tailored recruitment services for legal professionals
Our unrivalled experience, expert knowledge and honest approach to legal recruitment helps provide clients and candidates with a specialised, professional service that can’t be found elsewhere.
Founded in 2002 as a dedicated agency focusing on legal recruitment for law firms across London and the regions, the agency continues to provide unsurpassed legal recruitment solutions to Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and London.
OUR LATEST VACANCIES
What we do for Candidates
We believe that market expertise, knowledge, trust and clear and continuous communication are the vital ingredients for a successful relationship between a candidate and consultant.
Our candidates tell us we offer great advice, support and encouragement throughout the whole process.
We will help you fully prepare for your new role at each step, from CV writing through to the interview stage, guiding you with considered career advice tailored to you.
What we do for clients
As a legal-specific recruitment agency, we offer a bespoke recruitment service for law firms and businesses who work across a host of sectors.
Unlike other recruitment agencies, we position ourselves as an extension to your HR team, committed to understanding your firm's needs and providing you with only the best and most appropriate candidates.
We work hard to ensure the recruitment process is as effective and efficient as possible.
What’s the Verdict?
Thoughts from LR Legal
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2019 - Year of the flexi-working policy?
02/21/2019
Flexi-working, working from home, condensed hours – whatever you want to call it, the discussion of shifting away from typical office working hours, and indeed office-bound working, is quite the prevalent discussion for HR professionals coming into 2019. Traditionally, the concept of moving away from the 9-to-5 might not have worked in the legal industry, but with the rise of technology, the possibility of job-sharing, and part-time hours becoming much more normalised, why can’t flexi-working work for your firm? The most important thing to ensure is that the firm continues to run as normal, and so, to keep disruption to a minimum, deliver clear communications to staff, and keep set boundaries; your first step is to put a flexi-working strategy, policy and usage guidelines in place. Keep it free from jargon, make it clear and accessible and ensure your staff knows of its existence. When getting the documentation together, it is the firm’s opportunity to set clear limitations and opportunities. For example, one of our clients have a “Monday Meetings” rule, meaning those working remotely must try to be available for meetings on this day. It allows for expectations to be managed and kept. It is also important that your firm understands flexi-working doesn’t just encompass where staff work, from but also includes when and how. Creative types might be better in a busy creative environment of like-minded individuals, so will opt to use co-working spaces in the late afternoon, whereas more analytical team members appreciate the tranquillity of their own home at 6 AM before the day begins. Make sure your policy covers this. There is, of course, a myriad of ways flexi-working requests might present themselves. Be sure to save yourself a lot of admin and hassle, by being clear in your policy about how staff request alternative shift patterns, change of working place or condensed hours. You may come up against Partners who say flexi-working gives all the benefits to staff and none to the firm, and it’s important to point out the flaws in this argument earlier on. If you can implement a decent flexi-working policy well, the benefits are never-ending. Internally, you can expect better performance from staff members, higher morale and a strong sense of loyalty to the firm who sees them as a person. Externally, a flexi-working policy works as a great USP when attracting top talent and opens your market share of candidates. If you allow for job-sharing or remote working, older candidates with a wealth of experience may be interested, or you may appeal to a working parent that needs to do the school run but is happy to log on after the bedtime ritual for a couple of hours. If you need support and advice with your flexi-working policy, get in touch with the team who will be happy to talk you through any ideas you have, and be able to guide you on policy implementation. LR Legal is a bespoke recruitment agency, offering a comprehensive service for law firms and businesses, across all sectors. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.
