Statistics indicate approximately 85% of all legal employment positions in the United States are filled via self-initiated contact with employers. Self-initiated contact generally requires (1) researching who the contacts are in various organizations, and (2) preparing cover letters to the organizations that match your interests. Despite the fact that an employer may not advertise or engage a recruiter to fill a position, many employers have never advertised openings and simply fill positions and create openings from the people that approach them. In a market as small as Los Angeles, California, for example, there are over 2,000 legal employers and we would estimate that well over 25% are always on the look out for good attorneys. On our end, we use probably in excess of 25 sources to identify employers. Not all firms list themselves in Martindale Hubble due to costs considerations and only a small percentage of legal hiring organizations list themselves with the National Association of Law Placement. Accordingly, the resources of recruiters and job posting boards and others who collect this information and initiate contact with the employers can be extremely beneficial.

Prominent job posting boards and recruiting firms have an incentive to have the best information possible. Good legal recruiters specialize in information gathering and the larger ones even have entire departments that do nothing but gather information. Similarly, good classified ad sections of legal newspapers specialize in information gathering and selling of ads to employers. The larger organizations are usually able to compile the most information.

Due to the sharp downturn in the job market, self-initiated contact with employers may well become even more prominent as legal hiring organizations seek to cope with a decrease in demand for legal services. This is true whether you are seeking a position with a law firm, in-house legal department, or public interest organization. If you have tried other methods to find a job and have not been pleased with them, self-initiated contact may be a good option.

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“When Law Firms Turn Mean”

At Legal Authority, some of our Employment Advocates are former legal recruiters and they look upon the current recession-like conditions in the legal community as nothing new. One of the more interesting aspects of the current slowdown in the legal market is the fact that many firms have become increasingly meaner to their associates and partners. This is not to say that all firms are mean—they are not all mean. It is to say, however, that attorneys need to be astute to the conditions within their law firms in order to evaluate them. As this article will demonstrate, firms that are doing well economically are often not mean.

In the Year 2008 there were numerous associate layoffs throughout the United States. This, of course, contrasts with the fact that there was a massive hiring binge at firms in the Years 2003 through the first part of 2008. It is interesting to contrast these two points in time to try and gain an understanding of why law firms turn mean.

When Firms Were Nice

During the time that firms were experiencing a hiring binge, most attorneys who worked in these firms did not believe the firms were mean at all. In fact, in order to try and get associates to stay so they could do all the work, firms tended to be extremely lenient in performance reviews. Interviews were often quite casual and not too stressful. Bonuses were large. Firm perks were abundant. For many associates practicing at large firms, their biggest complaint was often that they had far too much work to do. Nevertheless, associates with strong credentials could without too much difficulty switch firms if they thought their firms was not a pleasant place to work.

For associates working at nice firms during the period between 2003 and early 2008, they often believed they could do no wrong. When looking for positions, associates were often very arrogant about the number of opportunities they had. In associate interviews, many law students associates would often grill partners and associates about what the firm could do for them. Things were very good for associates.

When Firms Turned Mean

In the Year 2008, many large law firms became extremely unpleasant places to work in. Performance reviews suddenly turned into far from casual affairs. In fact, at many performance reviews associates were outright fired. Other associates were simply laid off. For many attorneys, such as corporate associates seeking to lateral into another law firm—in contrast to what occurred in the “boom years”—there were virtually no recruiter opportunities. With respect to the few interviews many of these associates received, the firms grilled them aggressively. Bonuses? At many firms there were no bonuses. Perks were cancelled or dramatically scaled back. And as for complaints about too much work, many associates were complaining about the exact opposite.

For many associates working in law firms since middle 2008, they often believed that they could do no right. Firms were not at all happy places to work for many associates.

“What the Mean vs. Nice Dichotomy Means”

The obvious meaning of all this is that, when times are good, associates can make firms a great deal of money and are treated well. When times are bad, associates may cost firms money. What all this means, then, is that economic forces beyond an attorney’s immediate control often shape their futures.

However, for all of the criticisms of firms during bad times, the fact of the matter is that attorneys at all levels working in law firms do have control over their destiny’s and how they can confront the situations the economy creates for them. For example, even during the worst of economic times there are firms which continue to do extremely well and post high profits. Many of these firms never turn mean. Even during the worst of times, there are firms that are aggressively hiring attorneys who approach them for positions.

When attorneys are in law school, they never really know what to look for in a firm. For example, during the boom years of 1988 to 2001 (another boom time) one of the most attractive law firms to many associates in the United States was Venture Law Group in Silicon Valley. This firm was one which essentially took one aspect of a law firm’s corporate department and built it into a law firm that does nothing but a certain type of corporate work. Conversely, a firm which has been around for over 100 years, such as New York’s Sullivan & Cromwell, has survived so long because it has numerous departments which complement each other and help sustain one another through good times and bad. Incidently, Venture Law Group is a firm that “became mean” during the economic slowdown. This firm eventually disappeared, of course.

The essence of becoming a client of Legal Authority is that it can give you the ability to distinguish good firms from the mean ones—especially in a bad economic climate. By allowing you to survey the market for all of the opportunities that match what you are seeking to do, Legal Authority empowers you to find firms which are hiring in a bad economic climate. If you are a corporate associate, or practicing in an area of the law that is not in demand in a good economic climate, then finding the firms that are hiring is an extremely significant thing: You have found a firm that is likely to be in even better shape when the economy turns around.

Conclusions

When firms turn mean, they usually do so based upon economic forces which are affecting them. Different firms are set up different ways and as they evolve make many economic decisions which will have a significant effect on them in both good and bad economies. Finding the firms that are set up to whether economic storms is no easy task. The firm could be a very large law firm, or it could just as easily be a smaller one. One of the essences of becoming a client of Legal Authority is that we can assist you in finding the firms that are set up to weather—and perhaps even prosper–in economic storms. By contacting all of the firms in a given city that match precisely what you are seeking to, you can identify those firms which are hiring and then speak with them. While results typically differ for many of Legal Authority clients, it is not uncommon for many of our clients.

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A HISTORY OF FINDING ATTORNEYS POSITIONS AT EVERY LEVEL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION

Legal Authority came about because of attorneys’ need for a service that would actually get them the specific types of jobs they want. Being an attorney is among the very most prestigious professions in the United States. The people who choose careers as attorneys are highly intelligent, motivated and capable of great things. The public relies upon attorneys to perform an extremely important service and the work of attorneys has a profound impact on society.

In fact, attorneys are held in such high regard by society that most outsiders simply assume they will always be in the type of job they want. The fact is that every member of the legal profession—from law students, to associates and partners at small AmLaw 100 law firms, to General Counsels of Fortune 100 companies, to public interest and government attorneys–may need access to all of the potential positions matching their interests is something that is virtually ignored by law schools, headhunters and job posting boards.

HOW LEGAL AUTHORITY CAME ABOUT

The founder of Legal Authority is a former law student, practicing attorney, legal recruiter and law professor. It was his understanding gained from these three experiences and the inefficiencies he saw in terms of how most attorneys have traditionally gone about getting legal jobs that led to the founding of Legal Authority.

WHAT THE FORMER LAW STUDENT SAW

As a law student he could not understand why he had to apply to only the firms his career services office told him about. This made absolutely no sense to him. They ran the whole show. He went to a Top 10 law school and saw lots of attorneys who did not have jobs by the time they graduated and others only got offers from firms in areas of the country they did not really want to work, or with firms they knew they would be unhappy working for, or with firms where they would practice in an area of law they flatly did not want to practice in. Other students tried applying to all the firms in the NALP Guide or a few of the better looking ones in Martindale—all to no avail in finding the type of job they wanted.

