Recruiting Archives

Enlist a Legal Recruiting Firm

Law firms and corporate legal departments of all sizes turn to a legal recruiting firm to help them find talent. An experienced legal staffing company can provide access to a wide range of expertise, from temporary legal support to highly experienced partners. When you engage a legal recruiting firm as an integral component of your business strategy, the partnership can improve your firm’s bottom line and productivity in several ways: Streamlines the hiring process By working through a legal recruiting firm, you can save time, money, and labor. Legal recruiting firms maintain up-to-date and accurate databases of qualified candidates from clerical temp-workers to partner-level specialists. They can quickly source, screen, and prepare candidates for an interview or meeting. If discretion is required for a high-level candidate, a legal staffing professional will ensure that the communication is handled correctly. Use a staffing firm and stop wasting attorney hours to advertise job openings, sort through resumes, and screen potential workers. Reduces hiring costs Controlling payroll is always a priority for law firms, and contracting workers through a legal staffing firm can save substantial hard costs. Certain expenses for temporary or contract workers are covered by the staffing firm, not your law firm: Payroll processing Benefits administration Unemployment Workers’ compensation Eliminating these costs means that your organization can ramp up or pulldown staff quickly without incurring additional expenses. Expand Your Service Offering Smaller firms are sometimes forced to turn clients away because they don’t have the expertise, support staff, or practice groups to handle certain cases. A legal staffing professional can help your firm expand its services by finding specialized attorneys and the support staff required to work on new cases. The expansion can be temporary, seasonal, or permanent, depending on the firm’s needs and the volume of work. Provides One-Stop Shopping Your staffing firm should work closely with your hiring partners and HR department for the best long-term results. When you foster a partnership with your legal recruiting firm, you will have access to seasoned professionals who know the major players in the legal market and how they might fit your firm’s hiring goals and culture. Working with a single point of contact can help you solve numerous staffing-related challenges with one phone call or email. Try Before You Hire Making a bad hire is frustrating and expensive. It is also bad for firm morale. Many legal recruiting firms offer a trial period, also called temp-to-perm. The candidate and the law firm understand that a permanent employment offer depends on the trial period. Temp-to-perm allows your firm managers time to evaluate the potential employee’s skills, personality, professionalism, and cultural fit before making a final decision. Managers significantly reduce the risk of hiring someone who isn’t productive or a good match. Here are a few tips for hiring legal candidates. Gain Valuable Market Information Do you want direct access to the latest recruiting and hiring expertise on all facets of law firm employment? Partnering with a legal recruiting firm will give you insight into salary and benefits trends, market conditions, industry standards, and best practices. Having this critical information will make your firm more competitive in attracting and retaining the best legal talent. How Collier Legal Search Can Help Collier Legal Search is a full-service legal recruiting firm. We place well-credentialed partners, associates, and legal professionals at every level in law firms and corporations. Our experience, connections, and unique approach to building our candidate database deliver consistent results on which our clients can depend. We are committed to the success of our clients and our candidates. Find out what we can do for you.

Enlist a Legal Recruiting Firm Read More »