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The changing face of mental health in law firms
02/07/2019
Conversations around mental health are growing in momentum. Organisations working to increase awareness of mental health issues across the workforce is up from 31 per cent in 2016 to 51 per cent in 2018, and set to grow further in 2019. Whilst steps have been taken by the legal sector to improve their reputation for mental health support, law firms are often seen as traditional in their principles, and a seemingly unsupportive culture can often discourage people from joining the industry. We’ve put together a short blog highlighting the promising steps being taken by firms all over the South East, and why the conversation around mental health in the legal profession is changing. Mental Health First Aid training Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is a recently recognised training course that teaches people how to identify, understand and help someone who may be experiencing a mental health issue. MHFA will teach the nominated person to listen, reassure and respond, even in a crisis – and even potentially stop a crisis from happening. Slaughter and May were one of the first firms to introduce the scheme in 2017, but others have now followed suit, with many firms introducing a variety of mental health initiatives, encouraging the destigmatising of it. An incredibly positive step allowing for conversations to be started amongst colleagues. LawCare LawCare is a charity, set up to promote and support good mental health and wellbeing in the legal community. It offers a staffed helpline, a range of useful resources and teaching materials and in-house training if needed. The charity encourages firms to work alongside them to improve understanding and empathy to those with mental health issues and work with HR and L&D departments to reduce the stigma. Their plethora of materials offers a great starting place for anyone who wants to learn more about dealing with or supporting mental health problems in the workplace. Virtual GPs It is not unknown that the NHS struggle to fulfil mental health appointments quickly, with some patients waiting up to 6 months in some parts of the country for their referrals for talking therapies. A big benefit being rolled out across law firms is free or subsidised access to “virtual” GPs, through an app on a mobile or a website on a desktop. It allows a staff member to have an initial appointment, get the necessary referrals and the doctor may even be able to make a diagnosis and give prescriptions. Needless to say, a sooner appointment eases a lot of worries, and investment from the firm in this sort of benefit shows staff members that the firm cares for their wellbeing. The Legal Professions Wellbeing Taskforce Founded in 2016 and initiated by the Law Society in partnership with other legal organisations to promote mental health best practice and support in the legal sector; Its aim is to create a culture of good mental health for City workers, and to share best practices and increase mental health understanding. As the taskforce involves many senior workers across a selection of professions, it promotes a positive culture, cultivating change from the top. It is heartening to see such positive steps being taken across the industry since 2016. However, with LawCare still receiving their highest volumes of calls from concerned legal professionals and ongoing issues around changing an established culture that doesn’t look as favourably on illnesses you cannot see, there is still work to be done. We look forward to further improvement and inclusion across the industry in time for 2020's #TimeToTalk day. LR Legal is a bespoke recruitment agency, offering a comprehensive service for law firms and businesses, across all sectors. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.
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The four Cs of building a positive company culture
01/17/2019
Culture feels like somewhat of a buzzword right now, being bandied around a lot but not much understanding behind its purpose. Our Managing Director Leilani Reader thinks about how to build a positive corporate culture in four achievable steps. Community The very definition of culture is ‘the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society’, so you can’t build a culture without thinking about who your community is. You want to promote teamwork, collaboration and support, so focus on the people first, would be my advice. Ensure your staff feel valued, supported and at home in your firm. The community will build itself. Continuity Whether you’re an established firm or a fairly new addition to the high street, your firm cannot successfully implement a great culture based on ad hoc activity and one-off drink receptions. Build it into your people strategy, if you don’t have one, expand on your HR Strategy. Be sure to continuously review your culture, be continuous in your approach to your culture and continuously promote it. Conviction Own your culture, live it and make it clear to both those joining the firm and those outside of your firm what your values are. Insincerity shows and if you are trying to present a culture that isn’t a true reflection of your firm, it won’t reflect well on you in the marketplace. Candidates talk, and competitors watch, so be sure that you are authentic. Creativity How do you make your culture stand out? Now you’ve built it, defined it and owned it, how do you make it different to everyone else’s? At this stage, I’d draw inspiration from the other 3 c’s. What would your community feel comfortable with and loyalty for? What can you do continuously? And what can you throw yourself behind with conviction? For example, we had a client that had concerns over the lack of time away from the screen for their department. After some consideration of their community and what could be done continually, we suggested implementing internal walking meetings, allowing colleagues to get away from their desk, outside for a change of scenery and some fresh air and fresh ideas. It has been highly successful so far because it addressed the 4 Cs. We have noticed considerable growth in candidates focusing on the culture of a firm as much as the benefits offered, so your culture is becoming an increasingly important asset when attracting top talent. Make sure you’re getting it right. LR Legal is a bespoke legal recruitment agency, offering a comprehensive legal recruitment service for law firms and businesses, across all sectors. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.
