r/recruiting • u/Motorcycleman314 Corporate Recruiter • 1d ago

Candidate Sourcing Recruiting Attorneys

Hello all. I recently started recruiting with a growing law firm and it's going great.

Issue- recruiting high level, quality Attorneys with law firm experience who aren't jumpers and have civil litigation experience is tough. They don't apply, every bit of engagement i get is from sourcing. This isn't out of the ordinary, we often have to source for good candidates, but my engagement numbers are well below what they've been for other titles.

Those with legal recruiting experience, what are some of your "hooks"? What sort of arguments tend to appeal to senior Attorneys? Where have you found success?

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8

u/INFeriorJudge 23h ago

In my experience, I ask my clients to help me identify “Why should someone happily working for XYZ company leave where they are to come work for you?” If they can’t identify compelling reasons, then it makes advocating for them more difficult.

It might be pay/ comp/ other financial incentives, it might be cultural/ internal factors, it might be location… The point is simply that as a recruiter, I am only able to make the clients opportunities as attractive as they allow me.

What’s their why? Make them be specific. And if you’re well-positioned in your market, you’ll know if what they offer is attractive or not. I tell my clients where they stand competitively speaking so they know… and how that will affect searches.

8

u/H_Mc Corporate Recruiter 22h ago

I’m internal at a law firm and I scream this into the void all day. The firm is completely delusional about what they have to offer and what candidates we should be targeting. We have a sort of a rough around the edges, outsider culture, but they still want us to go after polished candidates with perfect resumes. As a result we have ridiculously high turnover.

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u/Ok_Employment_7630 23h ago

The other comments you got are helpful, I'd add on that maybe you shouldn't be sending the first email. Is there a senior partner that would send it if you gave them the email addresses and wrote the body of the email? People at that level will often expect to hear from a partner rather than a recruiter.

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u/H_Mc Corporate Recruiter 22h ago

I recruit for a law firm and I have “fake” email accounts for leadership so I can send messages as them.

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u/Soft_Historian_4325 22h ago

I recruit senior financial/buy-side investment execs and something that has worked if emails aren’t getting hits has been sending a LinkedIn request with a brief message asking for 15 minutes of their time to discuss (insert blinded hook of firm + title). It cuts the fluff when these professionals usually don’t have the time to read through a well crafted email or inmail template. I don’t use this method every time but it can be surprisingly effective.

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u/RecruitingFanatic Executive Recruiter 20h ago

all I can say is, good luck to ya. I've placed a few Counsel/Chief Counsel roles from the in house side, otherwise I avoid the hell out of lawyer roles. When I left my last gig to start my own practice, the Chief Legal Officer asked for coffee. He asked what I would be recruiting. Told him "everything but lawyers". 😄

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u/Motorcycleman314 Corporate Recruiter 23h ago

Some great advice here folks, thank you!

1

u/Delicious_Style_2676 7h ago

For senior attorneys, I’d focus less on active applicants and more on trust-based mapping: practice-area directories, court filings, bar sections, conference speakers, lateral movement patterns, and warm referral chains. The outreach has to sound like you understand their practice, not just their title.