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. 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

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! 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

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  

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

Legal Layoffs - 800 Law Firm Jobs Lost in One Day

Almost 800 associates and legal staff nationwide returned home jobless Thursday after eight firms conducted mass layoffs, citing an unprecedented downturn in demand.

And the bloodletting is likely to continue. See Layoff Tracker for specific details.

Despite these record layoffs, contract staffing is actually on the rise. A recent poll by The Cowen Group revealed that demand for temporary Litigation Support, Paralegals and Contract Attorneys rose 15% in the month of January. Especially at AmLaw 200 firms with large complex litigation departments.

The use of contract and temporary workers is typical during recessionary periods and as these staff cuts go deeper contract staffing will continue to rise.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

What do Lance Armstong, CNN Breaking News, and President Obama have in common…drum roll please….Twitter!

If you are one of the many people out there who are looking to learn more about Twitter…Jeremiah Owtang has an easy way of explaining the benefits of using this new technology in the professional sphere.

Check out his article on How to get started on Twitter and when you’re done registering come follow me and join the conversation.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

I am here in Texas at ILTA 2008.

The venue is big and the food is awful….

But the people…. Well the people are fantastic!

1500 and counting and 1/3 are 1^st time attendees.

But I did not come to the legal industries best peer to peer networking event for the food and snacks. I came to see, hear and meet the thought leaders of the legal technology community.

And like always they are here… open and available, before, during, and after sessions to answer questions or just say hello.

If you are looking for a good meal… stay home… but if you want to listen and learn from the best and the brightest in the legal technology community...then this is the right place!

Stay tuned for more details and if I miss you here…. then I’m sure I’ll see you at LegalTech!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks

That's a lot of eyeballs.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton launched its first blog in March (AntitrustLawBlog.com). It was quickly followed by five more, each addressing a particular legal specialty. Blogs work--to build reputation, niche specialties, and client confidence. And they work fast. Sheppard Mullin's monthly newsletter used to reach about 3,000 readers.

AntitrustLawBlog.com gets that many hits per day. Moreover, new spamming laws and better spam blocking software prohibits distributing a monthly newsletter via an e-mail blast. Staying in touch via blog URL keeps tech snafus away from the firm's contact database, so priority client email can continue without the hassle and embarrassment of "blacklisting". Because blogs get preferential treatment on Web search engines, they are even more efficient than a formal website, says Tom Baldwin, Sheppard Mullin's chief knowledge officer.

And blogging software automatically tracks and feeds back efficacy stats, so you always know how you're doing with your target markets. Many blogs have already become powerful professional forums--multi-linked, archived, and searchable--even in technologically conservative professions like law. In blogs, legal practitioners are freely sharing reliable intellectual capital online, for which billable clients are willing to trade a small fortune. Just keep in mind a few basic rules of blogging.

Keep it simple. Keep it short. Link to news. Encourage interaction. Implement tech tools to let your readers efficiently find every bit of what you have to offer. For fun--and profit.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks