It’s a common scenario: you’re buried under casework, and your paralegals just up and quits on you. You don’t have the time to replace them, but you can’t get by without filling their position.
What do you do?
You turn to a legal recruiting service, of course. They can help you find suitable paralegals, attorneys, and administrators for your vacant positions. These recruiting services are not only capable of staffing entry-level positions, but also employ executive legal recruiters who can find suitable professionals to fill high-level seats as well.
Recruiting services typically employ professionals with a four year degree in legal administration and a few years of personnel management experience, as the position demands an understanding of both the law and human resources. Many recruiters were at one time lawyers themselves, in fact. After all, attorneys may be able to recognize a legal professional’s quality, but they may not fully understand the intricacies of hiring someone, such as doing background checks, vetting, and conducting interviews.
Recruiters can work for a large firm, a firm with a high turnover rate, or for a company that specializes in legal recruitment. After all, places with over 100 employees, or corporate legal departments are always in need of good recruiting services to make sure there’s enough staff to handle their workloads.
Law firms and legal departments aren’t the only ones who need recruiting services. Government agencies may help filling their own positions, asking for recommendations who can represent the different bodies of government in cases. Judges, too, might ask for help filling court reporter or clerk positions. Not to mention other agencies like non-profits.
When you’re short staffed and lack the time to find a suitable candidate, legal recruiters can help. They know how to fill everything from entry level positions in law firms, to mid level court positions, to executive level positions in a corporation’s legal department. If you’re still unclear about what recruiting services do, who needs them, or why, feel free to ask in the comments.