Tag Archives: corporate culture

Legal Recruiter Q&A: Job Seeker Advice from Gay Rineberg Schreiber

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This is the second post in our recruiter series where we ask legal recruiters for their insider tips and job seeker advice.

This Q&A is with Gay Rineberg Schreiber of McCormack Schreiber.  McCormackSchreiber is a longtime leader in the Chicago legal market and is proud to have made nearly 1000 law firm and in-house placements.

What skills are most in demand in the legal industry right now?

The skills most in demand in the legal industry right now are demonstrated business acumen and the ability to develop clients/business.  As for substantive practice area skills, the transactional areas are most active and transactional skills are particularly in demand.

Where are the biggest growth areas?

As noted above, the biggest growth is in the transactional areas, including real estate, M&A and private equity, and other growth areas include privacy and information technology, as well as healthcare.  Litigation has remained fairly steady, though we have seen an increased demand recently.

What traits are your clients looking for in candidates?

Our clients are always seeking strong legal skills, a great attitude and motivation to succeed.  For our more junior candidates, our clients want to see excellent writing and strong communication skills.  For our more experienced candidates, our clients are looking for people with great client relations/people skills, the desire and ability to develop business, and the ability to work well with others and collaborate as a team.

What’s the biggest mistake candidates make in the recruitment process?

The biggest mistakes that lateral candidates make in the recruitment process are failing to tailor their message (including resumes and interviews) to a particular client’s needs; being indecisive or projecting a lack of interest to the client, which can be the case when a candidate drags his/her feet and waits too long to follow through with next steps in an interview process; and not being open and honest with the recruiter so as to better allow the recruiter to assist the candidate through the search and interview process.

What’s the coolest job you ever recruited for?

We have been in business for close to 20 years (in June!) so it is difficult to select just one “coolest” job!  That said, while people outside of law may not believe it, many of our jobs have a “cool” element to them.  Some of our law firm clients are boutiques/spin offs with particularly unique and cohesive cultures that have more of an entrepreneurial feel to them.  In the in-house arena, in addition to our more traditional large public company searches, our searches have included new and dynamic companies in the start-up process, and tech companies with pool tables in their offices – many of which offer “cool” options for our candidates.

Do you have any career advice for our readers? 

My career advice for attorneys – even at the junior-level – is to decide the area of practice you enjoy most and best utilizes your skills, and to focus your career accordingly, trying to make yourself a “go-to” for this area.  Further, as business development is becoming more and more important, attorneys should start networking early and often in their career, staying in touch with law school classmates, former colleagues, etc., all of which should pay off when it comes to developing your own business and clients, giving you more career options in the future.

Finally, keep a working document of your resume (and as you get more experienced, representative transactions and engagements lists).  If you learn of a new position that could be a great career move, you want to be prepared to move quickly with the best and most accurate presentation of your experience and skills.

 

Start your job search with Lawjobs.com today.

 

More about McCormack Schreiber

McCormack Schreiber Legal Search is Chicago’s premier attorney search firm, and with 8 attorney recruiters we are also one of Chicago’s largest search firms.  Since 1998, we have successfully placed experienced attorneys of all levels and practice areas at top large, midsize and boutique law firms, and at national and international corporations.  Our affiliate company, McCormack Schreiber Legal Solutions, assists our law firm and corporate clients with paralegal hiring as well as contract attorney and other legal staffing needs.   McCormack Schreiber is a longtime leader in the Chicago legal market, and we are proud to have made nearly 1000 law firm and in-house placements.

McCormack Schreiber Legal Search Logo

 

From Law Firm To In-House Counsel: The Right Move?

From Law Firm To In-House: The Right Move?

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The following guest post is written by Joseph E. Ankus of Ankus Consulting, and does not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Lawjobs.com and ALM Media.  To view the latest in-house roles on Lawjobs.com, click here.

Nothing in life or law is perfect. Setting aside how glaringly obvious this statement is, let it sink in for a moment. If you are reading this article, you may be thinking about leaving a private law firm to join an in-house legal team. This article presents, in a balanced way, the pros and cons associated with such a career change.  In sum, I urge you to “know before you go.”  There are more things to consider in undertaking such a move than you might imagine.

– Here’s the good news. Historically, most lawyers are happier in-house than in law firms. This is because there are NO BILLABLES. Although there are some trends suggesting companies may adopt timekeeping style metrics, I have always found that in-house lawyers work on projects that are not tracked in microscopic time increments. The lawyers repeatedly tell me this freedom is incredibly liberating.

– The ability to work without having to worry about “shifting gears” to a different client or taking an extra hour for research allows the attorney to fully immerse themselves in a particular matter without fear of overbilling a client or “being ground to death” minute-by-minute.

– Here’s more good news. Many companies, whether private or public, offer stock or options that, over time, can be worth exponentially more than traditional base compensation or bonuses. Law firms simply cannot offer these incentives due to their intrinsic organizational structure. I have known a considerable number of attorneys who have earned life-changing retirement size packages from stock options. This must be considered in the calculus to go in-house.

But consider the risks.

