Opportunity Knocks : Litigation Support Staffing : The Cowen Group : Ediscovery Recruiters, Candidate Search, Practice Support, Position Placement

The AmLaw Litigation Support/E-Discovery job market is poised for a rebound in the later part of 2009, which will extend through 2010. However, many law firms anticipate building flexibility into their hiring plans by relying heavily on Temp-to-Perm employees.

When surveying over 100 Litigation Support and Human Resource Managers, we found that 42% of the AmLaw100 report an increase in hours worked since Q2 2008. As a result, 31% anticipate adding temporary staff within the next 6 months. In the AmLaw Top 50, 70% anticipate adding temporary staff within 6 months. For the most part, permanent hires in the AmLaw 100 remain flat.

These trends reinforce a shift in the market that The Cowen Group has observed internally: permanent employees at AmLaw200 and AmLaw300 firms are expressing interest in temporary positions within the AmLaw Top 50. They see the transition from permanent to temp-to-perm as a chance to at with the best-and-brightest – firms which have best-in-breed technologies and the largest, most complex cases.

If you would like to receive our full report on these, and other emerging trends in the E-Discovery job market, please email David@CowenGroup.com.

The Cowen Group provides an inside-out look at the E-Discovery space by conducting quarterly surveys into salary, hiring and other critical trends within the AmLaw, Corporate, and Vendor spaces. 

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I just wanted to write a quick thank you blog to Martha Mazzone, Patrick Oot, David Boyhan, Warren Solow and everyone who participated in our Breakfast Roundtable on Tuesday morning, April 21^st to our discuss Measuring and Evaluating In-House E-Discovery Legal Spend.

Our preliminary Critical Trends Survey on the subject came back with some interesting facts:

• 90% of Corporate E-Discovery managers are not able to track the details of their E-Discovery budget.
• Only 30% of Corporate E-Discovery managers are able to calculate their E-Discovery legal spend budget. For the rest, legal spend is simply a line on their cost sheet.
• While 58% of Corporate E-Discovery managers currently have E-Discovery hosting In-House, another 24% intend on doing so within the next year.
• While 33% of Corporate E-Discovery managers currently have E-Discovery processing In-House, another 31% intend on doing so within the next year.
• More Corporate E-Discovery managers have advanced degrees (65%) than do AmLaw200 E-Discovery managers (18%).

Our next Breakfast Roundtable will be held June 9^th, where we will discuss How to Compare and Contrast Early Case Assessment Tools and Offerings.

If you would like a copy of this report, or if you would like to join the June 9^th dialogue by taking our preliminary survey, email William@CowenGroup.com. 

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Good news:  The worst is over!

Hiring, not firing, is on the rise for Litigation Support and eDiscovery professionals!  The landscape for Litigation Support staffing, however, will be very different than years past.  Historically, the upturn in hiring after a meaningful national economic downturn is first seen in temp and contract hiring.

The Cowen Group is experiencing a significant increase in demand for temporary and contract staffing (NOT contract attorneys, but Lit Support staff).  When surveyed, 35% of firms in the AmLaw100 already indicated that their current Litigation/Practice Support staff is working into overtime hours.  As new cases come in, firms will need experienced talent to support increasing demands from internal case teams.

PROBLEM:  No PERM headcount. 

SOLUTION:  Hire “as needed” contract employees.  This trend will continue to grow exponentially in Q3 and Q4 of 2009 and likely into 2010.

So what does this mean for you?  Well, if you are working at an eDiscovery vendor or a tier 2 or 3 law firm… now is the time to reinvent yourself.  The most frequent question I get asked from individuals in the vendor community is, “How do I break into a major law firm?” 

According to Gartner's recent eDiscovery Vendor Market Analysis “by the end of 2008, there will be 25% fewer vendors claiming to have eDiscovery functionality."  25%!!  That means fewer jobs in the vendor community for project managers, analysts, specialists, EDD processors, and sales professionals.  Where will they go?  What will they do?

Exploring contract and temp-to-perm opportunities may be your best bet.  Yes, you may have to give up the benefits/perks of being a full-time employee.  Yes, we are placing vendor exclusive talent in long term temp-to-perm contracts, and yes, they are gaining invaluable experience.

The down-side to contract is obvious, but give some real consideration to the up-side:  You can make more money as a contractor.  You can gain experience with a variety of different cultures, business models, and technologies at various law firms – all the while searching for what will be the right fit for you long term.  You will have the opportunity to meet new people and thought leaders in the space.  You will be visible to a whole new community and network of professionals working within the AmLaw200.  As the old adage goes, it’s not just what you know – but who you know.

Contract staffing is going to increase over the next 12 to 24 months as demand begins to outweigh supply again.  This industry is reinventing itself… so should you! 

What are you doing to stay ahead of the curve and advance your career?

