Partner Placement Strategies for Enhancing Client Relationships

 

Summary

Partner placements are an important but often overlooked part of the legal industry. Law firms, legal recruiters and legal employers recognize that relationships between law firm partners and potential legal employers are essential for a successful placement. This article examines the role of relationships in placement and discusses how law firms, legal recruiters, and employers can take advantage of the opportunities provided by relationships and partner placements.

Relationships play a key role in partner placements. A successful placement relies on an effective and ongoing relationship between the law firm, legal recruiter, and employer. Law firms need to build and maintain strong relationships with their clients in order to ensure a successful placement. This involves developing trust, rapport, and knowledge of the employer’s needs, as well as understanding the law firm’s own interests and capabilities.


Legal recruiters play an essential role in partner placements by helping law firms identify and recruit the right partner for a role. They are responsible for identifying matches, conducting interviews, and evaluating candidates, as well as providing advice and guidance to employers and law firms. Furthermore, legal recruiters can also provide valuable insights and advice on specific legal issues.

Finally, employers should also recognize the importance of relationships in partner placements. Employers should be open to forging relationships with firms and recruiters, as well as cultivating relationships with potential partners. By doing so, employers can gain valuable information on the law firm’s capabilities, as well as an understanding of the particular individual’s skillset and potential.

To summarize, relationships play an important role in partner placements. Law firms, legal recruiters, and employers should all recognize the benefits of building relationships and taking advantage of those opportunities. By understanding the needs of the employer and the law firm’s capabilities, they can ensure a successful placement. Moreover, employers should be willing to forge relationships and cultivate relationships with potential partners in order to gain a better understanding of the individual’s skillset and potential.
 

The Importance of Relationships and Partner Placements in the Early 2000s

At the beginning of the 21st century, when the internet was just beginning to take off, the importance of relationships and partner placements between law firms began to become increasingly apparent. Law firms had to be able to stay competitive, and in order to do that, they had to develop strong relationships with key partners in order to generate more business. As law firms grew and expanded, they needed to find the right partners that could help them expand their reach and increase their competitive advantage.
 

Strategic Alliances Help Law Firms Adapt and Grow

As the market became increasingly competitive, the importance of forging strategic alliances became ever more important. Law firms sought to establish relationships with partners that could help provide additional expertise and resources. Partnering with the right firm could enable law firms to better serve their clients and offer a more comprehensive suite of legal services. Strategic partnerships between firms also allowed for a smoother and more efficient transition into new markets.
 

Partner Placements Become Essential for Legal Professionals

By the mid-2000s, partner placements had become essential for any law firm hoping to stay competitive. Law firms worked closely with placement firms to ensure that they had access to the right partners for their needs. Placement firms provided law firms with the ability to find the right partner for their particular situation, ensuring that the two partners had compatible business models and were a good fit for each other in terms of expertise and resources.
 

Partner Placements Lead to Greater Success

The success of partner placements and relationships between law firms was evident in the mid-2000s. Law firms with strong partner relationships were able to generate greater success compared to those without. Law firms that had an established relationship with a partner were able to leverage the expertise and resources to accomplish more than they could have alone. Partner placements allowed law firms to operate more efficiently, increasing their ability to provide clients with high-quality legal services.

At BCG, we have witnessed over and over again the value of long-term relationships and the effects our relationships have on our ability to work with and place individual partners and groups of partners nationwide. Some of our best recruiting results have, in fact, come about as a result of relationships fostered by our legal recruiters over many years of working in the legal industry. Similarly, some of our best results have come about because of new relationships that have quickly blossomed and flourished. These relationships vary and include associations with managing and hiring partners, recruiting professionals, associates, partners, law firms' clients, placed candidates, and referrals.

Because partners are generally dealing with particularly sensitive and potentially explosive matters when they seek to transition to another law firm, making a move can be an ominous undertaking if left to their own efforts. Partners rely on BCG consultants to provide a number of essential services during the placement process, not the least of which is the strong relationships they have with legal professionals that enable them to effectively and efficiently transition partners. Likewise, firms rely on BCG recruiters to provide them rainmakers, service partners, group acquisitions, and even merger partners. The confidence that partners and firms place in BCG comes about as a result of years of established relationships with key professionals across the nation.
When choosing a recruiter, partners and law firms need to assess what, if any, relationships the recruiter has established in the marketplace. It has been our practice at BCG to monitor our professional relationships and take stock of how well we are serving the growing list of legal professionals (both law firms and candidates) with whom we come in contact on a daily basis. Every one of our recruiters has his/her own list of personal contacts with whom he/she works that enables him/her to effectively and efficiently bring about the lateral transition of partners in every legal market BCG serves. How long is your recruiter's list of contacts that he/she could call immediately and engage in conversation? One hundred? Two hundred? A good recruiter to whom you would entrust a partner search or engage to represent you as a partner should have a list of contacts that meets or exceeds that number. A recruiter's ability to pick up the phone and make an instant connection, particularly with partners with whom a recruiter is working or managing partners for whom a recruiter is conducting an exclusive search, will depend greatly on whether the recruiter has nurtured his/her relationships in the legal marketplace.

