How to Find that Top Lawyer to Join Your Firm

The legal sphere is a small world, especially if we look at the UK or London alone. Incredible talent stands out from the crowd. Everyone knows about it. Knowing that you need that talent to become your leaders of tomorrow is one thing. Getting that talent on board and ready to jump to your firm is incredibly difficult. This is when legal headhunters become an absolute necessity.

When Top Legal Talent is Needed

Typically you will need top legal talent for two primary reasons: within your law firm, to be business leaders, or; within your company as an in-house lawyer, who enables you to be secure in business success.

There are a number of challenges that you face when seeking an individual for either of these roles.

Firstly, you cannot rely on paper qualifications alone. You know that whilst qualifications are essential, they don’t differentiate adequately between the truly exceptional and the average. Even ‘Magic Circle’ listed on a CV doesn’t necessarily deliver the goods. This means you cannot simply draw up a job specification like you would for a paralegal or a legal secretary.

Secondly, recruitment at this level has the potential to cost both time and money in various ways. Typically, the talent you seek will be tied in elsewhere for a lengthy period, as they would be for you. Moving them over to you is a long process. Then it’s costly if you get it wrong.

Thirdly, you absolutely have to be discreet when recruiting for these positions. You cannot easily advertise these positions and shout them from the rooftops, especially if you want top talent. Vacancies of these types expose weaknesses, or incite competition, so you need a careful approach.

How to Discover the Best Talent

Having said that qualifications on paper aren’t enough, what is?

The chances are that you know exactly what is. You may not know the individual by name, but if you’re envious of a competitor’s success, or you’re struggling when you know others aren’t, you’ve already got your eye on what you need.

This is because the skills and attributes of that top lawyer, which legal headhunters will successfully identify, are not ones written down in a job application. Instead, these skills and attributes are currently in use elsewhere, proving their worth.

Ascertaining these skills and attributes are as powerful as you believe is the next tricky problem. You cannot simply sidle up to targeted talent and start a chat without raising some eyebrows. You can’t seek opinions from others in the industry; however, it is different for headhunters. For example, our headhunters specialise in the legal sector in London can do exactly that, without anyone being able to link the connection back to you if you decide you’re not interested.

However, being able to identify these skills and attributes is only one part of the legal recruitment equation. The second stage is ascertaining that it’s possible to move said legal talent you want over to being committed to you.

This is a complex process where you need professionals who truly understand your law firm or your company ethos and culture. This understanding enables them to be sure the individual won’t only suit the move, but will powerfully transform your success. A legal headhunter will position your vacancy with the ideal candidate and ensure it’s a win-win for both parties so that you get exceptional talent in line with organisational goals.

How to Find the Best Legal Headhunters, London and Beyond

Firstly, you need to be sure you are choosing legal headhunters who are not just a recruitment agency under a different name. Look at their process to identify this. Secondly, you need to choose experienced legal headhunters who understand the unique vagaries of the London, UK and international legal sphere.

At Eagle headhunters, our legal headhunting specialists work diligently and discreetly to bring you the top legal talent you really need. Find out more about our legal headhunters here.