With so many attorneys practicing throughout the United States, this did not make any sense to him either. He was confident there was the perfect job in the city of the choosing of the attorney. This was something he was sure of. Several years later, he learned that many of the attorneys who had made the wrong choices while in law school were no longer practicing law. This did not surprise him. Some of the law students who did not have jobs when they graduated simply gave up hope of ever being an attorney after graduating from law school. The former law student believed this was an enormous tragedy and did not make a tremendous amount of sense.

WHAT THE LEGAL RECRUITER SAW

In his role as the head of a legal recruiting firm, he saw that too many good attorneys were not getting jobs. During the slowdown in the market for corporate associates virtually no corporate associate with less than 5 years of experience was employable in a major law firm in the United States—regardless of their qualifications. Oftentimes he would invite these stellar attorneys into his offices and assist them in sending unsolicited applications to 300-400 firms in his recruiting firms database (not under the legal recruiting firm’s letterhead).

A funny thing happened. All of these attorneys got jobs. Lot of jobs. Jobs a recruiter could not have gotten them.

Everyday this recruiter would personally review every resume of an attorney who approached his placement firm. Then, after reviewing each resume, he would respond personally to each resume. With several recruiters working for him, he would refer out the best resumes to his recruiters. Then, he would reject several people a day and send them a short note thanking them for contacting his firm. This was something that he believed was very unfortunate. Many of the attorneys would respond to his rejection emails that they were going to simply give up. He knew they were giving up.

With so much effort put into these people becoming attorneys he felt disgruntled. On the weekends he would often invite in the candidates who were most persistent in seeking out the recruiting firms services—regardless of their qualifications. He would help them apply to a couple hundred of law firms on their own (without using a recruiting firm—just the firm’s contacts). Regardless of these attorneys qualifications, the vast, vast majority got positions this way.

WHAT THE FORMER LAW PROFESSOR SAW

One hot Saturday July afternoon, the recruiter received a telephone call from one of his former law students who was getting ready to take the bar exam at the end of July. This law student had been one of his students at the Fourth Tier law school he taught at. This student had graduated second in his class and yet had never received an interview with a firm composed of more than one attorneys in his three years of looking for a job. As a law student, the individual had tried everything his career services office offered, applied to every firm in the NALP Guide and every firm he could find that looked good in Martindale. All to no avail.

Since this individual had been one of the recruiter’s students, he knew that he had to do something to help him because he knew this individual would one day be an outstanding attorney. He spent three full days helping the student prepare and revise letters to send to several hundred firms and this student received several offers. In fact, this student wound up practicing for one of the top firms in the city of his choosing. Incidentally, it was a firm that had not listed itself in any of the so called “traditional sources”.

WHAT THE FORMER ATTORNEY SAW

As an attorney, this individual had known scores of other practicing attorneys who had been searching for the perfect in house or law firm position for years. All to no avail. Many of these individuals had stellar qualifications. One day one of the attorney’s best friends was laid off. In fact, he had been laid off for months by the time he called his friend who was a recruiter. The attorney had just recently purchased a house and had a second child on the way. In addition, he was near the limit on his credit cards. The recruiter felt that he really had to do something and so he took action.

This attorney was interested in both in-house and law firm positions. The attorney had been working with recruiters for months and searching job boards and replying to classified listings. The attorney also had been laid off from a top firm and had outstanding qualifications.

The recruiter took drastic action to help his friend who was interested in a very small section of the United States. He assisted him in applying to every potential in-house and law firm position using a database that he developed with his friend and a staff of 5 temporary workers he hired for this very purpose. The recruiter used his own personal funds. He purchased every source of information he could find and for over a month he worked with his friend and five other people to assist him in gathering contact information for this area of the United States. The information was not complete; however, when the letters were sent out he knew his friend would find a position. In fact, by the time he accepted an offer he had already received over 15 interviews and had six job offers.

LEGAL AUTHORITY WAS BORN

The recruiter realized that attorneys all over the United States could benefit from this type of service. The five individuals were asked to stay on and more people were added. At a cost of over $1,000,000 a database was built. First for law firm positions, then in house positions, then for public interest positions, then for government positions. We worked for over six months building a database before launching Legal Authority. Since that time, the staff has grown to over 40 people gathering contacts and assisting individuals and Legal Authority now assists hundreds of attorneys each month.

JOB BOARDS, RECRUITERS AND CLASSIFIED ADS CANNOT POSSIBLY COMPETE WITH LEGAL AUTHORITY

There are a lot of sources out there which will distract you from your central goal of getting the job you want. Headhunters, job boards and classified ads cannot possibly compete with Legal Authority. Legal Authority actually has all the potential jobs and allows you to (1) apply for positions where there are not hundreds of people competing for the same position, and (2) apply for positions without attaching a $20,000+ fee an employer will have to pay if they hire you. Legal Authority puts you in control of your job search so you can actually get the job you want.

Traditional Legal Recruiting Firms Cannot Compare to Our Effectiveness

Put a Price on Hiring You (If You Want)

Legal recruiting firms charge hiring organizations a fee which is generally 25-30% of an attorney’s annual salary if they hire an attorney. Who would you hire if you were a hiring organization???

Candidate A: Cost if hired through a recruiter: $25,000+

Candidate B: Approaches firm because has identified this firm as a place they would like to work. Cost to firm $0.00

Not all hiring organizations are willing to pay these fees and hiring organizations—who are businesses—obviously prefer candidates not coming through recruiting firms.

The Vast Majority of Companies Do Not Use Legal Recruiters

The vast majority of companies do not use legal recruiters. Legal recruiters are used when a company is having an exceedingly difficult time filling a position. However, it is very rare that a corporation has an exceedingly difficult time filling a position. A great number of attorneys dream of going in-house and find these positions by using a service like Legal Authority. The other positions are generally filled by companies drawing in attorneys from their own law firms. Call a legal recruiting firm in any major city and ask them how many in-house opportunities they have for you. Chances are they will be able to list them off on one hand. Does this make much sense to you? There are thousands of companies in most major cities that employ attorneys of different backgrounds.

In addition, the only law firms which are likely to use recruiters to fill positions are those that cannot fill these positions on their own. The best and most prestigious law firms are frequently approached by attorneys on their own and do not need to do a lot of proactive recruiting. In addition, smaller to mid sized law firms often cannot afford the fees legal recruiters charge. Why vastly limit your universe of opportunities when you can use Legal Authority?

Hope (And Pray) Your Legal Recruiter Knows What Is Out There

The amount of work required to learn of all the available positions in a market is profound. Most legal recruiting firms are made up of a few individuals with relationships with a limited number of employers. In addition, it is a little known fact that law firms and corporations often will not do business with recruiters (or ever see their candidates) who are recruiting from their firms or corporations (and firms and corporations do find out). Accordingly, you may be limiting yourself to a very limited number of potential employers.

Other legal recruiters may send your materials to firms they have never even spoken with and then demand set fees. Legal Authority can connect you with every employer that matches what you are seeking to do without a middleman or a fee hanging over an employer’s head.

Job Boards and Classified Ads Cannot Compare to Our Effectiveness
There are literally hundreds of job boards for attorneys and job students. No attorney could possibly find all of the job boards. Even when opportunities are located on job boards, you are simply putting yourself into competition with the thousands of other attorneys that have an email account. In addition, many hiring organizations do not advertise open positions. Accordingly, by using job boards you may be missing a substantial number of positions on an ongoing basis.

