Head of Legal Services Search Project: Case Study
Background
Our client set about finding a head of legal services in East Anglia, to replace an outgoing member of staff. The company has always been a major provider of high quality products and services to the commercial marine, offshore oil and gas and renewable energy industries. At the time, it was a newly acquired subsidiary of a larger publicly listed group of companies, a client of ours in another part of the UK with little prior experience of recruiting lawyers in the region.
Challenge
The main challenge was the location. Recruiting people for head of legal roles in the more remote areas of East Anglia can be difficult since it’s a very small legal market, with very few commercial law firms, let alone in-house legal teams. Consequently, the pool of potential lawyers for a head of legal services role was understandably quite small.
Solution
In circumstances like these, head of legal candidates may need to be attracted from further afield, as well as the local legal community. Therefore, whilst we are familiar with the local legal market, the recommended approach was initially to adopt an advertised search and selection approach, in order to reach the widest possible target market. So, at the same time as the role was discussed with existing contacts of our in the local area, it was also advertised concurrently in the principal online and print legal recruitment media.
Over 40 interested parties and applicants had been considered from a variety of backgrounds to produce an initial shortlist of 7 head of legal candidates offering a combination of the core skills and experience required. Out of the initial shortlist, 6 candidates were recommended for first stage interview, with one who stood out from the others and was ultimately appointed as the company’s new Head of Legal Services.