To dialogue with Mr. Coseglia, please email jared@cowengroup.com

Jared Michael Coseglia
Sr. Vice President of Recruiting
THE COWEN GROUP 

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I love spring conferences…. I am particularly looking forward to the IQPC conference in San Francisco, April 26^th through April 30^th and the Litigation Support Today Leadership Conference in Washington D.C., May 6^th through May 8^th.

Although, as excited as I am to see David Cohen and Dean Gonsowksi discuss  Cutting Costs & Improving Outcomes  at IQPC, I must admit that I am even more excited about delivering my two sessions in Washington. After four years sitting in the audience, Art Buckwalter from Litigation Support Today has offered me the opportunity to deliver two sessions:

1.      Interviewing for the Job You Want - What’s hot and what’s not…. How to prepare for an interview by knowing your strengths and being prepared to answer the hard questions.

2.      What’s Next: New and Emerging Career Opportunities in Litigation Support and E-Discovery - The E-Discovery job market has evolved substantially in the past 6-8 months. I will be tracking the different career opportunities in the corporate, AmLaw and vendor spaces, and discussing the skills you need to fill them, now – and in the future.

I am in the process of finalizing both presentations, and would love some input from the community. If there is something specific you’d like addressed in these two sessions, drop me a line and I will do my best to incorporate your thoughts/questions.

Have a great weekend! 

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In these tough economic times, the job market is less fluid than a year ago.  If you are looking for that perfect fit for a new opportunity, you need to sharpen your strategy.  One of the best ways to up your game is to carefully choose who represents you in the job market.

With fewer spots to fill, human resources departments will be cutting the search firms they use by up to 70% in the coming year.  Since HR no longer needs the incremental candidate flow, the bottom half of their agency roster will be eliminated.  They will only retain top-notch agencies who demonstrate the greatest degree of success.

Here’s my advice to both job candidates and hiring managers:  you need to be very selective in choosing the firm you work with today.  All search firms and recruiters are not created equal. Your resume and successful placement represent between $15,000 and $30,000 to a recruiter. You want to work with a top-notch firm that has exclusive access to the greatest selection of positions in the litigation support/e-discovery market.

How do you choose a search firm?  Here are some savvy questions to ask:  

1. What is your referral-to-hire ratio? Any search firm worth their salt will be able to tell you their referral-to-hire ratio.  This ratio refers to the number of candidates referred for a position in relation to the number of employees hired. The Cowen Group’s ratio is 2.8 to 1. 

2. Do you specialize in litigation support and e-discovery?  Many search firms place a wide range of legal candidates from attorneys to paralegals; litigation support is only a small portion of their business.  Search firms that specialize solely in the litigation support/e-discovery space will have a greater understanding of client needs, firm culture and overall market conditions within the space.
    
3. Do you place candidates in all three litigation support/e-discovery silos?  If the search firm has access to AmLaw 200 firms, corporations and vendors, you will have a wider selection of opportunities.

4. Where were your last three successful placements?  Make sure the organizations in which they are placing candidates are the types of firms you want to work for. (HR Managers, does the recruiter place excellent candidates that can appeal to your exacting standards?)

5. Do you have access to opportunities from coast to coast?  The best jobs and the best people come from all across the country. Does your recruiter have the extensive network you need?

6. How will you market me?  Here’s a dirty little secret:  many search firms will simply send resumes out in an e-mail blast to employers. Make sure the recruiter you choose will work hard for you.  At the very least, they should draft a customized bio, actively pitch skills and assist with interview preparation.

7.  Do you understand the client?  Make sure the recruiter understand the client’s needs and culture and what it takes to forge a successful ongoing relationship.

A recruiter should be able to answer all of the above questions to your satisfaction.  In this economy, you shouldn’t settle for anything less.

__________________________________________

Q:  Need the number of a recruiter who "gets it?"

A:  Download David's contact info for further reference  

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Sorry my postings have been so light.  I have been up to my eyeballs in truly epic searches. 

Yes, there is a lot of hiring activity going on out there at the VP level.

Vendors are preparing for an increase in litigation and staffing up. Primarily for experienced executive management--thought leaders with deep business development, strategy and client services experience.

One VP of strategy search in particular has me feeling like the ball boy at the US Open, with a worldclass vendor on the client side of the net, and several massively talented candidates on the other. 

But which one has the X-factor?

To gain clarity on this issue, I consulted the  Bible of management thought:  The Daily Drucker, wherein Peter Drucker first defines the term ...

"Leadership is not rank, it is responsibility.  It is the lifting of a subordinate’s vision to higher sights – the raising of a subordinate’s performance to a higher standard.  It is the building of a subordinate’s personality beyond its normal limitations.  A leader must set strict principles of conduct and responsibility, high standards of performance, and respect for the individual and his work."

