BUSINESS
CAREERS
WARREN
SMITH
ing partner understands what
talent is available, it also
requires them to be aware of
where the firm’s existing (and
future) needs lie.
As a recruiter, I’m often asked
what distinguishes top-per-forming firms from their peers,
and what steps a firm can take
to emulate those atop the market. While not the sole determinant of success, a recurring
theme is the existence of a managing partner who is focused on
lateral talent recruitment.
These leaders recognize the
importance of constantly
recruiting in the market.
Your firm’s story, on your terms
Actively recruiting in the
market provides your firm with
the opportunity to tell your
story, on your terms. One of the
great challenges firms face when
recruiting partners is the market may have a static and/or
dated impression of the firm’s
market position.
All too frequently, partners’
perceptions of other firms are
set from years ago, often from
when they were an associate
and more frequently discussing
platform and culture with their
colleagues from law school. As
the market evolves, so too does
your story.
A managing partner who is
committed to recruitment can
enlighten the market on the
firm’s success, accomplishments,
and its vision.
While managing partners can use recruiters to
assist their firm in fulfilling recruitment mandates,
it is critical they stay involved from inception to
completion in setting the tone, direction, and
priorities of the firm’s lateral talent acquisition.
“
Warren Smith,
The Counsel Network
Growth opportunity
Lateral recruitment offers an
efficient way to add immediately
to the firm’s overall market
offering, team dynamic, revenue
and profitability.
While organic growth through
articling/associate development
is a long-term solution, lateral
recruitment offers the ability to
enhance practice areas and team
depth to a firm looking to bridge
up in the market. The key for
managing partners is to identify
the right talent; hence, it is
critical that a managing partner
remain focused on recruitment
at all times.
A commitment to recruit-
ment not only ensures a manag-
This can prove invaluable in
determining how best to pos-
ition the firm’s various practice
groups, not only for future
recruitment efforts, but in terms
of how best to approach current
and potential clients.
Market intelligence
Active recruitment can provide real-time data on market
competitors. By speaking with
potential lateral hires, managing
partners can probe market perception of their firm, as well as
obtain a better understanding of
how their competitors stack up
in the market.
Going beyond status quo
To be effective, recruitment
efforts must go beyond status
quo, or “reactive” recruitment.
For many managing partners
who juggle a multitude of firm
obligations, it is all too easy to
think about recruitment in
purely reactionary terms, rather
than set an agenda and proactively pursue it in the market.
To be successful, it is critical a
managing partner sets a vision
for the firm’s recruitment and
strategic growth objectives, and
help hold the firm to account in
accomplishing these goals.
Leading managing partners
recognize recruitment is not a
delegated activity. As lawyers, it
may be tempting for managing
partners to delegate recruitment, as it can be expensive (as a
time cost) to undertake. Don’t.
While managing partners can
use recruiters to assist their firm
in fulfilling recruitment mandates, it is critical they stay
involved from inception to completion in setting the tone, direction and priorities of the firm’s
lateral talent acquisition.
That said, managing partners
equally recognize recruitment
remains a team effort — the key
here is to ensure the managing
partner remains the leader of
that team, and does not succumb to the temptation to delegate this activity to others inside
(or outside) the firm.
For example, when engaging
an external recruiter, it is critical
to be specific on what your
expectations are in the market.
Managing partners may work
collaboratively with a recruiter
in determining the reasonable
objectives in sourcing talent in
the market, using the recruiter’s
market intelligence to assess
their realistic options to meet
talent acquisition goals.
Warren Smith is a managing
director of The Counsel Network
and is the only Canadian elected
to the board of directors for the
National Association of Legal
Search Consultants. Twitter:
@lawheadhunter.
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Personal connections come first
in person. It allows you to connect with more people over a
greater geographic area, which is
why it’s important to know your
audience and what motivates
them. You may find it’s beneficial
to write for shorter attention
spans (for example, Twitter only
allots 140 characters).
“Ultimately, it is still the human
element that matters most,” Borins says. “The order should always
be to establish a personal connection first, followed by a virtual
connection online.
“Efforts at online networking
can prove useless if you never
even meet the people that you
are connecting with. Although
a person may have over 500
contacts online through social
media, it doesn’t necessarily
mean that they are as well con-
nected in the business world.”
More importantly, the same
content should be shared across
all channels, so your message is
consistent and credible.
“When other lawyers ask for
insight on what to do about social
media, I always advise them to
use it as a marketing tool. And to
Research
Continued From Page 8
Ultimately, it is still
the human element
that matters most.
“
Morgan Borins,
Miller Thomson LLP
use it wisely,” Grant says. “It won’t
replace real relationships but it
will certainly increase your elec-
tronic impressions.”
Lerners LLP recently
launched its Facebook page as a
way to increase its electronic
impressions. To encourage
online traffic and stimulate
activity, the firm will select a
charity each month, and for
every visitor who “likes” the
page, Lerners will donate $1 to
the featured charity. The goal is
to engage colleagues and clients
(existing and potential), and to
give back to the community.
Grant believes social media
goes hand-in-hand with trad-
ition networking, but can’t
replace it.
“When someone says that
they have 620 friends on Face-
book, it is different from 620
friends who will refer business
to you,” said Grant. “Social
media has the ability to expose
you to more people. But, it may
depend upon the services you
provide. As a plaintiff personal
injury lawyer, like myself, social
media may drive an injured
person or their family to me.
But I don’t think that is the case
when more complex decision
making is involved, such as
commercial litigation.”
It’s a new world in client
development and although
social media doesn’t build rela-
tionships, it certainly reminds
friends and contacts of what
you do and how you do it. Con-
versely, traditional relation-
ships are no longer enough to
bring new clients to your door-
step. So, what to do as a lawyer
with limited time to spend on
client development? It’s import-
ant to integrate both traditional
networking techniques with
innovative social networking. n
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