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The changing face of the legal secretary role
12/17/2018
There is no denying that a legal secretary plays a vital role to a law firm and, in particular, the fee-earners they support, but with technology, automation and artificial intelligence making more administrative tasks much easier, where can the legal secretary role develop? Our Legal Support Consultant Matthew Heard discusses the possibilities. A more personal focus Whilst some may question the future of such a role, the worth a secretary offers to their fee earners is invaluable. They are often responsible for a multitude of tasks that creates for a seamless client experience. They are personable, responsive, organised and are focussed on using their initiative and problem-solving. All qualities that are needed to successfully support solicitors and their clients. So could it be that in the future, as the legal secretary role becomes more redundant, in its place is a personal assistant role that encompasses the legal secretary duties? A more technical focus It is often found, across a multitude of different types of firms, legal secretaries are often trusted to carry out work that wouldn’t be out of place on a paralegal’s desk. If a legal secretary is working in a boutique firm or supports a fee-earner that works in a niche market, their knowledge and capabilities can be extensive. Many secretaries are already client facing due to their involvement in following up calls, liaising with them over paperwork and greeting them when they arrive at the office, so it would not be out of place for them to take an active part in meetings or be a go-to contact point for clients. Is that a possible route for legal secretary roles in the future? A more marketing/BD focus As the marketplace becomes more saturated, client focus needs to be more prevalent than ever before for legal firms, and many are starting to implement client care strategies. Legal secretaries currently support most marketing and BD efforts, from pulling together pitch information to supporting the running of events. In smaller firms mostly, legal secretaries can be an incredible asset to marketing efforts, and so in the face of automation for administrative purposes, surely the manpower would be better spent focusing on client acquisition and retention? If you’re not sure how to develop the secretarial roles in your firm, we are happy to provide market insight and support, or if you are looking for a very specific type of candidate for your department, we have a great candidate pool of legal secretaries looking for their next role. LR Legal is a bespoke legal recruitment agency, offering a comprehensive legal recruitment service for law firms and businesses, across all sectors. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.
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UK Recruiters Strategy Report – what are candidates looking for?
11/17/2018
Glassdoor have recently released their new UK Recruiters Strategy Report, which reviews top UK recruiting statistics and includes survey data from both employers and job seekers in the UK. Whilst not exclusive to the legal sector, and indeed the stats would probably be higher if it were, the findings make for interesting reading to anyone responsible for their firm’s employment activities. Reviews matter When looking to accept a role, 4 in 5 job seekers will diligently research the company making the offer. This includes both internal and external reviews, so it’s unlikely a good placement in the Legal 500 will secure you your candidate of choice. Potential employees are likely to check Roll on Friday, Glassdoor and even mainstream press such as The Guardian. 84% of people believe a company’s reputation is an important factor when deciding on a job offer, so be sure that you have a strategy to tackle your employer brand, and it’s reflected across all of these outlets. Progression and development are key Career opportunities were listed in the top 5 things that attract UK-based candidates, and not only that, if employees don’t feel challenged in their role in the first year, there is a 1% higher chance that these employees will leave the company looking for their next role. Having development frameworks in place for staff, clear and transparent responsibility and salary bandings and regular reviews are all the more likely to incentivise your staff and encourage them to develop and, ultimately, stay. With the average replacement cost for a team-leaver being 33% of their salary, that is money that could be much better spent on the professional development of your team. Make sure you’re asking the right questions 76% of hiring decision-makers believe that finding the right quality of candidate is their biggest challenge, so with that being said, make sure you’re asking the right questions at every stage. Even gateway questions at CV application level can ensure the candidates being sent to you are the right ones. Be clear with what you want from a potential employee, divert from generic competency questions that can easily be rehearsed, and be sure to focus on questions specific to the role and candidate. We recently posted about the importance of relevant interview questions, which you can read more about here. LR Legal is a bespoke legal recruitment agency, offering a comprehensive legal recruitment service for law firms and businesses, across all sectors. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.
