There has always been an extremely heated battle among legal firms and in-house legal teams to attract, hire, and retain the best lawyers in the market. The battle for legal talent has been continuous for decades, and if anything, right now it has intensified even further. Firms and companies have now found it really complicated to identify and then attract high quality legal talent.

It is increasingly clear that, for those with the tasks of recruiting and employing lawyers, the conventional methods are not working any longer. In the more and more competitive market nowadays, law firms and in-house legal teams have walked their ways to utilize technology to retain and attract high or even top quality legal talent.

As is apparent, the struggle for legal talent demands a hiring strategy supported and improved by technology. This article will tell you about the key steps and what you need to do to stay ahead in the talent race utilizing tech and a proactive recruitment strategy, to assure you the victory of the race to attract high or even top quality legal talent.

The Heart of the Law Firm

It is the unchanged truth of a successful business that law firms need the best people, systems, and processes. Being practice managers and HR professionals, you are responsible for guaranteeing that your firm has both effective and efficient operations. The leading firms have attraction of the best clients, who, in turn, refer new clients due to their positive experiences.

Proactive Recruitment Strategy

Excellent law firms have been aware of the fact that to in order to win the battle for legal talent, they must establish positive relationships with potential hires. It’s no longer adequate to recruit only when there’s a vacancy. Firms are shifting to a proactive recruitment strategy that is empowered by technology which enables them to secure and attract top quality legal talent.

By leveraging this approach, firms can identify and target the best lawyers well before they really need to hire. They can learn about a lawyer’s interest in future opportunities, gain deeper insights into their expertise, goals, and timeframe for a move, and guarantee they are a good match. This strategy not only allows firms to be more selective but also helps them hire talent immediately when the need appears.

How to Attract Top Quality Legal Talent

Develop an attractive employee value proposition. Understand the reasons why your lawyers are attracted to work at your firm and they want to stay working at the firm. The best messaging to future lawyers is the messages coming from a firm’s existing lawyers.

Retain your best and most valued lawyers at all costs

Winning the battle for legal talent starts at home. You must first and foremost struggle for the hearts of your existing staff before you can win the hearts of potential talent. A vast majority of employer branding should be about current employees.  Most firms concentrate their efforts on external talent at the risk of losing some of their best potential hires. To attract great legal talent, it’s significant to treat your existing people well for if you treat your people right, they will remain employed at your firm and will bring in more right people.

Leverage your warm connections

Your people know other great people. Encourage and incentivise your existing lawyers to connect you with lawyers they know and have worked with in the past. Imagine how much more compelling a recommendation about your firm is from a lawyer who is known and respected.  It is always better to hire someone you know something about than to hire someone you know nothing about.

Build and maintain a qualified talent pipeline

A pipeline can be established with minimal effort.  For instance, one of your lawyers might recommend someone to you they know or have worked with on the other side of a deal, or perhaps you meet a great lawyer at a important legal conference.  Maybe you approached a lawyer about a live vacancy, and they advised the timing isn’t right for a move now, but they would be open to staying in touch about future opportunities. Or perhaps you connected with some lawyers working overseas to learn their timeframes for a return home, or maybe you have reconnected with your past classmates or friends.  All of these channels will help you build your legal talent pipeline.

Invest in the right people to proactively build relationships with your future talent

Firms with the wishes of shifting to a proactive recruitment strategy will be required to invest in people with the right skillset to develop and nurture relationships with your future talent.  To attract top quality legal talent, you need the right people to reach out and build positive conversations with them. Having someone proactively building relationships with your future talent will place your firm at the front of the queue for the best legal talent when there is a future hiring need.