• Home
  • Blog
  • Lawyerpreneur Podcast
  • Contact
  • What I’m Doing Now
Jeremy W. RichterJeremy W. Richter
Jeremy W. RichterJeremy W. Richter
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Lawyerpreneur Podcast
  • Contact
  • What I’m Doing Now

Should Lawyers Talk to Recruiters about Job Opportunities?

Should Lawyers Talk to Recruiters about Job Opportunities?

Should Lawyers Talk to Recruiters about Job Opportunities?

July 24, 2018 Posted by Jeremy W. Richter Practice Management

A couple of weeks ago, I got a message on LinkedIn from a headhunter asking if she could talk to me about an available job with another firm in town. I’m happy where I’m at and not interested in moving, but I told her I would talk to her anyway. I’ve long tried to operate by a philosophy that I will not blindly turn away an opportunity.

The next day she called and told me all about the job opportunity. She then asked what it would take to get me away from my current firm. I told her what a difficult question that is because of all the things I like about my current situation: I bill a lot of hours, but I’m able to work with a lot of autonomy. My firm gives me the support I need to develop my own business. No one is taking roll every day to make sure I’m at my desk from 8:00-5:00; if I need to leave at 3:00 for childcare reasons, no one is going to harass me about that. I’m surrounded by good people who are good lawyers.

When I finished telling her about my firm, the recruiter sat silently on the other end of the phone for a minute before saying, “So you’re telling me it would take a unicorn.” The rest of our conversation was pretty short after that. The job she was calling about was just a regular workhorse. No horns or magical powers.

Why Should Lawyers Talk to Recruiters about Job Opportunities?

I think there are two reasons lawyers should talk to recruiters if called: networking and understanding your market value.

We should always be open to expanding our professional network. The legal job market can be volatile, and you never know when someone you’ve met along the way may be in a position to help you at a later time. It’s possible (God forbid) my situation at my current firm could change – a major client could leave resulting in insufficient work, or leadership could shift causing an unpleasant environment – and I could need a way out. If I haven’t taken the opportunity to meet people and hear their offers even when I was content with my situation, then I’m not going to have any resources available when I’m looking to make a change.

Understanding your market value can be tricky, especially as you become an older associate and near the practice length where you expect to receive a partnership offer. Hopefully, you’re at a place where there’s a clear path to partnership and open dialogue about what is necessary for your to make partner. But even if you are, no two firms are alike. And your value at one firm may not reflect what it would be at another. The best way to understand your worth is to have conversations with recruiters and headhunters who are in the business of fitting lawyers to job opportunities. They, more than anyone else, can aid you in self-evaluation of your skills to pair it with your appropriate place in the market.

How Should Firms Feel about their Lawyers Talking to Recruiters?

While I am advocating here that you should hear out folks who approach you with opportunities, that advice comes with the disclaimer that not all firms are going to appreciate you doing so. There are certainly firms that will put a lawyer on the curb who is audacious enough to hear out another job offer, so you should be mindful of that, if you’re at a firm likely to have those sentiments.

I firmly believe that law firms should not be averse to their lawyers talking to recruiters. First, a firm should be developing good lawyers, such that other firms recognize your firm as a breeding ground for talent. You want to be the kind of firm that other firms are trying to hire your lawyers away from you. There’s a maxim that’s been floating around for years with no clear source of attribution – a CFO comments to the CEO, “What happens if we train our employees and they leave?” The CEO replies, “What happens if we don’t and they stay?” You’ll receive no higher compliment about the people who work for you than knowing that others want them.

Secondly, if firms are developing good lawyers who they want to retain, they should have the environment and compensation structure to keep those lawyers around. There will always be some attrition. Some people are always looking for the next, best thing that they think is just beyond the horizon. But there are as many people who are reticent to leave a good situation. So a firm with a good atmosphere that pays its people fairly should be confident enough to allow its people to talk to recruiters and accept the compliment that they raised up another good attorney who is coveted by other firms.


Photo by U.S. Army.

Do your best work. Be your best self.

Get the first three chapters of Level Up Your Law Practice so you can have a successful and sustainable law practice that meets your needs through self-assessment, having a vision for yourself and your practice, and client relationships that are built on trust.

I will never give away, trade or sell your email address. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

You also might be interested in

Forum Non Conveniens Statute Weighs Factors to Determine Venue

Forum Non Conveniens Statute Weighs Factors to Determine Venue

Oct 20, 2016

Ex parte Tier 1 Trucking, LLC, and James Martin Gray, Jr. - In determining the proper venue under the forum non conveniens statute, heavily weighed factors include the location of the incident and investigation, and the counties of residence of parties and witnesses.

[No. 5] In the Words of President Theodore Roosevelt…
Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure ... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

[No. 5] In the Words of President Theodore Roosevelt…

Sep 21, 2016

President Theodore Roosevelt: “Far better is it to dare mighty things,[...]

Appearance on Litera’s “Inside the Firm”

Dec 8, 2020

Check out my recent appearance on Litera TV’s program, “Inside[...]

The podcast you didn’t know you needed

Recent Posts

  • Take Control and Live with Purpose with Natasha Hazlett
  • The Year That Was and the Year That Is
  • Intellectual Property Issues for Entrepreneurs with Becki C. Lee
  • Setting Expectations and Delivering on Them with Patricia Baxter
  • Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable with Mark Bassingthwaighte

Search the Blog

Contact Me

Send me an email and I'll get back to you.

Send Message
Doing your best work. Be your best self. Let me help you get there with my new book "Level Up Your Law Practice"

© 2021 · Richter Holdings, LLC

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Lawyerpreneur Podcast
  • Contact
  • What I’m Doing Now
Prev Next