Recruiting & Retention in a Candidate-Driven Market

Blogs / collierlegal

Recruiting and retention in a candidate-driven market can be challenging. Here are some tips that can help. It’s a challenging time for hiring partners. Law firms of all sizes and specialties are struggling to attract and keep talent. A strong recruiting and retention strategy can help firms attract candidates, reduce turnover, and stay competitive in today’s legal environment in a candidate-driven market. Recruiting and retention should be seen as two sides of the same coin. Recruiting Recruiting is the multi-step process of getting the right people to join the firm. The goal is to find workers who will propel the firm forward and share its culture and values. Strategic recruiting doesn’t just fill empty desks. A solid plan anticipates new trends, identifies critical skills, and keeps the firm ahead of the competition. Key steps of a strategic recruiting plan in a candidate-driven market include: Assessing the talent that the firm needs now and in the future. The practice groups and staffing mix should match the firm’s goals. The required experience and skills should be updated regularly. If the firm is hiring from old job descriptions, it won’t attract the kind of people it needs right now. Sourcing candidates from a wide net of options. Internal, external, and outsourced talent should be included in the candidate pipeline. Screening potential employees which include interviews, skills tests, background checks, and other processes that eliminate unqualified or poorly matched candidates. Selecting the best candidates and making an offer. Stay on top of compensation and benefits trends to ensure that the firm’s offer is competitive. These steps need to happen very quickly, or the best hires will move to the next opportunity. Hiring a staffing professional can streamline the process and free up time and resources for day-to-day business. Retention Once talent is on board, it is critical to protect the firm’s investment. Aspects that increase retention include: Opportunities for Growth and Advancement: From the very first interview, candidates should have a clear vision of their career path within the firm. Employees are more likely to stay with a firm that has a defined career path. Interesting and challenging work: An endless cycle of doc review and due diligence will discourage bright legal minds. Hiring temporary legal staff to handle tedious duties will allow associates to develop their skills and focus on more substantial projects. Work-Life Balance: Today’s employees don’t want to work to the point of burnout. In addition to developing their careers, they want to spend time with friends and family. They also want to contribute to the community. Firms that offer flexible hours, volunteer time, or the option to work from home will attract and retain higher caliber employees. Collier Legal Search is a full-service legal staffing company. We place well-credentialed partners, associates, and legal professionals at every level in law firms and corporations. With unemployment at an all-time low and a candidate-driven market, let us help build a legal team so that you can focus on your business growth. Contact us at 832-239-5253.2020 h

Recruiting & Retention in a Candidate-Driven Market Read More »

HELPING SUMMER ASSOCIATES | Why It’s Important.

Candidates, Employers / collierlegal

Helping summer associates is a smart career move. As an attorney, grueling hours and heavy workloads are the norm, and there is precious little time left for other activities. The onslaught of eager summer associates milling around the office for 8-10 weeks may seem like an unwelcome distraction for busy attorneys. However, it may be a prime opportunity to go the extra mile and show your leadership, mentoring, and management skills. Nearly every professional relationship will play a part in the success of your future practice, from the paralegal to the managing partner. By interacting and helping summer associates, you can impact your future success. Some may go on to become coworkers, opposing counsel or part of a major client’s in-house team. Summer associate programs are intended to give law students a taste of what it is like to work at a real law firm. The program allows firms to evaluate the skills, work ethic, and cultural fit of the students for permanent positions after graduation from law school. Depending on your firm’s specific program for summer associates, there may be several opportunities to assist. A typical summer associate program might involve roles for hiring/recruiting committee members, supervising attorneys, mentors, and social programming. Firm Committees – Many firms have committees for hiring, recruiting, or diversity. Joining one of these committees will show firm leadership that you are interested in driving the future talent of the organization, and are willing to invest your time and effort in the firm’s success. Joining one of these groups is also a great way to work with others in the firm that are outside your practice area. Supervising Attorney – Summer associates are not yet admitted to the bar; therefore, their work is completed under the supervision of firm attorneys. While law school teaches students about the intellectual aspects of the law, summer associates have little knowledge about the applications in real-world scenarios. Acting as a supervising attorney can hone your management skills as you guide the students’ efforts and supervise their work. Mentor – Mentoring is a valuable part of the summer associate’s experience and should go beyond giving instructions and feedback. A true mentor will guide, educate, and assist the student in several facets of law firm life, including culture, professionalism, skills, and relationships. Years into their careers, many attorneys still remember a mentor that truly made a difference in their lives. Social Activities – Summer associate programs usually include a variety of social outings and gatherings to provide opportunities to mix and mingle with firm partners and associates. Helping summer associates network will sharpen your networking and business development skills as well. By taking a proactive role in your firm’s summer associate program, you can gain valuable allies both below and above your position. You will differentiate yourself from associates who avoid added responsibilities. Partners will understand that you are a team player with initiative and a vested interest in the future success of the firm.

HELPING SUMMER ASSOCIATES | Why It’s Important. Read More »