The market right now creates a unique and opportune environment for acquiring new legal talent.  The top law firms and companies are using this time for innovation and view it as the perfect time to part ways with certain professionals.  Every firm/company has a number of attorneys that are smart and work hard, but are simply just good at doing as requested and not much more. This economy has placed a lot of candidates in the job market. But, what types of candidates are they?  My clients report to me that, logically, if they are making cuts in employment, it is of the mediocre attorneys or those who they do not expect to contribute to the firm as a whole in the long-term.

Many of my clients are using this market to weed out those individuals and replace them with A-player legal professionals who in the end will contribute more to the growth of the firm/company.  Some firms consider it a risk to hire in this type of market, but the innovative firms see this as an invaluable time for strategic growth. They are using this time to make long term growth investments for their organizations. It is analogous to investing in the market itself-sure it seems risky, but it makes the most sense to invest while the market is down.

In this market, every job looks better to candidates, especially the one they already have. Many top-quality attorneys are staying where they are because they view the down market as a risky time to move. They see their firms/companies cutting the less valuable attorney positions and think they are lucky to be where they are. Many of my clients indicate that raises were very minimal or nominal in 2008 due to the economy. The result is that these phenomenal attorneys are working harder and making less. That is where Spence Search Partners can assist your organization. We can help encourage these professionals to overcome this resistance to change in this market.

With the long term vision of your firm in mind, this is a key time to find and retain top-notch legal professionals. So when things eventually pick up, your firm has all the talent in place to charge forward. We can work together to capitalize on this economy.

Spence Search Partners understands that spending and costs are down for many of our clients right now and we are more than willing to work with you on a reduced fee arrangement for a limited time. Please call us to discuss these options further.

Finally, we would like to announce our recently completed placements:

*Real Estate Partner/Cleveland, OH
*Utilities Partner/Cleveland, OH
*Labor and Employment Partner/Indianapolis, IN
*Employee Benefits Associate/Cleveland, OH