Problems we solve for candidates seeking legal counsel jobs

Florit Legal recruitment consultants have successfully filled in-house legal counsel jobs at all levels of seniority across the UK, in a variety of industry sectors, since 1998. In that time, we’ve engaged with thousands of lawyers looking to move in-house, or to develop their in-house legal careers further. Each and every one of them has encountered one or more of these 3 common problems – which you may now be facing.

Fulfilment and lifestyle

You’re ‘burning the candle’.
Long hours compromise your family time.
Rewards haven’t kept pace with the demands on you.
In legal practice, partnership might seem like a distant prospect, and you’ve started to question it.
You’re have high levels of commitment, but the pressure to ‘fee-earn’ just doesn’t thrill you anymore.
You want to use your legal knowledge to make a tangible contribution to a business, feel valued, and have more fun.

Career progression

You feel your current role isn’t sustainable.
Relationships with colleagues and line managers aren’t what you expected.
Perhaps the role was over-sold to you.
The business isn’t making the best use of your skills.
You find yourself just crunching through contracts or deals, not getting any variety, or an opportunity to be strategic.
You may have started to feel that your skills won’t be developed further if you stay in your current role.

Some recruiters don’t listen!

Your legal skills are in short supply, but in high demand from law firms.
Practice roles just don’t excite you anymore.
You want something different and are prepared to wait for your ideal in-house legal role to come along.
The more the other recruiters encourage you to consider less desirable legal jobs, or those in a law firm, the less you’re inclined to trust them – their apparent desire to make a fee just seems to eclipse any real drive to understand your needs.

We focus exclusively on legal counsel jobs

Legal counsel jobs are our passion. In-house legal recruitment is all we do. Legal counsel jobs are all you want to hear about, or you wouldn’t have come this far. So that’s all we will present you with. Florit Legal recruitment consultants will never contact you about roles in law firms. That’s a promise.

Many of our candidates became disillusioned with practising in a commercial law firm long ago. Over 95% of lawyers working in legal counsel jobs say they’d never go back to practice on job satisfaction alone. We respect that. We take time to listen to what you want to achieve.

Our recruitment methods don’t just focus on your CV and technical skills. If you’re not a corporate or commercial lawyer, we won’t write you off, based purely on your legal specialism. We do place lawyers from other specialisms; less frequently, but it does happen. Whatever your background, our mission is to place you in the right role for you, not just any in-house role.

Our ideal candidates

We’ve placed candidates from a wide variety of backgrounds into legal counsel jobs. Although there are no hard and fast rules on who we can or cannot help, there are some general trends to be aware of with in-house legal recruitment.

Our ideal candidate pool comprises lawyers from both in-house legal and private practice backgrounds.

In-House Lawyers

Our ideal candidates are usually corporate and commercial generalists from the in-house legal departments of FTSE or AIM-listed PLCs, large private equity backed businesses or overseas companies with a significant UK or European presence. We are always particularly interested in candidates who have held legal counsel jobs in:

Banking, Financial Services and FinTech
Technology, Media and Telecoms
Construction, Capital Projects, Energy and Utilities
Media, Entertainment and Sport
Retail and Travel
Manufacturing and Engineering

Private Practice Lawyers

Generally, the most marketable candidates come from a highly regarded UK or international commercial law firm in the ‘Magic Circle’, ‘Silver Circle’, City, West End, or major regional cities, and can balance technical legal skills with business acumen and good people skills with everyone from the boardroom to the shop floor. We are most frequently asked for:

Corporate Finance and M&A Lawyers
Commercial Contracts Lawyers
Technology Media and Telecoms (TMT) Lawyers
Financial Services Regulatory Lawyers
Data Protection Lawyers
Construction and Projects Lawyers

What our candidates say

Miguel was an absolute pleasure to deal with as an applicant. He works really hard, goes the extra mile in recommending research, giving access to contacts and being available outside normal working hours. I felt he really cared about getting the fit right and building rapport with both the company that recruited me and me as the candidate. I highly recommend him for executive search.

Catherine Ledger - General Counsel and Company Secretary, Flybe Plc

Miguel works fast - I secured a job offer within 48 hours of the first phone call! Miguel has a professional and honest approach and demonstrated a good understanding of what the company was looking for. Recommended.

AB – In-house Real Estate Lawyer

Based on my experience, I cannot genuinely recommend Miguel and his team more highly and his service and work ethic simply surpasses that offered by the opposition; you should give them a try.

Richard Fox, Head of Legal

Miguel has great contacts amongst clients and candidates and is easy and good to work with. Recommended.

Legal Director – Healthcare Group

I have known Miguel for a number of years and worked with him as a client and candidate. He was instrumental in securing my current appointment and was brilliant to deal with. Always kept me up to speed and was very professional throughout the process. I have no hesitation in recommending him.

Lloyd Lemmon, General Counsel

Miguel is easy to work with; thinks imaginatively, understands what is needed and is completely professional.