Once you make the move, it’s almost always an irrevocable one-way street. There are exceptions, but rarely, if ever, have I seen an in-house attorney voluntarily choose to go back to private law practice. There are two primary reasons for this:

  1. 1. They don’t want to EVER bill hours again
  2. 2. They don’t have any portable clients they can bring with them to a firm. As a general observation, most lawyers with more than 8-10 years of experience need to have portable business to move up in the law firm hierarchy. If they don’t, it is difficult, if not impossible, to “get back in” and “get back on” the elusive partnership track. There are exceptions but I wouldn’t count on them unless you are a top tier candidate in fast moving and sophisticated legal market.

With this cautionary tale in mind, here’s why a Law Firm career may still be the one for you.

  •  – Law firms tend to offer more job security. Corporations are notorious for their less than humane downsizing practices. Many times, especially in larger companies, decisions of “who lives and who dies” are made thousands of miles from where the lawyer may be physically working. Law firms are no stranger to layoffs, however, companies collectively earn first prize for frequently slashing hundreds of positions with the stroke of a pen. Combine this with ruthless internal corporate politics plus a multitude of corporate mergers and takeovers and you have the recipe for a professional environment that can be unstable. Overall, law firms are no stranger to parting ways BUT my experience reflects a bit more humanity.

 

  •  – More Law Firm Roles Available. Generally speaking, there are considerably more law firm roles available than in house opportunities. Because of this, there is a relative amount of “job (in)security” that exists based on pure numbers. That said, the golden rule remains- have a large client following- and be open to non-partnership track roles (ie: senior counsel, “of counsel”, and senior associate)

 

  •  – Clearer Career Path.  For better or worse, almost 100% of attorneys “know where they stand” in their law firm’s hierarchy. You are either a summer associate, an associate, a partner or “ of counsel”.  As discussed above, there are gradations in these categories but, overall, your law firm career path is more well defined than inside a corporation.

So having looked at some key pros and cons of in house life, I recommend doing the following before you make the leap:

  •  – Research the potential employer carefully. With the advent of the Internet, it is inexcusable that a candidate seeking a new position does not do full scale review of all relevant information that is publicly available. Obvious starting points are LinkedIn to see “who knows who” and “who worked where” and, a review of the company’s own website (and public securities filings) and a basic Google search to get a general lay of the land. The Internet is like a neon billboard full of information; you just have to drive by it and take a look.

 

  •  – Speak to attorneys who have worked at the company you are considering and speaking to those attorneys who are gone – there is no substitute for this. You must speak to both in order to get a fair and balanced view. Don’t be jaundiced by opinions offered by those who left and don’t fall in love with the lawyers who are there. Be objective. Ask tough, focused, critical questions about the organization, the environment and the job itself. You can’t let emotions guide the whole process. Remember- an interview is only a snapshot; working there daily is a video.

 

  •  – Strategize your exit plan pre-emptively from your current job, BEFORE you start your search. Most law firms are 100% supportive of your move to a company. Why? It’s simple. They hope to get your new employer as a client. Don’t be naïve about this. Manage expectations up front. If you believe you can have a cooperative working relationship between the two of you, that’s great; if not, discuss it with them too. At the same time, it wouldn’t hurt for you to have a frank discussion about returning to your firm (assuming you wanted to) in case in house life is not what you expected it to be.

 

In sum, and on balance, most lawyers who transition from a law firm to an in house position are collectively happier with their new lifestyle. At the same time, I trust that this article will give you a more well rounded perspective about the pros and cons associated with your future goals. Good luck!

 

AUTHOR:
Joseph E. Ankus, Esq.
President/Founder
954.862.1738
Ankus Consulting, Inc.
[email protected]
www.ankusconsulting.com

How to Optimize Law Firm Onboarding

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Hiring new employees is an expensive and time-consuming task, so it is important to make sure they start on the right foot. In the legal field, proper onboarding and training is vital to ensuring that fewer mistakes are made, and that your new hires will be valuable to you for years to come. Optimization of training and welcoming of new employees can go a very long way toward helping those employees get settled into their new roles.

Training Comes First in Onboarding Legal Talent

No matter how much legal experience or education someone has, every law firm they work for will have different procedures. The laws they work with will be the same, but there are nuances to be addressed. Consider specific training for:

– The procedures for handling files
– Requirements when working with clients
– The best way of providing information to paralegals
– How to optimize scheduling
– Any specifics related to safeguarding client information
– How technology is factored into the daily work
– Who to talk to if stress becomes a problem

If training is not optimized and the legal recruiting process is not taken seriously, it can be difficult for any attorney to get a foothold at a new firm and perform well.

Make Sure New Employees Feel Welcome

Another way to optimize the legal onboarding process is to ensure that a new law firm employee feels welcome, as that can help reduce stress levels. When people do not feel like they are allowed to become a part of their workplace, they can withdraw and avoid asking questions or learning new things. Onboarding is more than just giving a set of instructions, it is also about welcoming new employees to the firm’s culture.

Listen to What Your Employees Need

Ask your current employees for feedback on their onboarding experience. Listening to what they thought was done well, along with what they felt they had to learn on their own, can go a very long way toward the onboarding process. Collecting this information helps law firms realize:

  • Where they might be falling short when they onboard employees
  • What changes need to be made to the legal recruiting and onboarding processes
  • How they can improve their firm’s training

While not all attorneys will need as much onboarding help as others, it is very important to provide more, not less, for optimal value for the attorneys and the firm as a whole.