what does a lateral attorney recruiter do

by Lenna Bradtke PhD 7 min read

A good legal recruiter will work with you throughout the entire lateral process. At the interview stage, your recruiter should help you to determine how to best articulate your story, to anticipate the interviewers’ questions, and to be ready for any curve balls they may throw at you. Sponsored The Definitive Guide To Scaling Your Law Firm

Lateral hiring, also referred to as lateral recruitment, is a hiring process that involves hiring someone who has a certain amount of experience as opposed to hiring someone who recently passed the bar exam and who has practically no experience practicing law. A lateral hire could be an associate or staff attorney.

Full Answer

What is lateral recruitment?

Dec 20, 2016 · Summary: Do you know what prestigious law firms are looking for in a lateral attorney? Learn about the six essential questions used by firms in the hiring process. Learn about the six essential questions used by firms in the hiring process.

What do law firms look for when hiring an attorney?

12 Lateral Interview Tips from a Legal Recruiter The interviewer may control the format, but you control the message. ... Abby works with attorney candidates on law firm and in-house searches ...

How to hire a lateral worker?

Jul 22, 2019 · Lateral recruiting is an entirely different world from entry-level recruiting. And that’s why having the right recruiter by your side to help pinpoint your goals, prepare for your search, and narrow your options is so important. Vault sat down with Sean Burke and Kathleen Mon, of the boutique legal recruiting firm Whistler Partners, to learn their advice for tackling a lateral move, …

What should HR managers look for when considering lateral recruitment?

Feb 12, 2017 · LATERAL RECRUITMENT Lateral recruitment is the process of hiring an "expert" for the job that needs to be filled. In some cases, it is a specialized hiring.

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What does a law recruiter do?

A legal recruiter is a human resources professional who assists hiring managers in the legal industry to find, hire, and retain high-quality legal professionals. ... They typically work at a law firm or on a recruiting team at a recruiting firm or legal search firm.

Why do law firms use recruiters?

Law firms use recruiters because they need the most qualified candidates to ensure they can keep taking cases that bring in revenue. Not all recruiters are trustworthy or care about finding a good fit for their candidates. Recruiting firms offer more than just job listings.

What does lateral mean in law?

Lateral Hire — someone who enters the law firm, typically from another firm, at the same level as they were in their old firm. For example, attorney X, who was an associate at one law firm, joins another firm as an associate.

Are legal recruiters worth it?

A knowledgeable legal recruiter can be a great asset during your job search, but you must keep in mind the recruiter's motivations and access to employers—and whether you are in a situation to benefit from their assistance.Aug 19, 2021

How long is lateral hiring?

Typically, the law firm lateral hiring process will take 3-12 months. Some may take as long as three years—expect the hiring process for a big law firm to be thorough and excruciatingly slow.Nov 11, 2019

What questions should I ask a legal recruiter?

3 Questions to Ask Your Legal RecruiterWhat qualifications does the employer require, and which do they most want?How long has this job position been open? Why is it open?What can you tell me about the company?Jan 10, 2014

What should I look for in a legal recruiter?

A good legal recruiter needs to:have persuasive skills,be likeable,have a good pedigree in most cases to understand the nuances of top level firms,needs to have an outstanding work ethic,be entrepreneurial,be a risk taker,be diligent about learning information about the market,be good at understanding people,More items...

What is meant by lateral recruitment?

Lateral recruitment is the process of hiring a "skilled and Professional candidate" for the job that needs to be filled.

What's a lateral hire?

Lateral hiring is a method of finding an employee that can do a similar job to one that is vacant, but with experience and background that is comparable, potentially from another similarly related organization and hence the candidates potential is above entry level.

What is lateral support?

The right of lateral support is a common-law doctrine embodying the principle that the owner of land has a right in having their soil in its natural condition remain in its natural position without being caused to fall away by excavations or improvements made on adjoining land.

How do legal recruiters make money?