Mark Hogarth, General Counsel

Miguel ensures that as a candidate he keeps you informed, he never leaves you hanging. He genuinely wants to achieve the right fit for both parties and so you know you can trust him to place you and recruit for you.

Dagmar Basquill, Head of Legal at Allied Healthcare

I have known Miguel for a number of years and have worked with him on a significant recruitment project. I have found him to be trustworthy, well connected and commercially minded. I have no hesitation in recommending him.

Carl Atkinson, gunnercooke llp

Miguel is professional, approachable, and easy to deal with. I would recommend him wholeheartedly.

In-house Employment Lawyer

Miguel is well connected and very easy to deal with. I know him to be a lateral thinker and very diligent in his efforts on behalf of corporate clients and candidates.

Cathy Baxandall - Company Secretary and Group Legal Counsel at Marshalls plc

Very responsive and always very professional and friendly. Miguel found new jobs for both me and my husband. I have since recommended him to friends and would highly recommend him to other candidates.

Victoria Dimmick - Chief Operating Officer at Piriform - Makers of CCleaner

I have worked with Miguel both as a client and a candidate on several occasions. His experience in the Legal Services Sector speaks for itself and he will do his best to make sure he understands your requirements. I hope to work with him again in the future.

Robert Powell - GDPR Legal Compliance Analyst at Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC

Miguel has his finger on the pulse of the legal market in the North and has an almost uncanny knack of anticipating vacancies. He is persistent in a way that gets results and is not a negative.

Jennifer Hamilton - Development & Environment Director at Sweco UK

Miguel has extremely high standards and approaches his work in a meticulous way which leaves the client with no doubt that an assignment is safe in his hands. His honest approach coupled with his sense of humour, make him a joy to work with.

Talent Acquisition Manager, Construction Sector

I have always found them highly professional, refreshingly out-of-the-box in considering potential solutions to my requirements and committed to long-term relationship-building. I would happily recommend them to friends and colleagues alike.

Denis Connery - Legal & Corporate Development Director

Andy is a fantastic recruiter. He knows the northern legal market extremely well. However, he is more than that. He genuinely has an interest in your career and, unlike a number of recruiters, will always keep you updated through calls and email.

Michael Grocott - Commercial (Legal) Director, Capita

I would highly recommend Andy as a recruiter to any legal professional looking to make their first move in house, or to move to a new position in house. Andy’s knowledge of the companies he works with is very impressive and I found that the qualities he felt I would enjoy about my employer entirely correct.

Amy Oram - Employment Lawyer, Provident Financial Group

I would wholeheartedly recommend Andy as a recruiter to any legal professional looking to either make their first move in house, or to move to a new position in industry. Andy is great at matching candidates to potential roles. He has an excellent knowledge of the in-house market, and the roles that are available.

Jay Moroney - Legal Counsel, HSBC

I’ve dealt with Florit Legal recruitment consultants over several years and highly recommend them for the placement of ambitious legal professionals. Andy provides support, updates and critical feedback whilst enhancing long term goals. An excellent service!

Rohit Basra - Legal Counsel , Calor Gas

The most proactive and informed recruiters I used whilst looking for my current in-house role. They were happy to answer any daft questions about the move in-house and they were very good at keeping me updated on how my applications were progressing, rather than leaving you guessing or not contacting you like some other agencies I dealt with.

Jade Ginger - Solicitor, NCC Group

Andy Balmer placed me in my first in-house role as a newly qualified commercial solicitor. Trust is not something which is easily earned but I trust Andy’s judgement and advice implicitly throughout the process. Both Andy and Miguel have an excellent knowledge of the in-house legal market and the way in which they approach in-house recruitment, gives a real “value-add” service.

Heena Lad - Corporate Counsel EMEA, Level 3 Communications

Andy was extremely personable, yet professional. His knowledge of the legal industry was excellent and his ability to understand and meet my needs was even better. Andy was keen to provide the right service for me and not just treat me as another client to place as soon as possible. I would (and have) unreservedly recommend Andy and his team.

Richard Crabb - Senior Legal Counsel, HSBC

Throughout the process Andy was approachable and open; always making the effort to be available whatever time of day suited best. He gave excellent feedback and support throughout the recruitment process. Andy ensures that both parties' personalities and styles of working complement each other which in turn ensures highly successful placements for both candidates and employers.

Isabel Smillie - In-house Solicitor

I would highly recommend Andy as he was greatly supportive during the recruitment process. This included helping me to prepare before interviews and providing feedback. Andy was quick with correspondence and went out of his way to answer my queries throughout.

Heather Dyson - Solicitor at Smiffys

I have found Lisa to be an exceptional coach. My sessions with her have been everything that I could have hoped for and more. I have taken something positive and useful from every session. She has encouraged me to think about issues in a different way, helped me find practical solutions to deal immediate challenges and has also helped me build strategies to use in the future. I trust Lisa implicitly and have found it easy to be very honest to her, gaining real benefit from doing so. Everyone would benefit from having a Lisa in their lives!

Head of Department, national retailer

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