In addition, many job boards charge employers $500 or more to post a single classified listing on their site. Many employers do not want to pay these fees either (and that even assumes they are being proactive enough to search out job boards). Another lesser known fact is that many job boards pride themselves on having the most positions. This may sound like a good thing; however, to get all those jobs the job boards may run ads on their sites for 60 days or more (long after the position has even been filled).

ATTORNEYS IN THE KNOW USE LEGAL AUTHORITY

Attorneys in the know use Legal Authority because it works. We have assisted attorneys from virtually every top law school and AmLaw 100 law firm in the United States get their next position. We have also assisted numerous General Counsels of Fortune 500 corporations. Our service is quick, cost effective and works. If there is a suitable attorney position that matches your interests available, the odds are almost certain we can put you in touch with the employer with the position. Many attorneys we have assisted have tried other methods in their job search for months or even years before contacting Legal Authority and successfully landing the position they have been seeking.

LEGAL AUTHORITY IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET A LEGAL POSITION

It has been estimated that over 85% of attorney positions are filled through an attorney’s self-initiated contract with a particular legal employer. Using Legal Authority, you can apply to any type of legal employer that matches what you are seeking to do. Those who use Legal Authority have the satisfaction of knowing that they have reached every single employer that matches what they are seeking to do. Legal Authority is, hands down, the most effective way to get a legal position. In addition, our Attorney Employment Advocates and Attorney Writers will assist you making the best possible impact with your resume and cover letter.

“It has been estimated that over 85% of attorney positions are filled through an attorney’s self-initiated contact with a particular legal employer.”

“IT’S HOW ATTORNEYS GET JOBS”

Compared to job boards, legal recruiters, classified ads, networking, outplacement firms or career services offices, no other means of finding your next legal job even comes close to Legal Authority. At Legal Authority, we assist attorneys and law students apply directly to law firms, corporations, public interest organizations, state and federal clerkships—you name it.

Our database contains more legal hiring contacts than any other source on Earth and we have a staff of over 40 attorneys and researchers working 24 hours a day to drive the careers of our attorney candidates forward. Our service is focused, discrete, confidential and enormously effective when you consider your next legal job is already in our database.

WE ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET YOUR NEXT LEGAL JOB. PERIOD.

Using Legal Authority, hundreds of attorneys each month ensure they (1) are considered for every possible type of job opportunity they are interested in, (2) receive the highest possible compensation, and (3) work in a place they will enjoy working. Legal Authority is the best and most effective way to get a legal job. By assisting you in compiling a list of employers where you are almost certain to be working in your next job,

A HISTORY OF FINDING ATTORNEYS POSITIONS AT EVERY LEVEL OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION

Legal Authority came about because of attorneys’ need for a service that would actually get them the specific types of jobs they want. Being an attorney is among the very most prestigious professions in the United States. The people who choose careers as attorneys are highly intelligent, motivated and capable of great things. The public relies upon attorneys to perform an extremely important service and the work of attorneys has a profound impact on society.

In fact, attorneys are held in such high regard by society that most outsiders simply assume they will always be in the type of job they want. The fact is that every member of the legal profession—from law students, to associates and partners at small AmLaw 100 law firms, to General Counsels of Fortune 100 companies, to public interest and government attorneys–may need access to all of the potential positions matching their interests is something that is virtually ignored by law schools, headhunters and job posting boards.

HOW LEGAL AUTHORITY CAME ABOUT

The founder of Legal Authority is a former law student, practicing attorney, legal recruiter and law professor. It was his understanding gained from these three experiences and the inefficiencies he saw in terms of how most attorneys have traditionally gone about getting legal jobs that led to the founding of Legal Authority.

WHAT THE FORMER LAW STUDENT SAW

As a law student he could not understand why he had to apply to only the firms his career services office told him about. This made absolutely no sense to him. They ran the whole show. He went to a Top 10 law school and saw lots of attorneys who did not have jobs by the time they graduated and others only got offers from firms in areas of the country they did not really want to work, or with firms they knew they would be unhappy working for, or with firms where they would practice in an area of law they flatly did not want to practice in. Other students tried applying to all the firms in the NALP Guide or a few of the better looking ones in Martindale—all to no avail in finding the type of job they wanted.

With so many attorneys practicing throughout the United States, this did not make any sense to him either. He was confident there was the perfect job in the city of the choosing of the attorney. This was something he was sure of. Several years later, he learned that many of the attorneys who had made the wrong choices while in law school were no longer practicing law. This did not surprise him. Some of the law students who did not have jobs when they graduated simply gave up hope of ever being an attorney after graduating from law school. The former law student believed this was an enormous tragedy and did not make a tremendous amount of sense.

WHAT THE LEGAL RECRUITER SAW

In his role as the head of a legal recruiting firm, he saw that too many good attorneys were not getting jobs. During the slowdown in the market for corporate associates virtually no corporate associate with less than 5 years of experience was employable in a major law firm in the United States—regardless of their qualifications. Oftentimes he would invite these stellar attorneys into his offices and assist them in sending unsolicited applications to 300-400 firms in his recruiting firms database (not under the legal recruiting firm’s letterhead).

A funny thing happened. All of these attorneys got jobs. Lot of jobs. Jobs a recruiter could not have gotten them.

Everyday this recruiter would personally review every resume of an attorney who approached his placement firm. Then, after reviewing each resume, he would respond personally to each resume. With several recruiters working for him, he would refer out the best resumes to his recruiters. Then, he would reject several people a day and send them a short note thanking them for contacting his firm. This was something that he believed was very unfortunate. Many of the attorneys would respond to his rejection emails that they were going to simply give up. He knew they were giving up.

With so much effort put into these people becoming attorneys he felt disgruntled. On the weekends he would often invite in the candidates who were most persistent in seeking out the recruiting firms services—regardless of their qualifications. He would help them apply to a couple hundred of law firms on their own (without using a recruiting firm—just the firm’s contacts). Regardless of these attorneys qualifications, the vast, vast majority got positions this way.

WHAT THE FORMER LAW PROFESSOR SAW

One hot Saturday July afternoon, the recruiter received a telephone call from one of his former law students who was getting ready to take the bar exam at the end of July. This law student had been one of his students at the Fourth Tier law school he taught at. This student had graduated second in his class and yet had never received an interview with a firm composed of more than one attorneys in his three years of looking for a job. As a law student, the individual had tried everything his career services office offered, applied to every firm in the NALP Guide and every firm he could find that looked good in Martindale. All to no avail.

Since this individual had been one of the recruiter’s students, he knew that he had to do something to help him because he knew this individual would one day be an outstanding attorney. He spent three full days helping the student prepare and revise letters to send to several hundred firms and this student received several offers. In fact, this student wound up practicing for one of the top firms in the city of his choosing. Incidentally, it was a firm that had not listed itself in any of the so called “traditional sources”.

WHAT THE FORMER ATTORNEY SAW

As an attorney, this individual had known scores of other practicing attorneys who had been searching for the perfect in house or law firm position for years. All to no avail. Many of these individuals had stellar qualifications. One day one of the attorney’s best friends was laid off. In fact, he had been laid off for months by the time he called his friend who was a recruiter. The attorney had just recently purchased a house and had a second child on the way. In addition, he was near the limit on his credit cards. The recruiter felt that he really had to do something and so he took action.

This attorney was interested in both in-house and law firm positions. The attorney had been working with recruiters for months and searching job boards and replying to classified listings. The attorney also had been laid off from a top firm and had outstanding qualifications.

