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02/10/2007 - Innovation in Legal Recruitment

Why is there so little innovation?

It is sometimes said that there is no justice in the world. Often though, we get what we deserve.

If we are willing to put up with an unsatisfactory situation we are likely to get an unsatisfactory situation.

So it is with the legal recruitment market.

I have just written my dissertation for my MBA on “Innovation in the legal recruitment market”. In doing the research for the paper I interviewed the heads of recruitment from 4 leading law firms and 4 partners and a chief executive from 5 mid sized law firms. Not a single person expressed satisfaction with the legal recruitment market or felt it really meets their needs.

So why doesn’t someone do something about it?

An interesting question.

One would expect law firms to be demanding change and recruiters to be clamouring for market leadership by providing it. Neither is happening, so why?

The answer has 2 elements:

Recruitment Agencies are not structured in a way, which makes them good innovators. For small service businesses, (which most agencies are) to be able to innovate well they need:

u     Good quality staff

u     To be able to absorb and deploy knowledge well

u     To network effectively, especially with customers and suppliers

u     To be well organised

u     To take a balanced view of long term and short term issues

Whilst most legal recruiters have relatively well qualified staff, quality is patchy and the training and development of staff is limited. Some agencies network well but on the other criteria they all tend to be poor.

Complain as they may, Law Firms are unwilling to consider change, which may threaten certain aspects of the status quo.

The key element of the status quo is the opportunity for a law firm to receive the CV of the “ideal candidate” from the widest possible range of sources. They are unwilling to consider any arrangement, which they perceive to threaten this.

In order to keep their doors open law firms are willing to deal with agencies they consider to be disreputable or even downright dishonest.

For some reason they think that star lawyers will want to deal with and be represented by shady, unintelligent, indiscreet, unprofessional recruiters.

For the market to change for the better both sides need to change.