Already it's starting. JoeRecruiter takes just a little snack break, and all heck breaks loose. I kid you not, twenty minutes after the first post and Joe's cell phone was ringing off his very stylish and not at all cheap belt. The "mail call" bong was clanging in Joe's sensitive ears. It was a madhouse. Joe needed a Red Bull and he needed one quick (hey, if it's good enough for Madonna, it's good enough for Joe).
Fine, questions you got, answers Joe's got. Hands, please. Let's with the hands!
1. SO, UH, JOE, SHOULD I JUST GO WITH ANY LEGAL RECRUITER, OR, YOU KNOW A SPECIALIST? Let us ask one of our female guests who she'd rather have her pelvic completed by. . .just any old doc (or, come to think of it, a dentist or a vet), or a specialist. What do YOU think, Sherman? A specialist, of course. By which, I mean, not just someone who recruits Legal on Thursday, and Medical on Friday, and Engineering on Tuesday, and Accountants on Wed. . .you know what I mean. I mean, you should go with someone who KNOWS law firms and legal recruiting, and does it full time. Does it have to be Bigge Fatte & Huge, Mega Recruiting Firm of the Gods? Sure, if you want to be one of the THOUSANDS of potential recruits they want (NEED) to place. Think about it. . .how many placements do they HAVE to make a month, week, day, hour to pay for that very expensive real estate inside the corridors of power in EVERY major city in the U S of A?
So, if you're the Hiring Partner at Picky and Snippy and Snaub, LLC, WHICH recruiter are you going to call first with the plum assignment. . .the one that HAS to fill four before lunch, or the one that has time to go through their files, find exactly the perfect candidate or three, and submit them, knowing that the odds on bet is that at least one of them will fit your candidate profile like a wet glove? Right, that's what Joe is saying. Little else needs to be said.
2. WHAT ABOUT THEM THERE "MARKETING CAMPAIGN" WEBSITES, AND BY THE WAY, SHOULD I EVER HAVE TO PAY TO BE PRESENTED? Let's do part B first. Joe says this emphatically: You should NEVER ever have to pay to have your credentials presented to a law firm, and if you're ever asked to pay anything (even postage), you should run away screaming. And tell your friends. Your enemies, you can send there. No ethical recruiter would ever ask a candidate to pay to present them. No ethical recruiter would ever present you without your knowledge. No ethical recruiter would ever present you by name without your prior consent. And NO ethical recruiter would ever contact you about a position without an actual assignment.
Now, having said all the above, Joe will on occasion call a potential candidate to assess their interest in an "unnamed" position: "Bobby, this is JoeRecruiter calling about a position for a third-year associate with a major law firm who has significant experience in Pigeon Rights. If this is of interest to you or someone of your acquaintance, please call me at 777-888-9999." In this case, if you called back and said "Joe, Bobby LOVES Pigeon Rights, it's all I dream about," Joe would call the Firm (Feather, Flutter, Fluff, PA) and say "Firm, this is JoeRecruiter, and I have a third-year with significant experience in Pigeon Rights who might be willing to move for the right offer. If the position is available still, please call Joe." And there you are.
As far as "Legal Marketing Campaigns," Joe believes that's a buncha armadilla crap. They claim to have proof. Joe suggests you ask for the proof, in writing. When you send it to Joe, he will apologise. And not one second before. Joe DOES think this COULD work, in the same way that SOME attorneys DO get hired off websites and by submitting to Law Firms' own portals, but, again, if this is you, Joe wonders why you're not doing something better with your time, and by the way, so do the smart law firms.
3. WHAT ABOUT PARTNERS, JOE? YOU DIDN'T SAY A BLOODY THING ABOUT PARTNERS, JOE!
Joe is a very bad person. You're right, Joe gave the partners short shrift, and he apologizes. For the record, so do the firms. They HATE to call Joe for Partners because they don't like to pay the fees. In fact, this past week, Joe got a call from a person who shall remain nameless but who works for a very big law firm in a very dynamic city, which law firm is losing partners like Joe is losing his hair. The charming Attorney Recruiter flat out told Joe s/he would NOT pay for Partners but, if Joe knew of a Partner with 10 years of experience in Veeblefetzers and a portable book, they would "consider" signing a contract for (get this!) future placements.