The recruiter took drastic action to help his friend who was interested in a very small section of the United States. He assisted him in applying to every potential in-house and law firm position using a database that he developed with his friend and a staff of 5 temporary workers he hired for this very purpose. The recruiter used his own personal funds. He purchased every source of information he could find and for over a month he worked with his friend and five other people to assist him in gathering contact information for this area of the United States. The information was not complete; however, when the letters were sent out he knew his friend would find a position. In fact, by the time he accepted an offer he had already received over 15 interviews and had six job offers.

LEGAL AUTHORITY WAS BORN

The recruiter realized that attorneys all over the United States could benefit from this type of service. The five individuals were asked to stay on and more people were added. At a cost of over $1,000,000 a database was built. First for law firm positions, then in house positions, then for public interest positions, then for government positions. We worked for over six months building a database before launching Legal Authority. Since that time, the staff has grown to over 40 people gathering contacts and assisting individuals and Legal Authority now assists hundreds of attorneys each month.

JOB BOARDS, RECRUITERS AND CLASSIFIED ADS CANNOT POSSIBLY COMPETE WITH LEGAL AUTHORITY

There are a lot of sources out there which will distract you from your central goal of getting the job you want. Headhunters, job boards and classified ads cannot possibly compete with Legal Authority. Legal Authority actually has all the potential jobs and allows you to (1) apply for positions where there are not hundreds of people competing for the same position, and (2) apply for positions without attaching a $20,000+ fee an employer will have to pay if they hire you. Legal Authority puts you in control of your job search so you can actually get the job you want.

Traditional Legal Recruiting Firms Cannot Compare to Our Effectiveness

Put a Price on Hiring You (If You Want)

Legal recruiting firms charge hiring organizations a fee which is generally 25-30% of an attorney’s annual salary if they hire an attorney. Who would you hire if you were a hiring organization???

Candidate A: Cost if hired through a recruiter: $25,000+

Candidate B: Approaches firm because has identified this firm as a place they would like to work. Cost to firm $0.00

Not all hiring organizations are willing to pay these fees and hiring organizations—who are businesses—obviously prefer candidates not coming through recruiting firms.

The Vast Majority of Companies Do Not Use Legal Recruiters

The vast majority of companies do not use legal recruiters. Legal recruiters are used when a company is having an exceedingly difficult time filling a position. However, it is very rare that a corporation has an exceedingly difficult time filling a position. A great number of attorneys dream of going in-house and find these positions by using a service like Legal Authority. The other positions are generally filled by companies drawing in attorneys from their own law firms. Call a legal recruiting firm in any major city and ask them how many in-house opportunities they have for you. Chances are they will be able to list them off on one hand. Does this make much sense to you? There are thousands of companies in most major cities that employ attorneys of different backgrounds.

In addition, the only law firms which are likely to use recruiters to fill positions are those that cannot fill these positions on their own. The best and most prestigious law firms are frequently approached by attorneys on their own and do not need to do a lot of proactive recruiting. In addition, smaller to mid sized law firms often cannot afford the fees legal recruiters charge. Why vastly limit your universe of opportunities when you can use Legal Authority?

Hope (And Pray) Your Legal Recruiter Knows What Is Out There

The amount of work required to learn of all the available positions in a market is profound. Most legal recruiting firms are made up of a few individuals with relationships with a limited number of employers. In addition, it is a little known fact that law firms and corporations often will not do business with recruiters (or ever see their candidates) who are recruiting from their firms or corporations (and firms and corporations do find out). Accordingly, you may be limiting yourself to a very limited number of potential employers.

Other legal recruiters may send your materials to firms they have never even spoken with and then demand set fees. Legal Authority can connect you with every employer that matches what you are seeking to do without a middleman or a fee hanging over an employer’s head.

Job Boards and Classified Ads Cannot Compare to Our Effectiveness
There are literally hundreds of job boards for attorneys and job students. No attorney could possibly find all of the job boards. Even when opportunities are located on job boards, you are simply putting yourself into competition with the thousands of other attorneys that have an email account. In addition, many hiring organizations do not advertise open positions. Accordingly, by using job boards you may be missing a substantial number of positions on an ongoing basis.

In addition, many job boards charge employers $500 or more to post a single classified listing on their site. Many employers do not want to pay these fees either (and that even assumes they are being proactive enough to search out job boards). Another lesser known fact is that many job boards pride themselves on having the most positions. This may sound like a good thing; however, to get all those jobs the job boards may run ads on their sites for 60 days or more (long after the position has even been filled).

ATTORNEYS IN THE KNOW USE LEGAL AUTHORITY

Attorneys in the know use Legal Authority because it works. We have assisted attorneys from virtually every top law school and AmLaw 100 law firm in the United States get their next position. We have also assisted numerous General Counsels of Fortune 500 corporations. Our service is quick, cost effective and works. If there is a suitable attorney position that matches your interests available, the odds are almost certain we can put you in touch with the employer with the position. Many attorneys we have assisted have tried other methods in their job search for months or even years before contacting Legal Authority and successfully landing the position they have been seeking.

LEGAL AUTHORITY IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO GET A LEGAL POSITION

It has been estimated that over 85% of attorney positions are filled through an attorney’s self-initiated contract with a particular legal employer. Using Legal Authority, you can apply to any type of legal employer that matches what you are seeking to do. Those who use Legal Authority have the satisfaction of knowing that they have reached every single employer that matches what they are seeking to do. Legal Authority is, hands down, the most effective way to get a legal position. In addition, our Attorney Employment Advocates and Attorney Writers will assist you making the best possible impact with your resume and cover letter.

“It has been estimated that over 85% of attorney positions are filled through an attorney’s self-initiated contact with a particular legal employer.”

IF YOU USE LEGAL AUTHORITY

If you use Legal Authority you can rest assured that you are taking the most focused action possible in your job search. On an average week, we put in over 1,200 hours worth of work into our database. The cost of modifying our database runs well into the seven figures on an annual basis. There are literally over 50 sources we are using on an ongoing basis to update and modify our database. In terms of legal hiring contacts, there is no organization on Earth with more contacts. This is what we do and we are the absolute best in the business we are in.

Our Employment Advocates who assist you in compiling your list of employers are all seasoned legal professionals. With only one exception, each of our Employment Advocates are attorneys. In addition, our profession writers have the type of experience to help you create a resume and cover letter that has the best possible impact on employers. Out of the hundreds of attorneys we assist on a monthly basis, there are very few instances in recent memory when an attorney had a complaint that we did not provide the most effective job search for them possible. It is exceedingly rare that an attorney has ever contacted us and told us that our service did not work. In fact, this has occurred in less than 1 in 1000 attorneys we have ever assisted.

TAKE YOUR FUTURE INTO YOUR HANDS
Legal Authority allows you to choose the direction and expansiveness of your job search. Once you make the decision to work with Legal Authority, we will do our absolute best to ensure you find the position you are seeking—whether it is in a law firm, corporation, public interest organization, law school or government office. We are proud to make that promise to each of the attorneys we work with. All of our candidates and clients know that we mean business and take our jobs

“Legal Authority is, quite simply, the most effective way for attorneys to get the type of legal job they are seeking.”

THERE ARE CHEAPER ALTERNATIVES TO FINDING A LEGAL JOB THAN USING LEGAL AUTHORITY

True. There are also ways to ensure you get a legal job and ways that may ensure you do not. You can search job boards and hope that the perfect position comes along. You can also try and find a recruiter with the job you want. You could also subscribe to over 50 legal directories and publications and hire 40 people to update this information for you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The later is what we do at Legal Authority. Because thousands of attorneys use our service, the cost is generally far cheaper than were you to do the work yourself.

