Recruitment issues

Head hunting needs to be a strategic exercise or it can risk backfiring badly, warns Irene Belton of AEA Law

The Oxford dictionary has two definitions of "head-hunting". The first reads "the collecting of enemies' heads as trophies" and the second "the seeking of staff by approaching people employed elsewhere". Employers need to ensure when they assign a "head-hunter" that they have the ability to relate to the latter rather then the former. We have heard many tales of woe regarding the former using what can only be described as "the scatter-gun approach". One of my partners’ clients was not impressed to be informed by an anonymous caller that they were the 163rd recipient of this particular head-hunting assignment, especially when members of their staff in the same, open-plan, office had been called two weeks earlier. If there is a particular need for this type of assignment, agencies who work in a small market will not usually wish to poach staff from a loyal client, but they may be able to recommend a professional organisation which will not, as the recent example above did, cause the employer in question to become a bit of a laughing stock.

While the number of in-house lawyers continues to rise, Mandi Bruce of Hammond Resources says that crossover between public and private practice could see that trend reverse

Up until quite recently solicitors working outwith private practice were perceived in some ways to be more interesting and possibly even more commercially aware. Times are indeed changing and an increasing number of solicitors are looking to make the move back into practice. More surprisingly however is the fact that legal firms are open to looking to recruit such applicants especially in the more specialised fields such as IT/IP, PFI, corporate and Capital Projects. It is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit from within public practice and it is now being recognised by both parties that there is a crossover and the diversity of work being undertaken by large practices is both challenging and interesting. There is a definite trend of solicitors from government funded organisations making the transition to private practice and legal firms are reaping the benefits of their expertise. As a result of this movement we should then see the opportunity arising for those wishing to make the opposite move to in house roles from private practice, to do so. This then provides a more rounded pool of candidates with exposure in both spheres. This is surely a situation which legal firms, job hunters and dare I say from which recruitment consultancies will benefit.

The profession has never been so mobile, and there’s no reason to think this trend won’t continue in 2003, according to Bernard Howard of Totally Legal

The last 10 years has witnessed unprecedented demand for legal services. And with this increase in demand has been an increase in mobility throughout the profession – from assistant to partner and from private practice to in-house and back again. This is likely to continue. Lawyers want quality of work but they also want a certain quality of life and will search high and low to get it. Mobility has increased not only within Scotland but also to England and internationally. The internet is undoubtedly encouraging this trend.

Scots lawyers enjoy a sound reputation overseas, says Ramsay Consulting’s Tony McInnes

A number of Scottish firms have pioneered pro-active management techniques and enjoy a more commercially businesslike profession than many of our European counterparts.  I have spent time over the last few years with Continental, American and Scandinavian lawyers, who would generally accept that the Scottish profession is strong, forward-thinking and effective.  Indeed, a number of our European counterparts have shown great surprise when some of our business practices have been explained. They acknowledge they have some catching up to do.

In terms of the UK, English firms enjoy the lion’s share of the big UK deals.  Nevertheless, Scottish lawyers can find themselves heavily involved in deals of this nature.  There is also the ubiquitous and euphemistically known process of “putting a kilt on an English deal”, from a commercial property perspective.  This is, of course, not to exclude secondment to large companies or time spent in law firms with head offices in England before returning to practice in Scotland. There is also a community of in-house lawyers in the country which allows the solicitor to gain valuable experience within an operating business.