Essential to the success of every BCG recruiter in making partner placements is already having the relationships necessary to bring about what we ultimately are striving for: the right fit. The key players in the partner placement process vary from transaction to transaction, but most often include the managing partner or the practice chair, and may include the recruiting professionals and other staff at a law firm. BCG recruiters understand the importance of building and maintaining relationships with each of these firm employees.

Picture a recruiter stranded on a deserted island with a partner. All he/she has is a phone. The recruiter can call anywhere in the world. The only way off of the island is to place the partner. The likelihood of that recruiter making it off the island will be fairly dependent on his/her access to and ability to obtain and exchange information. If the recruiter has established relationships with candidates and professionals at all levels, one would assume he/she will likely place the partner within weeks of being stranded. If you feel like you've been stranded on a deserted island with your recruiter for far too long, in all likelihood, your recruiter has not done much lately to cultivate and take care of his/her professional relationships.

For a recruiter's relationships with candidates and law firms to succeed and flourish, there must be an understanding that discretion, confidentiality, honesty, and approaching the search process ethically are givens. Managing partners and hiring partners want to know they are working with a professional that will conduct him/herself with the highest level of discretion and honesty, not only when dealing with the firm, but when representing the firm in the marketplace. Recruiters are consistently placed in situations that require them to make difficult decisions that may cost them a relationship or even a placement. Those that consistently choose the high road will be rewarded with the admiration of the professionals with whom they work.

At BCG, we have had the privilege to work with some of the most accomplished, highest-performing partners in the country. The standards set by these partners in firms across the country are the standards they expect in representation. Partners want to work with individuals who show respect for them and their practices and give them the type of service that their own clients expect. A recruiter's "work product"- whether it is in a recruiter's representation on paper, supply of knowledge about the market, or representation on the phone on behalf of a partner-must reflect the high standard demanded of attorneys in the practice of law. At BCG, we are continually reminded that our work product directly affects our relationship with the law firms with which we work and the ability of the partners with whom we work to ultimately get into those firms. It is this standard of representation that induces managing partners, hiring partners, and recruiting professionals to take our calls, give us referrals, and speak with us about their most sensitive needs.

Through a variety of avenues, BCG cultivates and nourishes relationships with hiring partners, law firm management, and key recruiting professionals.

BCG's ongoing representation of high-quality candidates to law firms assures ongoing communication between our recruiters and law firm management. BCG listens to what law firms want and then delivers just that. Law firms, in turn, give BCG the privilege of ongoing business. Law firms consistently compliment BCG for its high standard of representation and the manner in which it represents its candidates.

BCG's goal is to improve the lateral-hiring process for both candidates and law firms and to recognize that providing information is essential to nourishing our relationships with law firms and partners across the country. It is for this reason that BCG seeks through its informative website, articles, advertising, and books to continually provide pertinent information to law firms and candidates. Through speeches at law schools, BCG ensures that young associates understand how to get jobs. BCG's research staff regularly researches firms and jobs so that up-to-date and accurate information regarding opportunities and marketplace conditions is funneled to BCG's candidate base on a regular basis.

BCG recognizes the value of maintaining contact with active and placed candidates. BCG's active candidate base is a pool of information. Savvy associates pick up the pulse of partners with whom they are working. Associates are excellent sources of information about partners who may be looking to depart a firm and are often privy to information regarding a firm's long-term plan, i.e., opening a branch office, expanding into another city, acquiring another firm, merging with a national powerhouse. Likewise, BCG has placed partners in virtually every state across the country. These partners are excellent sources of referrals and information.

The breadth of BCG's contacts spans our many offices across the nation and allows us to create opportunity locally and nationally. BCG's reputation extends nationwide, and it is this reputation that has provided us the good fortune to work with prominent hiring partners across the country seeking to grow existing offices through mergers and acquisitions. Partners who engage BCG's services can be confident that BCG will provide through its nationwide contacts and relationships the most effective and efficient representation in the legal marketplace.


About Harrison Barnes

No legal recruiter in the United States has placed more attorneys at top law firms across every practice area than Harrison Barnes. His unmatched expertise, industry connections, and proven placement strategies have made him the most influential legal career advisor for attorneys seeking success in Big Law, elite boutiques, mid-sized firms, small firms, firms in the largest and smallest markets, and in over 350 separate practice areas.

A Reach Unlike Any Other Legal Recruiter

Most legal recruiters focus only on placing attorneys in large markets or specific practice areas, but Harrison places attorneys at all levels, in all practice areas, and in all locations-from the most prestigious firms in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., to small and mid-sized firms in rural markets. Every week, he successfully places attorneys not only in high-demand practice areas like corporate and litigation but also in niche and less commonly recruited areas such as:

• Immigration Law
• Workers Compensation
• Insurance
• Family Law
• Trust and Estate
• Municipal law
• And many more...

This breadth of placements is unheard of in the legal recruiting industry and is a testament to his extraordinary ability to connect attorneys with the right firms, regardless of market size or practice area.