In most instances, the cost of using Legal Authority is less than $2.00 per employer we help you contact and our search can be as expansive or narrow as you choose. In addition, we verify the information we have before providing it to you, rewrite your resume and cover letter, print it addressed to the specific employers you choose and ship this to you. We speak with attorneys on a daily basis who believe they can do all of the work themselves. If your time is worth less than $7.00 an hour (assuming it takes you 15 minutes to find each hiring contact, enter this information into a letter, proof each letter and then print each resume and letter) and a staff of 40 people, access to over 50 legal directories and $1,000,000 to just build a database, then you can do it yourself. A lot of attorneys think they are smarter than us or somehow have this figured out. If you are one of those attorneys, then go we cannot help you.

ABOUT US

Legal Authority is made up of attorneys, writers and researchers who bring a high degree of understanding, competence and a proven track record of achievement to your job search. Our team has attorneys supervising and working with the attorneys who use our service at every level of the search process.

“With hundreds of attorneys served each month, Legal Authority may very well get more attorneys jobs than any other single organization in the United States. By eliminating recruiters and job boards from the search criterion, Legal Authority empowers attorneys to take charge of their careers.”

OUR MISSION
Our mission is simple: To get attorneys jobs and be the very best at what we do. Anywhere. To that extent, we have developed the largest database of legal employers on Earth and a team of Attorney Employment Advocates who connect attorneys with the jobs which match their interest.

In the Year 2002, Legal Authority looks forward to counseling and enthusiastically represent attorneys and making meaningful differences in the quality of their lives and advancing thousands of more careers.

At Legal Authority, we firmly believe we are the most effective

means anywhere for attorneys and law students to locate their perfect legal position. We have assisted thousands of attorneys and Legal Authority can help you too: We maintain a staff of over 40 attorneys, researchers and writers and have the largest database of legal hiring contacts on Earth. Virtually every day of the week attorneys and law students get multiple legal positions using Legal Authority. No job board, placement firm or any other source can make this claim. What we do for attorneys works.

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In terms of helping attorneys get jobs, one of the more effective means for doing so is by approaching the specific types of employers you would like to work for (whether or not they are soliciting applications) directly through a focused campaign. Sporadically applying to jobs on job posting boards, classified advertisements, and through recruiters can work — but for many attorneys it can take a great deal of time and does not work for even the best attorneys. I formerly practiced law with a major New York City-based law firm and knew several attorneys with stellar qualifications who sporadically applied to jobs through recruiters, classified ads, and job posting boards for years. You probably know attorneys who have been doing this for a long time as well.

The “apply now and then” means of going about a job search (which is a common strategy for most attorneys) cannot possibly give you the type of market coverage (and corresponding offers) that you are capable of getting—or ensure you get a position in a timely manner. No matter how good a recruiting firm is–not all firms use recruiters, and not all recruiters have all the jobs. No matter how good a job board is–no job board has all the jobs and you will be competing with every attorney with an email account. Statistics also indicate that the vast majority of legal positions in the United States are filled by unsolicited and self-initiated contact attorneys initiate with employers. Incredibly, however, most attorneys never take the step of actually performing an aggressive self-initiated and targeted job search campaign to employers not soliciting applications. Even the National Association of Law Placement is clear that most attorneys get position by approaching employers who do not solicit their resume.

The problem with contacting employers on your own is that it is a tremendous amount of work and something few practicing attorneys have the time to do. In addition, an attorney’s time is valuable. The amount of work required to build a comprehensive list of employers and hiring contacts within each city is profound. Not all firms list themselves in Martindale, we estimate that less than 1% of the law firms in the United States are in the NALP Guide and–even assuming you had a comprehensive list of information–picking up the phone to make hundreds of phone calls to identify who to approach within each hiring organization is a ridiculous amount of work. Not to mention the cost of printing, the possibility for typos in the contact information and loading all that information into a database to print all those cover letters and envelopes.

In my opinion, the most effective way to get a legal position is by using a company called Legal Authority (www.legalauthority.com). Legal Authority probably assists more attorneys get positions than any single organization in the United States and what they do is nearly foolproof.

Legal Authority (working closely with you) will review and revise your resume and cover letter, and then laser print cover letters and envelopes addressed to the hiring contacts in the specific types of legal employers you are interested in. Legal Authority maintains the largest database of legal hiring contacts of any company in the world: There are over 40 attorneys and researchers working at Legal Authority, and the company operates 24 hours a day updating a database of more than 750,000 hiring contacts. There is probably a 99.9% chance that the next legal hiring organization you go to work for is already in Legal Authority’s database. How you get to these legal employers is up to you, but using Legal Authority will ensure you do find these employers. I strongly encourage you to review Legal Authority’s website at www.legalauthority.com.

If you are serious about getting an attorney position, you owe it to yourself to at least speak with Legal Authority and hear what they can do to assist you. Legal Authority offers a free no cost or obligation consultation where they will tell you how many employers match your interests in the area(s) you want to work, and will advise you on changes you can make to your resume to make it more effective.

One of the most important attributes any attorney can have is the ability to advocate. Legal Authority will make you your own advocate by, in effect, allowing you to do the type of work recruiters do on your own while providing you with (1) an effective and revised cover letter and resume and (2) personalized letters to every specific employer you tell them you would be interested in working for in any area of the United States, Europe or Asia.

This strategy is effective and works: Legal Authority assists hundreds of attorneys each month has been used by top partners in major United States law firms, General Counsels of important corporations, associates in small and large firms, and even law students. Legal Authority can assist you too.

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Try to list professions that inherently expect their members to give portions of their time to the underprivileged for free; it will probably be a short list. At the top of that list, however, would almost certainly be the legal profession. Pro Bono Publico: For the public good. “Pro bono” is practically synonymous with the word lawyer. But why is it that lawyers, unlike many other prominent professionals, are expected to provide free legal services to the disadvantaged? And why do law firms continue to support this endeavor?

Part of the answer probably lies in the simple fact that indoctrination regarding pro bono work begins early. From the first day of law school, students are told that with the degree comes an obligation to donate time and services to those who otherwise would not be able to afford it. They are told that it is not only a moral responsibility, but a rewarding process that will contribute to their overall practice in many ways.

While students may agree pro bono is equally rewarding for both sides, they may find it difficult to put these thoughts into action. Many choose the practice of law with aspirations of providing a needed service-changing the world so to speak-and a commitment to “righting wrong.” Those individuals may not feel the pressure to donate their time and services, as it is probably incumbent of their practice. There are others, however, who practice for the intellectual challenge, power, prestige, and/or the lure of the almighty dollar. While they don’t blame others for wanting to donate their time freely, quite frankly, it is not on the top of their priority lists.

Nonetheless, look at the law firms of the attorneys who pursued private-service careers over public-interest ones and you will be hard pressed to find a firm that does not have pro bono prominently displayed on its agenda. The question is, how focused is the firm on making pro bono work an integral part of its culture and structure?

One example of a pro bono program may provide some clues. One of Atlanta’s largest and most respected firms, Powell Goldstein LLP, recently established the Powell Goldstein Fellowship, sponsored by the firm to serve the Atlanta Legal Aid Society. At Powell Goldstein, the Fellowship is viewed as an honor, and the recipient is carefully selected by the firm.

Leah Fisher, Manager of Recruitment for Powell Goldstein, stated, “Powell Goldstein established its fellowship with Atlanta Legal Aid as a way for the firm to show its continued commitment to pro bono work while also providing an incoming associate with a demonstrated interest in pro bono work, the opportunity to work fulltime as a staff attorney at Atlanta Legal Aid for 4 to 6 months. The benefit is that the fellowship gives the associate the opportunity to develop client counseling and advocacy skills early on in his or her career while also providing valuable legal services to clients with low incomes.”

