Beware unscrupulous recruiters

Recently, I have had several candidates tell me that their resumes have been submitted widely without their permission.  These candidates have been disappointed and embarrassed that this has occurred.  For this reason (and for many others that I won’t go into here), I believe it is very important to choose wisely when selecting a recruiter.

When you are introducing yourself to a recruiter and you send the initial version of your resume, make sure that the recruiter understands that, at this point, they are receiving the resume for informational purposes only.  A pdf copy of your resume that indicates on the face of the resume that it “not approved for submission” can be especially helpful at an introductory stage with a recruiter.

When selecting a recruiter, it’s important to have a certain level of rapport and trust.  Do you feel that the person you are talking with understands the market and has a good sense of how to represent your best interests?  If so, this person might be a potential fit for your needs as a candidate.

And unless my candidates prefer that I submit them widely, I usually give candidates a finite list of where I am sending their resume and have them approve each and every submission.

If there is any level of uncertainty about where a recruiter may be sending your resume, make sure they understand that you must expressly authorize every submission.

Weighing a Law Firm Offer?

A year or two ago, I happened upon an interesting questionnaire that NYU’s School of Law had on their website. The questionnaire was intended to assist associates contemplating full-time offers after their summer associate programs had ended. I thought it was a pretty useful tool and wished I could find something similar to send to my candidates who were considering a lateral move (because a lateral associate’s needs are often very different than those of a 3rd year law student)!

Then, last year, I was working with a patent litigation associate who had two offers from extremely different law firms (and to complicate matters, one was East Coast and the other West Coast). We talked at length about the two offers and ultimately revisited the initial reasons we had instituted the search to begin with. It was a very complicated decision for this candidate, and he spent a lot of time making pros and cons lists for each firm.

I realized my candidates could really benefit from a thorough offer analysis tool that would allow them to explore all aspects of the offer and their potential new firm. There are only so many moves that a lawyer can safely make in their career, and it’s important to look, look, look, before you leap.

Here is the article: Analyzing the Offer: A Questionnaire and Worksheet

Choosing The Small Versus The Large Firm

The recent Madoff ponzi scheme, the similar ponzi scheme of the Dreier law firm and the complete meltdown of Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois, have all got me thinking.

All over our country there are countless people who are trying to be something they are not. They want more money because they feel this will somehow do something more for their lives.

What does this mean for your legal career?

In my years of recruiting I have seen so many attorneys through good careers away by only being concerned with the money. Most often the highest paying firms often offer attorneys the least chance for partnership. Time and time again, however, most attorneys go with the short term prospect of more money over the possibility of making partner and winding up in a stable law firm.

The way most attorneys think is very confusing to me. The instability that many expose themselves to is very confusing to me. I think that the most intelligent thing attorneys can do in the present day economy is to find a law firm where they are going to be secure.

Several years ago I was interviewing with a law firm in Los Angeles that paid below market rate. I liked the people in the firm and it seemed like a very nice place to work. The partner in the law firm who was the name partner told me while he was interviewing me that I would never make as much money in the law firm as at large law firms, but that I would always have a job. He told me about the stability of the firm and its partners and that this was a very smart place for me to be practicing law.

I chose not to work at this firm and instead chose recruiting. That was almost a decade ago.

Since that decade has passed the law firm I was working at when I interviewed with the small firm in Los Angeles has gained and lost so many partners I do not think I know anyone there anymore. Many of the partners from this firm are no longer practicing law. In addition, I have watched people that I know early in my career work at a succession of 7-8 jobs in different law firms during this same period of time.

This small firm that I interviewed is still there. With one exception, each of the seven partners who interviewed me when I interviewed with the firm are still there. The firm is still chugging along and the people who work there seem secure and happy. When I got married several years ago I even hired this firm to do my will and some other formalities. The people there are all happy.

The attorneys in this firm still make a bit less money. Who care, though? They are happy and have security and are not playing crazy games with their careers. I really respect this firm and its attorneys. Had I chosen to work in that firm instead of recruiting, I would respect myself for choosing that firm.

You need to be careful with your career and the choices you make.

But do you have any portable business?

The Texas Lawyer had an interesting article called How Associates Can Blow the Business-Development Bell Curve. It has long puzzled me how little training is given to associates in fostering and encouraging their business development skills.

After only eight months as an associate, I remember a partner I worked for told me that I should begin thinking about how to bring in new business. The conversation left me with large saucer eyes as I scuttled back to my office to keep my head down and write a memo. I remember thinking, “Is he crazy? My knees still shake very time I enter a courtroom!” A more helpful tactic would have been to actually take me along when pitching new business, so I could see how it was done.

Business acumen and legal skills often do not go hand in hand. Why don’t more law schools offer a course on business development so that associates aren’t kept in the dark, only to realize as partnership nears, that things look grim, very grim.

Here are a few suggestions from the article to get you started:

Tap into your personal network (yes, you have one. I promise). Take a contact to lunch, keep it low-pressure, and mention that you’d love an opportunity to earn their business if the opportunity presents itself.

Ask partners for help and guidance. And do it early! Ask partners how they were able to develop business. And if you have a contact that you want to develop and feel a little out of your league, ask a partner to accompany you on the lunch.

You don’t have to move mountains, just start the climb!