How do recruiters get paid? While good recruiters build close relationships with their candidates, recruiting fees are paid by the employer. When a legal employer hires a candidate that was first introduced by a recruiter, the search firm is entitled to a fee (generally 25% of the first-year salary).

Do law firms have recruiters?

There are over 25,000 law firms in the United States that are a good size, use recruiters and have positions that could be a good fit for any given attorney at any given time.

How long do law firms take to make an offer?

The written offer letter may state the date by which you must accept. Even if it does not, it's standard to respond within 7-14 days. In no case should you let communications lapse between you and the firm during this time.Jul 21, 2017

How long does it take for a company to make an offer?

Even though most companies will say the interview-to-offer timeline is somewhere between two to four weeks, one thing the average applicant can tell you is that it almost always takes much longer.

What is a screening interview law?

Screening interviews usually involve a 20-30 minute conversation with one or two interviewers. Flyback interviews usually are a series of interviews with several attorneys, which may last several hours and include lunch.

Can We Sell You to Our Clients?

This is a basic question, but an important one. Any attorney whom a law firm hires needs to be someone clients will be willing to pay for, and the...

Can You Do the Job the Way We Want It Done?

You not only need to be able to “do the job,” but you also need to be able to do the job “the way the firm wants it done.” There are two components...

Do You Want the Job?

Most attorneys only get one offer when they are looking for jobs. They may get lots of interviews, but only one offer. The offer these attorneys ty...

Will You Fit In?

Law firms are social groups. The people in a law firm often do not just work together—they socialize outside of work and during work. The attorneys...

Can We Manage You?

If you are going to work for someone else, you need to be manageable. If you are working inside of a law firm, you are working for someone else. If...

Will You Do the Job Long Term?

The best hires are typically the people who have a history of staying at positions for a long period and not leaving. If you have been at your last...

The interviewer may control the format, but you control the message

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on lateral partner moves from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Abby Gordon is a Director with Lateral Link’s New York office. Abby works with attorney candidates on law firm and in-house searches, primarily in New York, Boston, and Europe.

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What Does a Law Partner Lateral Move Look Like?

The lateral move of a law partner from one law firm platform to another tends to be more art than science. Here’s a framework for making this process effective and time-efficient.

Pre-Screening

Nobody wants to waste time, especially in an industry where your time is money. Many lawyers are peppered by prospect firms and recruiters; in some markets like New York, lawyers are inundated. What partners need is a simple system to make decisions quickly and minimize distractions.

Your Questions

Your goal is to determine if this opportunity is your time. There are numerous questions you can ask, but here are five to keep handy for when you are approached.

Your Wants

Streamline your decision-making process by knowing what you want. Know what you want in a different platform or what you would change about your current one. Ultimately, your want has to be big enough to cause you to move. If you do not know your want, you will waste your time and the prospective law firm’s time.

The Dance

The “due diligence dance” is the most timing-consuming part of the process. You can expect lots of meetings, a conflicts check, and the LPQ ( Lateral Partner Questionnaire ).

The Offer

After completing your LPQ and the three major meetings, expect an offer shortly unless, of course, the law firm has additional layers of approval.

Can you sneak in more information on a resume?

No, you can’t sneak in more information by reducing your margins to 0.5” and choosing a 9-pt font. When a recruiter or hiring partner picks up a resume that looks like a novel crammed onto a single page they’re not thinking, “Wow, how did they get that into one page!” or perhaps “Wow, look at everything this person has done!” They’re squinting their eyes and they may just move along to the next candidate.

Can I use my law firm email on my resume?

Typically , you won’t want to use your current law firm email address on your resume and will instead opt for a personal account. However, that personal account still needs to look professional. It shouldn’t be something even vaguely resembling this: [email protected].

Should I put a headshot on my resume?

Do not insert your headshot or any graphic elements into your resume. There’s a good reason not to add a picture of yourself: it makes firms nervous. Hiring decisions can’t be made based on factors such as age, race and gender, and providing a photo opens up the employer to discrimination claims. So, they’d prefer not to know any of the above.

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