Still, fellowships and other pro bono activities appear focused on those already dedicated at some level to the work. And we know the work is important at least because of the obvious obligation to better society. Yet, given the tension between billable hours and non-paying, public-interest endeavors, one must wonder what drives firms to include pro bono commitment in their compensation and evaluation structure, initiate the creation of special committees, and sometimes create a management position dedicated solely to its pursuit? Plus, when pro bono work is integrated with the firm’s requirements for associates, why should you be forced to take part? Several areas offer answers.

For our second case example, we examined a firm with a slightly different picture. Though this firm certainly scores high marks regarding large-scale transactions and marquis clientele, it is not considered one of the more traditional firms in New York. In addition to an undeniable New York presence, this firm is more notable for significant growth in other major United States cities and metropolitan locations across several continents.

Public perception is key to the success of any law firm. What better way to market a firm and attract clients than by having your firm name associated with activities that improve the community? Pro bono is an excellent way to build rapport and be viewed as a leader by the public.

Professional Development
Given the nature of a large-firm environment, work assigned to junior attorneys can be limited and at times tedious. Pro bono offers an associate the opportunity to get autonomy and experience, not typically found early in a big-firm career. Pro bono is an excellent way to increase knowledge and develop legal skills quickly.

Recruiting
Students are very interested and will heavily research a firm’s commitment to pro bono. They look for firms who not only announce they are strong advocates of pro bono, but can demonstrate that it’s an integral part of the firm’s framework. Firms that work to create atmospheres in which the value of pro bono service is recognized and appreciated will most often attract future associates who may be the next big rainmakers.

Client Interaction
Low client contact is endemic to law firm life and often a major source of job dissatisfaction. Effectively handling a client is a key to the successful practice of law. As a result, partners are cautious about the amount of client face time associates receive. And there is the problem. Interaction with clients is a skill that has to develop right along with technical skills, but partners loathe to let junior attorneys near the firm’s valuable clients. With pro bono, young attorneys deal with the clients immediately and are viewed as project leaders.

Diversity of Practice
In mid-to-large firms, attorneys typically spend their careers focused on a specific practice area. While there are definite advantages to being an expert in one area of the law, taking on a project outside the usual realm of one’s practice can be a refreshing change. Indeed a pro bono project may be just what an attorney needs to keep the practice of law from becoming routine and stale.

So great, pro bono work will increase firms’ places in the community and how they manage their associates, but what is in the work for you as an individual?

Simple. Roll all of the above into one, and you are likely to end up a much happier, more gratified attorney. By doing pro bono work, you will service your community, your firm will prosper (and, yes, when the firm is happy, your life at the firm improves), you will deal directly with clients, your skills will broaden, and your practice will be more diverse. In the end, it is difficult to argue that committing yourself to pro bono projects will not actually benefit you more than the other party.

Indeed, firms must understand that the work benefits them and their associates because although pro bono and the law have always gone hand-in-hand, firms’ commitments to institutionalizing formal pro bono policies are becoming more common. True, firms may have offered some recognition to attorneys for committing their time to pro bono in the past, but written policies and stated goals are surfacing more and more. So for those who wonder why pro bono should be an obligatory component of your practice, just remember that not only is it for the public good, it’s good for you too.

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Many junior attorneys work incredibly hard for four years to get top grades at first-tier law schools, work on law reviews, and get offers from prestigious firms. Then, they face unplanned speed bumps in their careers when their fiancés feel it is time to live in the same city, get serious about their commitment, marry, and settle down. Legal recruiters receive many questions in relation to different versions of this scenario. The following is what I tell attorneys in this position. (Many of these thoughts may apply to same-sex couples as well, where one partner is relocating to meet the needs of the relationship.) You are not alone. This scenario is one of the more common stories that cross my desk. Fortunately, there is some empathy for this situation among hiring partners and recruiting staff, but you should be aware of the pitfalls so that you can handle it with delicacy and finesse.

First, I would be remiss if I didn’t note that I have almost exclusively worked with women making moves to be in the same locations as their future husbands. Rarely have I helped an imminent husband find a good legal position to relocate near his soon-to-be-wife. Often there is a good reason for choosing who is to move. His job may be in a professional field less amenable to transition, they may both want to settle where he is, or they may want to live in a location where their families have settled as well.

However, lacking an obvious reason to choose his location, many times the women still are expected to make the job change. This works if both individuals share that value in terms of their respective professional priorities within a relationship. But not infrequently a woman will throw her professional trajectory into the hopper with smoldering resentment (of which she may or may not be consciously aware) to meet an expectation that may not jibe with her sense of fairness and her definition of mutual support between two committed people.

Therefore, the first step in this situation is to examine the decision-making process. Talk out short, medium, and long-term goals for each person’s respective career both as individuals and as a couple. Map out the pros and cons of location and opportunity for each individual in various locations in light of these goals.

Don’t assume that you will take turns putting individual career goals first. Don’t assume that she is always going to accept that her career will be secondary in light of assumptions about children and gender stereotypes. The current generation is very savvy and evolved when it comes to gender roles and providing mutual support regarding professional issues. But in my experience the couples who are the most successful talk it out.

Be explicit. Make sure each person understands the other’s viewpoint, values, and desires. Ensure that each person feels acknowledged and heard according to the norms of his or her culture and the mode in which he or she wants to merge into a relationship. Then, make the decision and jointly figure out how to best unfold the plan.

We will assume that the couple now living apart in separate cities has decided they are going to get married the summer after they both start working as first-year associates. They also have decided that they will settle in his city for the long run and she will change firms.

Probably the most important tool you have on your side to minimize the negatives of moving to a new firm at this point in your career is timing. If you can stay at a law firm for at least a year, you will minimize the penalty of “leaving too soon.” The prevailing wisdom is to stay at least two to three years before any move. But in the case of leaving to marry, staying for a year, and staying even if it means you may be somewhat inconvenienced for a few months, is often seen as a good-faith effort on your part.

Each situation will be different. If you are a junior litigator and are on a case that is going to be “crazy busy” and you play an important role, try not to leave until your role has been played out. If you think the demands of the case may go on for years, try to give three to six months’ notice. If you are part of a practice group that is slow on work, an early departure may not be a negative at all; it might be the best of both worlds—for you and for the firm.

Try not to be totally self-serving. If the firm has provided expensive continuing education programs, held a luxurious all-firm retreat, or given you financial support above and beyond the norm, figure out some way to show some appreciation and not give them your “two weeks’ notice” the day you return from the retreat. Often you will have at least one relationship with an established member of the firm who is also a mentor and a friend. Speak to this person about your long-range plans and seek his or her advice regarding the politics of leaving the firm early despite having represented that you would probably be there for a much longer period. You may gain some insight regarding what the firm values most in this situation, whether it is staying until a busy case or deal winds up, training someone to do what you were doing, or simply moving on gracefully and expediently so that the firm is no longer making an expensive investment in someone who is not going to be there.

The goal is to not burn bridges, maintain strong collegial relationships, appear savvy and responsible, and ensure a source of references to assist with your search for your next position in your new location. In top-tier practices, it is a small world. Attorneys are moving between firms more than ever before. You may well be meeting the colleagues you worked with in your first firm across the negotiating table, in the courtroom, or as office mates in the future.

In the best of all worlds, a firm may have an office with your practice group in your new location. You can explore transferring rather than leaving the firm. This can be more complicated than it appears at first glance. Often it is a matter of personalities and your perceived value by the managing partner in your current office. If you are moving from a situation where you are sought after to do work for partners to a situation where you may be begging for work, then perhaps going to a new firm will make more sense than a transfer.