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Asking the right questions to find the right candidate
09/17/2018
With Google providing a never-ending supply of resource to interviewees, for managers and HR professionals it is becoming increasingly difficult to get to know the candidate and not a pre-rehearsed, LinkedIn-approved version, particularly so if the standard competency-based questions are asked. To get an insight into the candidate, it’s important to ask the right questions. Below we’ve outlined several key questions that will cut through the jargon and let you learn about the person you’re talking to. “Talk me through your processes for…” Asking for a detailed approach to a specific process allows you to learn about your candidate’s thought process and how they approach tasks and consider their impact. It will also give you a good indication of how they will work in your current team set up. “It’s really important to understand how someone operates, especially if they’re in a support role, such as a legal secretary,” Matthew Heard, our Legal Support Consultant, advises. “If they have three partners all needing support, it’s good to know about they would tackle difficult tasks or prioritise workloads.” “What’s the most niche or complicated thing you know about? Can you summarise it into an elevator pitch?” Most candidates’ minds will go to a work-related topic, and that’s great if you’re a specialist firm looking to recruit a solicitor for a dedicated sector, but you may also learn a lot about a potential employee’s communication skills and style, their passion for their subject topic and their character. Alison Banks, our Senior Legal Consultant, says, “I specialise in family law and this question really helps me understand a candidate’s knowledge and if they have the experience and technical expertise needed for the role I’m recruiting for.” “What have you learned about yourself from your previous roles?” This question gives some of the power back to the interviewee, and in a way will make them feel more comfortable, but it will give you a great insight into how the candidate operates, and their style of working; whether that be that they enjoy autonomy or working as part of a wider team, whether they prefer rigid schedules or if they excel when given less than clear instructions. It is also a good time to take stock of their body language and facial expressions when asked this question, it’s unlikely to be one they were expecting. “Can you see how you would develop this role?” More often than not, candidates will arrive at the interview with pre-prepared questions to ask you relating to the firm or the job they’ve applied for, so with this question, you put the emphasis back on them – what do they want from their role with you, where they see themselves developing in your firm and how they will evolve the role. It shows you what sort of career path the interviewee is looking to take, whether they have considered how long they plan to stay with the firm and where they see themselves. From this information, you can start to forecast where this person will fit in the long term for your business. “This question really can be the deciding factor between candidates,” Francesca Butcher, Legal Consultant, muses. “Ideally, depending on your job specification, you want someone who will grow with the role. This is the candidate’s opportunity to show their suitability to the role and your firm.” There are many questions to ask a candidate that may not be in the standard set of interview rules, but by using this line of questioning you are more likely to get an authentic, truthful and insightful response from the person you’re interviewing, and with that understanding, you will be able to find the right fit for your role. LR Legal is a bespoke legal recruitment agency, offering a comprehensive legal recruitment service for law firms and businesses, across all sectors. Get in touch to find out how we can help you.
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Remote Working - Viable?
05/17/2018
Remote working is unshackling workers from office desks and helping businesses to attract talent – but is it always conducive to productivity? In 2018, the phrase “working nine-to-five” is largely limited to Dolly Parton fans visiting karaoke bars. Modern employees, powered by connected technology, sing a different tune. They are encouraged to eschew traditional ways of working, and are both happier and more productive. “Gone are the days of rigid schedules where workers are fixed to computer terminals between the hours of 9am and 5pm,” says Ryan Asdourian, senior director at Microsoft. Numerous surveys have found that workers would choose flexible working over a pay rise “With technology on our side, the opportunities are endless as the reimagined modern workplace is here. More than ever, the best talent is seeking organisations that encourage creativity, shun silos and support flexible working.” Indeed, we are waltzing into a new era of hypermobility: the anywhere office. This exponential trend is fuelled by a plethora of smartphones, laptops, tablets, the rapid increase in capacity of mobile technology and a growing prevalence of Wi-Fi hotspots in public places. Furthermore, better enabling services are on the horizon, as is 5G connectivity. Out-of-office communication Flexible working is made more practical with unified communications (UC): a catch-all term for the integration of features including instant messaging, voice, audio and video services – the point