November 1, 2006 | PDF Version
Washington, DC
The lateral hiring market for lawyers is exploding, and there is substantial money to be made in the legal headhunting business. In this article, legal headhunter Dan Binstock shares insider information on the legal recruiting profession and explains how attorneys can use this information to ensure that they do not inadvertently place their careers in the hands of the wrong headhunters.
Legal headhunters affect the careers of thousands of attorneys each year, but surprisingly, most attorneys have no idea how the legal recruiting process works. Very little has been written on the topic. Also, the legal recruiting industry is entirely unregulated. Thus, without performing some due diligence, there is no way for attorneys to ensure that the headhunters to whom they entrust their careers are actually qualified. For some reason, though, most attorneys don't perform any due diligence when selecting legal headhunters.
In an exclusive story for Legal Times, Washington, DC's largest legal publication, Dan Binstock provided the legal community with critical--though rarely discussed or acknowledged--questions that attorneys should ask their headhunters to ensure they are selecting the right people.
"Although thousands of attorneys will work with a recruiter this year, most will spend less time evaluating recruiters than they do researching airfares on the Internet," said Dan Binstock. "You owe it to yourself and your career to spend some time making sure that your recruiter is truly best suited to meet your needs."
Some of the questions (and related commentary) include:
- Ask whether the headhunter works in a single market or multiple markets.
- Ask how long the headhunter has been working in this field.
- Ask if the headhunter will be writing a cover letter to the employer on your behalf and, if so, what this letter will contain.
- Ask if there are any firms that the headhunter is conflicted about working with that could, nonetheless, be good matches in terms of your experience.
- Ask if the headhunter is "assigned" certain firms that he or she can only work with.
- Ask what role the headhunter plays in the recruiting process.
- Ask if you are obligated to work with your headhunter exclusively.
- Ask if you can meet your recruiter in person.