When approaching firms in the new city, a good legal recruiter can help you frame the transition so that it can be seen as a positive and your departure from your first firm is reflected in the best possible light. Try to speak to a recruiter before you give notice or, even better, before you have a rigid time frame. The recruiter can give you market information regarding the potential time frame in that market to find what you want. This can vary tremendously. Optimally you will not give notice until you have a new position lined up. In tight markets, there may come a time when you simply have to join your fiancé/husband and leave without having a new position. Be very sure you understand how this will affect your search before you give notice. It can be handled, but it can be a significant negative to many law firms to consider hiring someone who is currently unemployed.

As you consider moving to a new firm, it is a wonderful time to reexamine your values and what you want professionally. After working for a year at a big firm, most associates have a much better idea of what they want and need to develop their careers. Pause before you go immediately for prestige and paycheck, and make sure the firm lifestyle supports your career goals.

It may also be time to rethink your professional goals in light of your married status. Will you have additional time responsibilities at home related to what you and your spouse plan for the near future? Will the choice of neighborhoods to support your goals as a couple have an impact on what you are willing to do in terms of a commute? Will supporting your financial goals as a couple mandate a certain level of compensation, or will your marriage allow more freedom in that respect?

An unexpected career transition related to a committed relationship need not be a professional negative. Communicate with your spouse-to-be so that everyone’s values and goals are acknowledged in formulating the plan. Approach the firm you are leaving with honesty, humility, and flexibility. Use your legal search consultant to help you form a search strategy in your new location that recognizes your evolving career goals, the realities of the market you are entering, and the need to make a graceful exit from your old firm.

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The law school that I am thinking of attending offers a joint J.D./MBA program that I could theoretically finish in the same time it would take me to get my J.D. Should I take this opportunity? How would this increase my chances of getting a law firm job, since this is what I am sure I want to do?

Adding an MBA to your list of academic accomplishments can only benefit you in the long run, no matter what you eventually choose to do with your life or legal career. Since you seem to have decided that joining a law firm is what you want to do in the near future, there are several benefits to having an MBA when entering law firm life.

First, given the type of training that occurs, in our opinion it would be quite wise if an MBA were an actual requirement for getting a law degree. This is due to the fact that the practice of law is so closely related to business and few attorneys appear to realize this. In fact, attorneys traditionally are known in the business community as some of the worst businessmen. Being an attorney has numerous components that involve business such as marketing, the value of your time, hiring and firing, renting office space, managing payroll and numerous cost-benefit type calculations. While traditionally law was portrayed as something that was not a business, you should make no mistake about one central fact: The law is a business.

If you start your career in a law firm position, you may one day become a partner and be responsible for many of the day-to-day business decisions associated with the running of the law firm. Even if you do not choose to remain with a law firm, you may one day open your own practice. The training an MBA provides will help you navigate the waters in terms of running your own law firm. Your own law firm, incidentally, would be a small business.

A second aspect to consider in getting an MBA is how it could teach you to think in a different way. MBAs are known as “bean counters” for a reason. As a general rule, MBAs tend to be very risk averse and good at pointing out the risks inherent in any business situation. In fact, many entrepreneurs that have hired MBAs report that they are continually told by MBAs to simply shut down their businesses! This type of risk averse behavior is exactly what most lawyers do with clients on a daily basis. While we are, in fact, having some fun with the above statements, the generalities they express are on point and some of the better attorneys we have known have been MBAs.

Third, you may consider getting an MBA if you are interested in corporate work. Beyond the practical training and the training in the “MBA thought process”, an MBA will also teach you a great deal about the inner workings of the financial system and about many of the types of companies you are likely to do work for as a corporate attorney.

Fourth, even if you decide not to do corporate work, an MBA is not a liability. Since the majority of law schools with joint programs heavily favor the J.D. degree when constructing the curriculum, the amount of legal education will be on par with that of any other student who is just focusing on the law. Additionally, any extra knowledge that you can bring to the table, even if it is not directly applicable, is going to make you a more attractive candidate.

Fifth, if you eventually decide that practicing law is not for you, having an MBA is probably the only other degree that instantly grants you access to the kind of high-paying professional jobs that lawyers enjoy. Make no mistake about it: numerous attorneys leave the practice of law each year. You may be dead-set on being an attorney right now, but things change and many people who go into the law eventually come to rethink their decision. An MBA is a great thing to be able to fall back on.

The only con - and it potentially is a big one - is that some law firms may interpret getting these two degrees, which really represent two diverse career paths, as indecision in what you want out of your future. If a firm thinks that you are applying to them simply to get a feel for what working in a law firm is like before you make the jump to corporate life, they may be less willing to hire you. If there is one thing that law firms value, perhaps above all else, it is a singleness of purpose when it comes to careers and what attorneys are willing to give back to the firm. With that said, there are many firms who are not nearly as concerned with this, but the stodgier, more traditional firms may not understand your motivations.

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The process of working on client files at Legal Authority is quite complicated and works like this:

 

First, our clients generally sign up on our website or call in. Once clients call in or sign up on our website, we call to schedule an appointment with them and they are assigned an Employment Advocate who will be their contact person throughout their search. With only one exception, all of our Employment Advocates are attorneys. Our Employment Advocates work with our clients through each step of the process.

 

Second, once an appointment is scheduled, clients speaks with one of our Employment Advocates about their job search and what they are seeking to do. During the phone call, a list of employers is generated which matches precisely what the client is seeking to do. Employment Advocates will generally counsel clients about what they believe are the most appropriate steps for the candidate to follow in their job search. Employment Advocates are sort of like recruiters because their ultimate objective is to get you a job. The difference between an Employment Advocate and a traditional legal recruiter, however, is that Employment Advocates work with you.

 

In the third step of the process, the list of employers that the client and Employment Advocate agree upon is sent to our data review center and the resume is sent to our resume and cover letter department.

 

Our resume and cover letter department is also populated almost exclusively by attorneys. Two of our resume and cover letter personnel have worked in major New York law firms. Another holds a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. In our resume and cover letter department, with the input from what you are seeking to do gained from their discussions with you and your Employment Advocate, a resume fitting exactly what you are seeking to do is crafted.

 

Our data center is extremely sophisticated, operates 24 hours a day seven days a week and is staffed by over twenty researchers. Our data center is populating our database with contact information every day of the week. Many of our candidates often ask us where we get our data and the answer is we get it from numerous sources. The least challenging aspect of our work is getting the data from printed sources. The problem with printed sources, however, is that a large percentage of law firms, corporations and other legal hiring organizations do not even list themselves in printed sources. A listing in Martindale Hubble, for example, costs firms several hundreds of dollars. At a cost exceeding $50,000 a month, our data center pulls information from other data sources making use of U.S. Government issued Standard Industry Classifications (SIC Codes) which classify businesses based upon the type of industry they are in. This information is constantly being double checked, reclassified and loaded into our database.

 

Once the candidate file is sent to the data center, the data center reviews the list of contacts put together by the Employment Advocate. Since each search is personal to everyone who uses our service, our list of contacts inside each legal hiring organization is never perfect. For example, we try to use contacts that are less than four months old. If a contact is less than four months old we do not use it and reinvestigate who the contact is. In addition, we very rarely have a full list of contacts within each hiring organization because each search our candidates perform is unique. Accordingly, the data center identifies which contacts on the Employment Advocates’ list either (1) need to be found, or (2) need to be updated and sends them to a researcher within the data center. This process of updating the information often takes less than a day. In some cases it has taken our data center over two weeks. Once the data center is happy with its information, it is sent to a data analyst like Catherine for review.