where strategy, operations and production converge. The benefit of UC is the opportunity for flexible instant connectivity regardless of whether colleagues are “in the office”. A single team member can speak for the group, or members can join and contribute to discussions as they occur, regardless of location, time zone or any other factor. Numerous surveys have found that workers would choose flexible working over a pay rise. A study involving 8,000 global employees and employers conducted by Vodafone in 2016 found that three-quarters of companies worldwide have already adopted flexible working policies and 61pc of them believe that it had increased their company’s profits. Even more convincingly, 83pc reported that productivity was boosted by flexible hours rather than reduced by them. More meaningful working lives Mark Greenaway, director of emerging business, EMEA, at Adobe, says: “Remote working is one of the most revolutionary business trends of recent years, and has given rise to a host of technologies that provide a more intuitive working experience, improve employee productivity and unshackle people from the office. “Notably, thanks to the cloud, the number of collaboration tools available has skyrocketed, and it’s easier than ever to experience the same unified interface at work as remotely. When staff work via the cloud, they commonly access ‘living documents’ – shared files which can be updated by anyone in real time.” Mr Greenaway says: “In the future, artificial intelligence [AI] will turn these living documents into content which is truly alive. With these AI-enabled documents, employees will be able to manage formatting, make corrections to copy and help keep team members informed of continuing changes. While small, these innovative improvements will change the way teams work together remotely on any device.” Philip Lacor, vice-principal of global sales at Dropbox, warns that just because an employee can log in from anywhere, at any time, does not mean they should. “Imagine if Albert Einstein got up and cleared his email inbox every morning, with his smartphone next to him buzzing every time he got a notification. Would we have the theory of relativity?” He adds: “The answer to how we can be more productive in an era of hypermobility does not lie in simply being more connected and stuffing more into the hours available. We have to look very closely at the way we are working and collaborating to fuel the spark in all of us, and to unleash the creative energy that helps us stay in the zone and deliver our best work. “We must be both aware of the perils of distraction and optimistic about technology’s capacity to do the heavy lifting, and therefore move us closer to a more meaningful and fulfilling working life.”
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Is retention of staff becoming an issue?
05/17/2018
Retention is becoming a pressing issue for HR professionals. According to a recent cross-industry survey, 93% of businesses agreed that the retention of new hires in their organisation is an issue. And over one-quarter (26%) jobseekers aren’t ready to stick it out at a job they thought wasn’t a good fit, even when they haven’t got another offer. But why are people leaving? The Korn Ferry Futurestep research found the top reasons new hires are exiting is their specific role isn’t what they expected and working for the company was different than they thought it would be. Surprisingly, the issue transcended pay, with respondents saying that money was not a primary reason a new hire would leave. More than half surveyed (55%) said that offering more money to a new hire who wanted to leave would not make them stay. A staggering eight in 10 (82%) said that if they accepted a job that they ended up not liking, even if it paid well, they would leave as soon as they found something else. “It is important that organisations have a clear employer brand to share with candidates that is true to the company and reflects the day-to-day culture,” comments Neil Griffiths, Korn Ferry Futurestep Vice President, Global Brand, Marketing and Communications. “Competitive benefits and salaries are table stakes to attract top talent, but creating an environment where employees are given interesting work and recognised for their efforts will give them a reason to stay.” “Unhappy employees will not go above and beyond the basic requirements of their job, even if they are well paid,” he says. “Our study found that the majority of respondents (70%) said challenging and rewarding work is what keeps them on the job. Clear advancement opportunities also create a positive environment that benefits both employees and employers.” The study also found that Millennials were the most likely generation to leave a new job if they were not satisfied. Griffiths adds that this shows employers need to go the extra mile to create a professional environment where all employees feel valued. “Unhappy employees will not go above and beyond the basic requirements of their job, even if they are well paid,” he says. “Our study found that the majority of respondents (70%) said challenging and rewarding work is what keeps them on the job. Clear advancement opportunities also create a positive environment that benefits both employees and employers.” The study also found that Millennials were the most likely generation to leave a new job if they were not satisfied. Griffiths adds that this shows employers need to go the extra mile to create a professional environment where all employees feel valued.
