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Additional Posts in Ask A Recruiter - Law
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Legal recruiter here to offer my two cents.
I agree with the Partner regarding applying directly to a posted position being fine and that there are recruiting coordinators in the firms trying to sort through those resumes to provide the best ones to a partner. But this doesn't tell the whole story.
The quality of the internal recruiting coordinator is very important. They range anywhere from merely a paper pusher with no real understanding of the practices and no legal background, to former practicing attorneys who are involved in strategic discussions with the partners. The latter obviously provides more value. I have had a partner at an AmLaw 20 firm beg me to work on a search and tell me keywords to make sure are on resumes and cover letters I submit because his firm strictly funnels things through the recruiting office and the recruiting recoordinator is incompetent and rejects good candidates unilaterally because she doesn't understand the practice area.
To the point of an original post, there is merit to the idea that for a posted role, recruiters bring less to the table. I often tell candidates that they should pick a legal recruiter they trust in their market (as opposed to having multiple) because while my relationships are better with some firms than others, largely any good recruiter has access to any firm.
That said, the notion that relationships don't matter or that firms don't have unposted positions is fairly laughable. The majority of my placements are for unposted positions resulting in me marketing the candidate to a firm as someone they should consider despite there being no posting. There are a few firms that won't consider candidates this way, and also some that literally never post positions and only consider candidates this way. I have also developed relationships at many firms ranging from AmLaw 10 to boutiques that the submission coming from my name does matter - the cover letter is read and any "story" considered. This may not matter if the lateral is very traditional, let's say 4th year Privacy associate at a top 50 firm moves to a 4th year Privacy associate position at a different top 50 firm. But the majority of laterals involve something else - desire for a change in practice (even if small) to some degree, different consideration regarding class year, etc. The firms where I do have those relationships often give me unposted searches that either they don't want a flood of unqualified resumes for, and want someone they know is competent to send them only good ones, or don't want to advertise the need publicly for whatever reason.
Finally, off topic from the original post, but a good recruiter does much more than simply send your resume over and then step away. In addition to handling logistics, I interview prep candidates, offer guidance as to what to expect and how to do things right through offer/conflicts and even giving notice, while also being able to communicate things to the firm that may able more difficult for a candidate to do directly.
Tldr; there are 100% unposted positions out there in big law, recruiter relationships can make a big difference in getting a candidate considered even at the associate level, and any recruiter worth his salt should tell you if a posted position is at a firm where a submission coming from a recruiter is more of a detriment than a benefit (this is true of a couple top 50 firms).
This is not an accurate take in my experience. I was placed at my current firm by a recruiter who had recently placed two partners in my group and most definitely had a relationship with partners on the inside that made a difference. I also am opportunistically applying to other firms now a few years later with a different recruiter, and of the two upcoming interviews I have, one was posted but the firm told me they really liked my recruiter and took her candidates seriously because she knows what she’s doing, and the other is for a very well-regarded boutique that rarely posts any openings and my recruiter shopped my qualifications to them without even sending my resume until they said they would like to see it. I think recruiters can be extremely helpful under a lot of circumstances. Beware the recruiter who sends you gimmicky emails or behaves like a fraudulent IRS examiner, but that’s up to us to navigate.
Connections to law firms usually only play a role in partner recruiting which is a whole other ball game. Seeing the continued evolution of associate recruiting, firms are becoming very specific to state that they will only accept submissions for posted positions. I'd be weary of a recruiter who is teaching out to firms that don't have a posted position because that might signal that they are sending your resume everywhere and seeing if they get a hit. Think of it this way..why would a firm ever want to limit it's universe of candidates by only letting a few recruiters know about it?
Ya this is also another common myth. This may have been true 20 yrs ago, but all firms have hired recruiting coordinators and all use software to track applicants. Recruiting coordinators literally try and get the best candidates in front of the partners, it's their job and they are assisted by software. Falling through the cracks really isn't a thing anymore.... plus most firms even make recruiters submit candidates through the same online portals in order to track submissions and applicants so the whole application black hole is not true anymore....not to mention recruiting coordinators look good if they source an applicant directly without paying a recruiting fee...that's why you even see firms posting directly on LinkedIn these days. Real value they present is that the good recruiters will just do all the annoying work of applying you to firms lol. Pretty much glorified application clerks (some that focus on the partner side of things are a little more knowledgeable and actually have knowledge of law firm economics and internal workings). Really not much different than real estate agents - they just show you the apartments you saw on Zillow and then submit your offer
Because apparently the title Partner is only reserved for lawyers...
I think the concern is that if you apply directly, you will disappear in a pile of resumes, but if you go through a recruiter, they are more likely to consider you seriously. Do you think that is true in practice?
I should add that just like good real estate agent, good recruiters do exist. They make your life easier and usually alert you quickly when a firm posts a opening, but sadly the good ones are few and far apart. Just look for one that is as non salesy as possible, doesn't pretend to have non posted openings, and maybe has some insight on each law firm.
Why do you keep assuming thr partner is a male? "Mr. Hot shot"...."ok guy"...pissing contest..why can't the partner be a female. Why not Mrs. Hot shot? Why the assumption that a partner is automatically male.
Fair response. No defense on my end, I did assume based on how he/she wrote. Fair criticism. The just of my responses are unimpacted as the gender of the original poster is irrelevant.
Lol, insulting my place of work because you don't know it, seems like it is more likely your associates who are having conversations with me than we will ever connect. Feel free to share your city and firm Mr. Hot Shot. I'm in DC.
The fact you think your limited experience with probably a couple firms and likely in one city is determinative of the entire market is the only laughable thing stated on this thread.
Are there firms where going around the RC is impossible and I would never do? Yes.
Are there firms where they have a policy that they won't consider candidates unless it's a posted position? Yes.
Are there firms where it is common place to email partners an anonymous description of a candidate and have them ask to see the resume (and THEN loop in the RC)? Yes.
Are there firms where the RC is so good that you can send that anonymous description to the RC who will run it by partners and then potentially ask for the resume? Yes.
And are there more firms than the one you mentioned that never post positions? Yes.
I have had meetings with managing and hiring partners of many vault 20 firms and several are actual relationships. It sounds like you have no respect for recruiters. We all get it, you're a big law partner, you're the smartest guy in the room! Of course many recruiters are incompetent, but the best ones are recruiters by choice often because they didn't want to deal with the bureaucracy (and possibly personalities like yours) in big law, and often they make more than the majority of AmLaw partners too.
Anyway, all the best in your posted searches. From the sounds of it I'm guessing you have high turnover in your group.
I mean, without pointing out the obvious, you simply have to just quickly search the lawdragon website to really see who the recruiters with any weight are.
And for the record, I (and no good recruiter) would never send a resume to a partner or an RC unsolicited. I know some recruiters do it because I have heard it from associates. But to either partners or associates, if a recruiter is doing that it is the first sign you shouldn't work with them.
Not to beats dead horse here so last one-
There are so many other situations a firm or candidate could never connect over on their own.
Earlier this year, a Vault 10 firm I have a close relationship was looking to add private fund formation attorneys. I had calls with the group, and found out they'd consider a well-pedigreed general corporate associate interested in converting.
They didn't post it, but if they did, it would have been a funds position and my candidate would n because of my relationship with the firm and ability to sell the firm and opportunity, the candidate became interested and ultimately got the job.
Conclusion: whatever firm partner OP works for is missing out on great candidates that other firms are getting if the firm's recruitment partners share his sentiments.