 

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As I sit before my computer monitor writing this short article, the window for my document is minimized so as to maximize my view of my desktop background—a view of our beloved, blue planet from two hundred miles above its surface. The stunning vista of creamy, white-blue clouds and indigo sea against a black, starless sky reminds me of the amazing richness of opportunities constantly before us…and of our regrettable inability to take advantage of all of them. Fortunately, leading full and joyful lives does not require that we take advantage of all opportunities but, rather, that we carefully choose the precious few possibilities that we can and will pursue. What a difference it will make in your law career if you seize those few opportunities and take full advantage of the doors they open!

Candidates ask me all the time, “Which firms are making partners now?” I always respond, “None of them!” The dead silence is usually followed by nervous laughter. “Not, really,” candidates say. “I know it seems like that, but where are associates really making partners?”

At this juncture, I usually let them in on a little secret: things have changed in the practice of law since the 1950s. Here’s the bottom line: there are no more firms where associates simply “make partner.” Instead, associates grow up, get clients, create practices, and only then are awarded partnership status.

What this means is that attorneys must know how to create thriving practices while maintaining heavy workloads, and most firms cannot or will not expend resources to teach lawyers how to do this. They are on their own. Well, almost.

Here are some pointers that will help you develop the personal and professional clout you will need to build your own book of business.

Start Building Partner Skills Now

Associates who are ultimately invited to join their firms’ partnerships are not created equally, yet there are several “types” of attorneys who possess skills that increase their likelihood of making partner. I once sat in on a lecture given by the chairman of a prominent law firm, in which he discussed three types of partnership-bound associates.

First, there is the “rainmaker” who spends all (or most) of his or her time networking, having lunches, meeting people, and bringing in business. Second, the “service partner” adds value to a firm by providing niche expertise in a specialized area of the law, thus meeting the needs of sophisticated clients in ways that a partner with general legal skills cannot. Finally, the “hybrid” brings good leadership skills, strong connections to the firm and within the local community, and the ability to supervise projects and associates with aplomb.

While I respect these distinctions, I see things a little more simply. The only kind of person who can make and remain a partner is a person who has developed and continues to nurture a large, quality network of friends, colleagues, experts, and clients with whom he or she is involved on a professional level. This means that a potential partner must be able to call upon the people within his or her network to meet the needs of existing clients, to refer and generate new clients, and to keep abreast of developments in his or her industry.

No matter what level of practice you may now enjoy, the levels of ability and interest you exhibit in maintaining such a network may well mean the difference between professional and remunerative success or failure.

The Core Competency of a Partner

The ability to develop successful professional relationships is one of the core competencies of a partner. Almost anyone can practice law, but only a few develop law practices. I always try to emphasize to younger lawyers that it is never too early to start the process of building a network of strong relationships. The fundamental difference between a partner and any other lawyer is leadership ability. Partners lead. That means that partners assume responsibilities, delegate tasks, and are accountable for meeting the needs of their clients. These leadership traits are not innate; they must be learned, and to be learned, they must be practiced.

The only way to become a leader is to practice leadership in a thousand small ways. Sets of small acts tend to grow, of their own accord, into larger sets of responsibilities that eventually can develop into leadership over an entire case, with a large client, or in a 3,000-member law firm.

Furthermore, leadership does not begin with a “lucky break,” such as when, for instance, the senior associate on a matter calls in sick and you are named the lead attorney…or when the lead partner suddenly realizes that you are brilliant…or even if a client suddenly prefers that you take the reins. Rather, leadership begins with relationship management. In essence, every legal task can be broken down into a series of relationships that need managing. For example, an attorney must exhibit leadership in order to assign the appropriate people within a law firm to answer interrogatories, to find critical documents, to communicate key information about deals to clients, or to manage support staff and other associates in preparing filings or coordinating nationwide document collections and reviews.

Thus, to build the confidence, credibility, and leadership skills necessary to fulfill these responsibilities, attorneys must begin by cultivating as many meaningful relationships as possible. To do this, they must actually meet people.

Get Out There, Meet People, and Make Friends

Networking is just a fancy way of describing the process of intentionally making friends. Every lawyer in the country should be a member of at least three organizations and should contribute to each of them. It is often the case that the most effective, highest-functioning attorneys are those who are members of scores of organizations that they have joined over the courses of their careers.

For starters, however, any professional—and every lawyer—should join one organization within each of the following genres: professional, service-oriented, and fraternal or social. At the most basic level, every lawyer should be closely involved with some sort of professional organization of lawyers dedicated to furthering the practice of law. This might be a subcommittee within a state bar association, the American Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, or even your local Barristers Club. There is no substitute for meeting and interacting with new lawyers in settings devoted to their respective practices. Successful lawyers have hundreds of colleagues who are essentially professional acquaintances with whom they have developed familiarity. Although meeting people and getting to know colleagues is incredibly easy to do, many lawyers dread it. It doesn’t have to be painful. Go out and meet someone new today!

For the Socially Challenged: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Network

Here is a step-by-step primer for developing a network of professional colleagues that even a partner would envy:

1. Join the “[fill in the blank]” club.
2. Actually go to a meeting.
3. Say, “Hello, how are you?” to five people. Be brave. Try to initiate some small talk. (For example, ask questions such as “Where do you practice?” or “What is your most interesting case right now?”)
4. Give a business card to each person you talk to. Ask for a business card from each of them, or write their names and phone numbers down on one of your own cards and hang on to it!
5. Once you get home or back to the office, enter their names in your Outlook folder (or some other location), and set up a reminder to call each person back in one week to follow up and say how much you enjoyed meeting him or her.
6. Actually call each person back.
7. Make it a practice to call each person on your list of contacts once every three months.
8. Follow where this leads you.

There. That wasn’t so hard! These are simple but invaluable steps. Every lawyer has some basic social skills, or he or she would not have survived the first year of legal practice. Begin naturally—but begin—and see where these proto-relationships take you. The point is that, just like in sales, there are only so many solid opportunities per “X” number of contacts. The only way to “get lucky” is to make sure that you make lots of attempts to build and maintain your personal network. Not every person is going to become a client, but the greater the number of personal contacts you maintain, the greater the resulting synergy between their accumulated sums of interactions, relationships, and experiences and your own.

Bringing It All Together

Once you have started down the path of generating a network of diverse professionals, you will be surprised at how it starts to take on a life of its own. Telling one colleague about an amusing vignette may lead him or her to do a small favor for you, such as sending over a client as a referral. Over time, that client or that colleague may lead you to significant business opportunities. All the while, you should be continuing to grow these and other relationships.

The key point to remember is that becoming a responsible leader depends on your ability to manage relationships. In every interaction, follow through with whatever you promise to do. If you offer to provide a reference, provide it! If you agree to get the name of someone who can serve as an expert, do it—and promptly! Demonstrating this kind of courtesy builds reputations and relationships—one small, solid step at a time. I absolutely guarantee that if you follow these practices, you will eventually succeed. You don’t have to be perfect all the time. You just need to be reasonably careful, reasonably reliable, and reasonably friendly, and you will be ahead of the majority of the pack.

Conclusion

The world is full of opportunities, but we cannot take advantage of them all; we can only capitalize on a few. To the extent that you can internalize this powerful principle, you will find that the world—and, in particular, your own practice—is as full of opportunities as a path strewn with gems. The key is to determine which gems to pick up, carry, and ultimately safeguard…because you cannot take them all. If you follow this path, you may find that your biggest challenge lies not in finding opportunities, but in having sufficiently large pockets!

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