Joe thanked the Recruiter for his/her time, and pointed out that he knew of just such a partner, who he was going to recommend to VBLF's major competitor, now that he knew they had a weakness in that department. Of course, he didn't say it out loud. What he did say was "As a matter of fact, I DO know of such a person, but before I could present him/her, I'd need a signed copy of our contract before we could proceed. If you prefer, we'd be happy to look at YOUR standard contract." Not just no, but "NAY!" said the Recruiter, and POOF, the Firm was PREY said the Joe. Welcome to the jungle, you tender morsel, you.
Partners are great, but law firms get WAY too skitchy about them. They're harder to place, take a LOT more time to develop, present, schedule, and so on, and they're a LOT of work. It's SO not worth doing all that work if the hiring firm doesn't want to pay the fee, because it takes Joe away from smooth, easy placements that happen fairly quickly. If you're a partner, and you want to move, you should contact a recruiter yourself, and start the ball rolling. Law firms LOVE to hire partners, especially if you have portable business, and most of it will stay with you. The closer you are to a million dollars or more in final portable business, the easier you are to place.
Finally, entire partner groups, especially successful ones, are rock solid gold, but you should be ready to move fairly quickly, because when the deal solidifies, you'll have to move fast. The concept of, um, "glacial preparation" does not hold in group moves.
4. I'M PRETTY SURE I WANT TO MOVE FIRMS FOR (INSERT HERE) REASON. WHEN SHOULD I MAKE THE MOVE?
There really is no best BEST time, but there is a worst time, and that is any time you have less than three years in at the associate level. Before then, your "market value" is relatively unproven; you have no "street cred", even if you're the winningest attorney in your field. There's also a worse time to go when you're a partner, and that is when you're on the "other side" of being the "golden boy" or "golden girl" for a practice. For example, there's an attorney in one firm who is the darling of a particular legal community; head of the local office, extremely good at one particular area of the law, just a shining star. We're telling him/her that NOW is the time to make a deal. S/he wants to wait a year or two, until things "quiet down." Joe pointed out that, when things get the quietest is right AFTER your funeral. S/he didn't appreciate the comment, but Joe is right. You're only a rainmaker while the rains come. No more rain, no more rainmaker. (Or as Joe's favorite French grandmother used to say "Even the BEST Rooster will eventually end up in a pot.")
And, Finally, (Oh, Thank (Insert Whomever Here)!),
5. JOE, I LOVE YOU; I WANT YOU TO REPRESENT ME; MY LAW FIRM WANTS TO HAVE YOU REPRESENT US; (I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABY, JOE; YOU FUNNY GUY, JOE; LOVE YOU LONG TIME, ETC.).
Flattered as Joe is, this is really a public service to the Legal Community. Ah, I see the confusion on your little legal faces. Hmmmmmmm. I got it. . . it's like Pro Bono for Lawyers. The purpose of this blog is to teach, to break down the walls of hysteria, confusion, myth, legend, and extremism, and replace them with rationality, logic, and, well, a certain amount of style.
Joe wants the Law Firm to LOVE the outside Legal Recruiter. Joe wants the professional Legal Recruiter to LOVE the Law Firm. Joe wants the practicing attorney to keep practicing, not go off on some search for meaning that will never end. If you went to law school, you were meant to be a lawyer, on some level. Okay, maybe not, but having the wrong job doesn't mean that you picked the wrong life. At least, it doesn't have to.
More importantly, Joe wants to make enough money to buy the CUTEST little island off the coast of Costa Rica, and he can't do that if you yoyos keep fighting. Okay, I'm kidding. I already HAVE enough money. What I want is power. Lots and lots of power. And hair. Lots and lots of hair. Yup, that's it. Power, and Hair. Mostly hair.
Keep them questions coming. I'll treat them with all the respect they deserve. Honest!
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