, which is unique to Philadelphia, and established to allow full protection for individuals regardless of race, religion, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, etc. – attracts a number of diverse candidates.
Finally, at the end of the day, Philadelphia is a city that is easy to recruit. The legal hiring process in Philadelphia is usually seamless and expeditious. Given the association with prestigious law schools in the area (Temple and Villanova), Pennsylvania is rich in talent, attracting top aspiring attorneys fresh out of law school. Many of these new hires may have ties to Philadelphia, but for those who do not, a big-city feel with a mid-sized town ethos means that Philadelphia is often an easy sell.
And, finally, your old buddy Google Analytics tells me that most of you are coming to this blog from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. Like me, some of you are from the greater Allentown region. Given the proximity of those states, Philadelphia is easily recruitable and (relatively) easily commutable from each of these states.
How to Select the Right Legal Recruiter in Philadelphia
When it comes to finding the right legal recruiter, there are a number of factors you want to look for. You may already have legal recruiters you’ve used in the past or may have a general affinity for a particular agency. But it’s important to make sure you’re choosing a recruiter who’s going to operate in your interests and will yield quality results.
For those looking for legal recruiters in Philadelphia, there are several factors that should play into your decision of which recruiter to work with: A legal recruiter’s specialization can play a huge role in their effectiveness in finding the right candidate for your law firm. It’s important to find a recruiter who has experience and made successful placements in the legal specialty you’re looking for. This could be anything from litigation to IP law , but it’s critical that your recruiter has a proven history for success in their place of specialty.
Reputation is another factor that can vary in importance depending on the type of position you’re hiring for. Sometimes the reputations of certain recruitment agencies can cause candidates to be biased in a positive or negative way that will influence their decision to do business with you.
It’s also valuable to take into consideration the success rates of legal recruiters. This can be especially useful when trying to find someone for a niche area that some recruiters don’t specialize in. Taking into consideration their track record of success for placements when hiring for different positions can be a good indicator of whether or not they’re worth working with for your law firm.
The Advantages of Working with a Philadelphia Legal Recruiter
One of the primary advantages of working with a Philadelphia legal recruiter is access to an expansive network. Legal recruiters are in constant touch with attorneys in the region, and their work brings them into contact with a diverse array of firms. That allows them to help you quickly identify opportunities that meet your individual needs for advancement; your Philadelphia legal recruiter will also be able to connect strong candidates to opportunities not widely advertised. As a legal professional, you want to work with a recruiter who has a finely-tuned understanding of the Philadelphia market. A qualified recruiter can use his or her knowledge of the legal landscape to see the connections that make the most sense for you and present them in a way that will most strongly appeal to the hiring firm. For example, a recruiter might emphasize your record of success in a specific area of the law, more likely to catch the attention of a hiring firm with specific problems to solve than a blanket description of your qualifications. It is of obvious benefit to have someone working on your behalf to streamline the process of searching for or hiring a new employee. Often, those who are entering the market for the first time leave the search for their new position to chance. This could have the result of leading you to a position that ends up being a poor fit, or, in the case of employers, might leave you looking far longer for the employee you need. Having a recruiter involved in the process can save time, reduce the stress involved in a search and, as a result, lead to better results for both perspectives. It is well worth investing in the local knowledge and connections that a Philadelphia legal recruiter can bring to the table.
Top Legal Recruiter Firms in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, is also the home to a variety of leading legal recruitment agencies. Let’s take a closer look at an exemplary few:
BCG Attorney Search
BCG Attorney Search has a consistent history of success in recruiting attorneys for over a decade. With its robust national network and industry expertise, BCG Attorney Search has represented over 80 offices of Am Law 200 firms. The agency also specializes in legal permanent residency for exceptional talent.
Legal Search Solutions LLC
Founded in 1996, Legal Search Solutions LLC has made a name for themselves in the industry by completing over 300 attorney placements through their Philadelphia office alone. Most of their placements happen within a day’s notice, which goes to show the quality of their communication and network in Philadelphia , which is highly regarded.
Lateral Link
By focusing on lateral moves in major metropolitan areas, Lateral Link has expanded to major global hubs like Philadelphia. They have a reputation for pursuing a more selective clientele, guaranteeing anonymity for their recruits and clients. A large majority of Lateral Link hires are associates with less than 5 years of experience.
Milan Associates
Founded by attorney John Milan in 1989, Milan Associates was one of the first legal staffing companies in the nation. Initial operations in the New Orleans area paved the way for its current success in Philadelphia. Milan Associates fills both temporary and permanent positions in law firms and corporations alike.
Hooker & Holcombe
Hooker & Holcombe specializes in finding senior executives in the legal sector. With a highly selective clientele, they have worked together with a number of top law firms for over 15 years.