Now that we know what we're looking for, exactly how would Mr. Drucker go about identifying a new leader of an institution?  As is typical, his answer's awesome:

• First: I would look at what the candidates have done – and what their strengths are. You can only perform with strength.  What has each candidate done with his strengths?
• Second:  I would look at the institution and ask: “What is the key challenge?”  I would try to match the candidate’s strengths with the needs.
• Third:  I would look for integrity. A leader sets an example, especially a strong leader.  He or she is someone on whom people – especially younger people – in the organization model themselves.

When selecting a leader, I always ask myself:  “Would I want one of my children to work under this person?"  If the leader is successful, then the young people will imitate him. 

The Warren Buffett Acid Test

But what should a hiring committee do if all of the candidates in the pool fit Mr. Drucker's profile? When advising a client I do  what Warren Buffett did when he chose Deryck Maughan as the CEO of Solomon Brothers in the wake of Solomon Treasury Bond scandal of 1991.  In picking Mr. Maughan in a time of crisis from a similarly crowded field of superstar candidates, Mr. Buffett distilled his entire hiring process down to two simple questions:

"If this were an investment decision, ...

1. FROM which candidate would I want to COLLECT 10% of his earnings in perpetuity?
2. TO which candidate would I want to PAY 10% of his earnings in perpetuity?

… assuming I got to pocket the difference." [Don't you wish you had that kind of mental clarity?]

Try it right now:  Write down the names of any six of your college friends.  Now notice as your mind automatically begins to stack rate "intangibles" like energy, drive, focus, resourcefulness, decision quality, maturity, command presence, IQ, EQ, and so on.  Like magic, the wheat segregates to one side of the ledger, the chaff to the other. 

If you are following the Good to Great "First Who, Then What" rule, then this is a great way to get the right people on the bus.
__________________________________________

Q:  Need the number of a recruiter who "gets it?"

A:  Download David's contact info for further reference 

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With layoffs being at an all-time high… You might find yourself among the many people with time on their hands.

Job hunting is obviously your priority, but there are only so many hours you can spend a day trying to get your foot in the door...

Beyond obvious networking the most valuable thing you can do in this economy and times is to take whatever steps you can to stay relevant!

A great way to achieve both is to register for courses like the ones at PLI. Here you can be taking the steps to fulfill your CLE as well as surround yourself with people who are looking for or working with people like you and might have a lead on an open position etc…

Visibility is key and what could be a better way than this to gain that exposure, networking within your field, as well as furthering your education.

Of course right now wallets are tight and savings is priority… however one must consider the value in these seminars and courses and see if this might be just the right time to explore it…

A course may cost a few hundred dollars now but if the contacts you make bring you a full time salary within a few months then the investment you made in yourself may have just paid itself back and then some…

And if you are in a situation where you can’t afford to lay out the tuition…. Institutions such as PLI offer scholarships and other financial options.

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The Cowen Group will be hosting a panel discussion on
Corporate E-discovery – An In-House Point of View
Tuesday, February 24 in New York City

As expenses mount and the risks for failing to comply with eDiscovery demands have grown, more companies are bringing eDiscovery in-house. However, doing so is not an easy process. A legal department must have the budget, the caseload and personnel with expertise to justify the process.

Our panel will discuss:

• Specific trends, tools and processes they are employing at 3 of the nation's top in-house eDiscovery departments.
• Onshore versus offshore solutions.
• The economic downturn -- and its impact on in-house eDiscovery.
• Three things a corporation must do prior to bringing eDiscovery in-house.

Stay tuned for Wednesday's blog with the results of this roundtable discussion and the most excellent recipe for pancakes.

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Of the 2100 layoffs since January 2009, less than 3% (60) have impacted E-Discovery and Litigation Support professionals. See Layoff Tracker for specific details.

Here's a quick overview of how we see E-Discovery staffing in the first quarter...

#1 - Most AmLaw 200 firms are holding off on permanent staffing.  This will increase the demand for contract employees and outside vendors for their E-Discovery work.

#2 - Corporate E-Discovery headcount remains flat as they continue to wrestle with budget cuts, layoffs and in-house E-Discovery planning. This should be good news for vendors and outside counsel.

#3 - Vendors are proactively and in some cases aggressively looking for talented sales and client services professionals. Good news for talented individuals that find themselves with a shaky firm.

The use of contract and temporary workers is typical during recessionary periods. If permanent staff cuts go deeper then contract staffing and outsourcing will continue to increase.

While this is not great news if you've been laid off it does offer firms the opportunity to hire experienced talent that is highly motivated and affordable.

I would like to continue gathering valid data points on staffing trends in the litigation support and E-Discovery community. But for this I need your help.

I'm particularly interested in hearing from Human Resource Managers and decision-makers at firms that have had layoffs and/or are using contract staff to fill in the gaps left by layoffs.

Please get in touch with me by e-mail at david@cowengroup.com. All contacts and communications will be kept confidential. 

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