Proven Success at All Levels

With over 25 years of experience, Harrison has successfully placed attorneys at over 1,000 law firms, including:

• Top Am Law 100 firms such including Sullivan and Cromwell, and almost every AmLaw 100 and AmLaw 200 law firm.
• Elite boutique firms with specialized practices
• Mid-sized firms looking to expand their practice areas
• Growing firms in small and rural markets

He has also placed hundreds of law firm partners and has worked on firm and practice area mergers, helping law firms strategically grow their teams.

Unmatched Commitment to Attorney Success - The Story of BCG Attorney Search

Harrison Barnes is not just the most effective legal recruiter in the country, he is also the founder of BCG Attorney Search, a recruiting powerhouse that has helped thousands of attorneys transform their careers. His vision for BCG goes beyond just job placement; it is built on a mission to provide attorneys with opportunities they would never have access to otherwise. Unlike traditional recruiting firms, BCG Attorney Search operates as a career partner, not just a placement service. The firm's unparalleled resources, including a team of over 150 employees, enable it to offer customized job searches, direct outreach to firms, and market intelligence that no other legal recruiting service provides. Attorneys working with Harrison and BCG gain access to hidden opportunities, real-time insights on firm hiring trends, and guidance from a team that truly understands the legal market. You can read more about how BCG Attorney Search revolutionizes legal recruiting here: The Story of BCG Attorney Search and What We Do for You.

The Most Trusted Career Advisor for Attorneys

Harrison's legal career insights are the most widely followed in the profession.

• His articles on BCG Search alone are read by over 150,000 attorneys per month, making his guidance the most sought-after in the legal field. Read his latest insights here.
• He has conducted hundreds of hours of career development webinars, available here: Harrison Barnes Webinar Replays.
• His placement success is unmatched-see examples here: Harrison Barnes' Attorney Placements.
• He has created numerous comprehensive career development courses, including BigLaw Breakthrough, designed to help attorneys land positions at elite law firms.

Submit Your Resume to Work with Harrison Barnes

If you are serious about advancing your legal career and want access to the most sought-after law firm opportunities, Harrison Barnes is the most powerful recruiter to have on your side.

Submit your resume today to start working with him: Submit Resume Here

With an unmatched track record of success, a vast team of over 150 dedicated employees, and a reach into every market and practice area, Harrison Barnes is the recruiter who makes career transformations happen and has the talent and resources behind him to make this happen.

A Relentless Commitment to Attorney Success

Unlike most recruiters who work with only a narrow subset of attorneys, Harrison Barnes works with lawyers at all stages of their careers, from junior associates to senior partners, in every practice area imaginable. His placements are not limited to only those with "elite" credentials-he has helped thousands of attorneys, including those who thought it was impossible to move firms, find their next great opportunity.

Harrison's work is backed by a team of over 150 professionals who work around the clock to uncover hidden job opportunities at law firms across the country. His team:

• Finds and creates job openings that aren't publicly listed, giving attorneys access to exclusive opportunities.
• Works closely with candidates to ensure their resumes and applications stand out.
• Provides ongoing guidance and career coaching to help attorneys navigate interviews, negotiations, and transitions successfully.

This level of dedicated support is unmatched in the legal recruiting industry.

A Legal Recruiter Who Changes Lives

Harrison believes that every attorney-no matter their background, law school, or previous experience-has the potential to find success in the right law firm environment. Many attorneys come to him feeling stuck in their careers, underpaid, or unsure of their next steps. Through his unique ability to identify the right opportunities, he helps attorneys transform their careers in ways they never thought possible.

He has worked with:

• Attorneys making below-market salaries who went on to double or triple their earnings at new firms.
• Senior attorneys who believed they were "too experienced" to make a move and found better roles with firms eager for their expertise.
• Attorneys in small or remote markets who assumed they had no options-only to be placed at strong firms they never knew existed.
• Partners looking for a better platform or more autonomy who successfully transitioned to firms where they could grow their practice.

For attorneys who think their options are limited, Harrison Barnes has proven time and time again that opportunities exist-often in places they never expected.

Submit Your Resume Today - Start Your Career Transformation

If you want to explore new career opportunities, Harrison Barnes and BCG Attorney Search are your best resources. Whether you are looking for a BigLaw position, a boutique firm, or a move to a better work environment, Harrison's expertise will help you take control of your future.

Submit Your Resume Here to get started with Harrison Barnes today.

Harrison's reach, experience, and proven results make him the best legal recruiter in the industry. Don't settle for an average recruiter-work with the one who has changed the careers of thousands of attorneys and can do the same for you.

About BCG Attorney Search

BCG Attorney Search matches attorneys and law firms with unparalleled expertise and drive, while achieving results. Known globally for its success in locating and placing attorneys in law firms of all sizes, BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys in law firms in thousands of different law firms around the country. Unlike other legal placement firms, BCG Attorney Search brings massive resources of over 150 employees to its placement efforts locating positions and opportunities its competitors simply cannot. Every legal recruiter at BCG Attorney Search is a former successful attorney who attended a top law school, worked in top law firms and brought massive drive and commitment to their work. BCG Attorney Search legal recruiters take your legal career seriously and understand attorneys. For more information, please visit www.BCGSearch.com.