Attorney Recruiter

Purpose of the Job:

The Attorney Recruiter is responsible for leading and managing attorney recruitment efforts for the firm, including sourcing, screening, interviewing, candidate relationship management, and onboarding support. This position works closely with firm leadership, practice group leaders, and the recruiting team to identify attorney hiring needs and attract high-quality legal talent aligned with the firm’s culture and strategic goals. The Attorney Recruiter manages the attorney hiring pipeline from initial outreach through offer acceptance while maintaining an organized, professional, and candidate-focused recruitment process.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Attorney Recruitment & Sourcing

• Develop and execute strategic recruiting plans for attorney hiring needs.
• Source attorney candidates through job boards, LinkedIn, legal recruiting networks, referrals, law schools, bar associations, and direct outreach.
• Build and maintain a pipeline of qualified attorney candidates for current and future openings.
• Identify passive candidates and conduct targeted outreach campaigns.
• Track market trends, compensation data, and competitor hiring activity.

2. Candidate Screening & Interviews

• Conduct initial screening interviews and assess candidate qualifications, experience, and cultural fit.
• Participate in interviews with practice group leaders, partners, and firm leadership.
• Prepare interview materials and candidate summaries for decision-makers.
• Manage candidate communications throughout the hiring process.
• Ensure timely follow-up and a positive candidate experience.

3. Hiring Process Administration

• Collaborate with leadership to draft and revise attorney job descriptions.
• Manage attorney recruiting workflow and applicant tracking systems.
• Assist with drafting offer letters and supporting compensation discussions.
• Prepare quarterly hiring reports for leadership review.
• Communicate regularly with firm practice groups to project future hiring needs.

4. Relationship Management

• Develop strong relationships with law schools, legal organizations, and attorney networks.
• Maintain relationships with prior applicants and prospective candidates.
• Serve as a professional ambassador for the firm during recruiting events and networking opportunities.
• Coordinate attorney recruiting events, lateral recruiting initiatives, and career fairs.

5. Reporting & Strategic Planning

• Track recruiting metrics including time-to-fill, candidate sources, interview conversion rates, and hiring outcomes.
• Provide regular recruiting updates and hiring forecasts to leadership.
• Assist with long-term workforce planning and attorney staffing strategies.
• Recommend process improvements to enhance recruiting efficiency and candidate quality.

Required Qualifications:

1. Education

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Law degree and prior legal practice experience beneficial.

2. Experience

• Prior recruiting, legal recruiting, human resources, or law firm experience strongly preferred.
• Experience with attorney hiring processes, applicant tracking systems, and recruiting platforms preferred.
• Experience recruiting lateral attorneys or legal support staff preferred.

3. Skills

• Strong understanding of attorney hiring processes and legal industry recruiting.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, relationship-building, and organizational skills.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to manage multiple priorities and changing recruiting needs simultaneously.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, professionalism, sound judgment, and a positive candidate experience.
• Knowledge of attorney compensation structures, hiring trends, and legal industry networking preferred.

Physical Requirements:

1. Ability to work at a computer for extended periods.

2. Ability to communicate clearly in person and by phone, video conference, and written communication.

3. Ability to travel to firm offices, law schools, recruiting events, and related off-site locations as needed.

Performance Measures:

1. Goals

• Timely placement of qualified attorney candidates.
• Improvement in candidate retention, hiring quality, and time from identified need to completed hire.
• Development and maintenance of strong attorney candidate pipelines.
• Organization, accuracy, and timeliness of recruiting documentation and reporting.

2. Competencies

• Professionalism, responsiveness, and effectiveness as an ambassador of the firm.
• Effective coordination with firm leadership, practice groups, recruiting staff, and candidates.
• Confidentiality, sound judgment, and discretion in recruiting-related matters.
• Process improvement mindset focused on recruiting efficiency and candidate quality.

Working Conditions:

1. Professional office environment within a large, multi-office law firm.

2. Travel to HBS offices, law schools, recruiting events, and networking events as needed, with frequency varying seasonally based on the recruiting cycle.

3. Occasional evening events during recruiting, summer programming, and other firm recruiting initiatives.

4. Fast-paced workload with frequent deadlines and coordination with firm leadership, attorneys, candidates, and recruiting staff.