Case Studies

This candidate attended a top private liberal arts school for college, graduating magna cum laude and with the desire to ultimately attend law school. Prior to making the leap to earning her J.D., she worked as a paralegal where she gained hands-on experience in assisting with grand jury investigations. She was eventually admitted to a top 30 law school in the Midwest, where she excelled academically. She earned awards for the highest grade in multiple classes, was an articles editor on a law journal, and a moot court competition winner. She graduated in the top 10% of her class with order of the coif honors. READ MORE >

This candidate grew up in the Midwest, and attended a college near her home town. Ultimately desiring to attend law school, she spread her wings and attended a regional law school in the south, where she received a prestigious scholarship. She was a top student, graduating summa cum laude and #1 in her class, as well as participating as a member of the Law Review. READ MORE >

This candidate grew up in the Midwest, and had attended a regional school on a NCAA Division I scholarship. He majored in the liberal arts, and went on to law school back near his home town. He was an excellent student, receiving multiple awards and graduating cum laude in the top 25% of class. Upon graduation, desiring to gain hands-on litigation and trial experience, he became an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney. He tried dozens of cases to verdict, before both juries and judges. Over time, and after settling down with his family, this candidate ultimately decided to enter into private practice. He joined his first firm, a litigation boutique in the area, where he began to develop an emphasis in white collar criminal defense and business/ civil litigation. After a couple of years there, he joined the firm at which he practiced prior to working with BCG. READ MORE >

This candidate grew up in the Midwest, and attended a top national university in the region. He excelled in majors in the liberal arts as well as accounting and business administration, and moved on to law school directly after college. He was admitted to the top 20 school in his home state, where he was very successful and focused on business and transactional law, including earning a taxation certificate. He graduated magna cum laude, and earned an opportunity to join a Vault top 20-ranked firm in Chicago. This candidate had desired to begin his career with an elite practice where he would receive strong mentorship and gain top-tier transactional experience. His work focused in the M&A, regulatory, and capital markets spaces, and he quickly built up an impressive list of representative matters. He was a very hard worker, and received accolades from partners and other colleagues. READ MORE >

This candidate had spent her entire life in her home state in the Southeast United States, where she attended a top university and moved directly on to law school after college. She was a high academic performer, graduating magna cum laude at the top of her law school class. READ MORE >

This candidate attended the top national university in the Midwest state in which he was raised, majoring in the liberal arts as well as economics. He moved on to law school directly after college, and was admitted to a top 20 school where he performed very well. He was interested in business litigation, and felt extremely fortunate to land an in-house role with a fortune 500 company immediately upon graduation - a rare opportunity for a junior attorney. He focused on litigation case management, received a high level of ownership over the docket, and was a high performer. READ MORE >

This candidate had always been interested in the business world, and earned an undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Thereafter and prior to attending law school, he worked in various finance- and tax-related jobs in the Midwestern city in which he grew up. Ultimately desiring to attend graduate school, he decided to pursue both a J.D. and M.B.A. jointly, and was admitted at a top 20 law school which also had a top 20 part-time M.B.A. program. Working hard in both arenas, he was particularly involved in entrepreneurial/ startup-focused coursework on the business side, and also performed well academically in his law school classes. He loved the ability to apply his experience in business school to his legal coursework, and vice versa. READ MORE >

From my most recent placement, we can glean that both Tech Transactions and Data Privacy continue to be very hot nationwide, and that strong tech transactions and data privacy candidates who are applying to firms don't necessarily need the bar license of the states to which they are applying to still be very marketable. READ MORE >

Data Privacy is one of a handful of "new" practice areas for which we are seeing a lot of activity, especially for candidate with relevant experience. It is difficult to find candidates with more than two or three years of data privacy experience, because the modern-day data privacy statutes passed around two to three years ago. Another example of a "new" field that is getting a lot of traction lately is cannabis, although I would argue that data privacy is even hotter as it has never had a negative stigma attached to it. READ MORE >

My company often helps candidates at different times and sometimes several times throughout their careers. For the candidate that I just placed, my company started working with her on a firm search in Boston in early 2015 and through early 2016. She then decided to put her job search on hold and to stay at her then-current employer, the U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration in Boston, for the time being. However, she reached out to us again several years later, in early 2019, and was interested in looking at firm options again in Boston, where she is still located, but also in SF / the Bay Area, where she is from and where her family lives. At that point, I looped in one of my fellow East Coast Recruiters to help her out with her Boston search, and I submitted her to firms in SF, Silicon Valley and the East Bay from the end of February through the end of March. She then put her job search on hold yet again, until the end of July, when she reached out to me for a final time. This time, she only wanted to focus on her SF / Bay Area search, as her husband and she had decided that they definitely wanted to move back to SF. READ MORE >

Let me start by saying that it is, unfortunately, very, very difficult for a Recruiter to place an unemployed Associate or Partner candidate at a law firm. Whether the candidate was laid off, fired or left the firm on his or her own accord, sometimes for a very good reason, future potential employers will assume the worst. The employer is much likelier to give the candidate's previous firm the benefit of the doubt rather than the candidate, and will think that the candidate doesn't play well with others, is a quitter, produces low quality work product, etc. Candidates who are unemployed will often do better applying directly to firms, or applying through internal referrals at firms, rather than going through a Recruiter. READ MORE >

Let me begin this case study by underlining the fact that it is very, very difficult for Associates to transition from one practice area to another, even at a junior level. I rarely, rarely see this done in my own practice. If a candidate is able to do this, usually it is because he or she is still very junior and 1) he or she applies through a friend at the firm (especially if the friend is in the practice area that he or she wants to transition to), 2) his or her practice area is closely related to the new practice area or 3) he or she has a demonstrated background and interest in the practice area that he or she is transitioning to, either in terms of law school classes, clubs, previous careers, etc. READ MORE >

I should mention right off the bat that I rarely work with Plaintiff-side Labor & Employment candidates. This is for several reasons: 1) these candidates usually apply on their own and get very quick traction on their own, 2) most of the openings in P-side Labor & Employment are at very small firms that often do not want to pay Recruiter fees and 3) even if a firm is willing to pay a Recruiter fee, I find that there is usually very high turnover at P-side Labor & Employment firms, and it is hard to find one with a good culture that I feel good sending my candidates to. READ MORE >