How to Hire a Temporary, External Legal Consultant Through a Recruitment Agency
The UAE, in particular, has seen a significant increase in interest surrounding temporary lawyers in businesses. Historically, these lawyers have been hired as law firm secondees or through alternative legal service providers (ALSPs). However, there are several drawbacks to this model, and there is a shift towards hiring external legal consultants through recruitment agencies. Collins Search is one of the most experienced agencies in the region in making these hires, and here we explore why and how this model works.
Why Law Firm Secondees and ALSPs Are No Longer Suitable
Law firm secondees used to be fantastic: you got a free resource from your favorite law firm, growing your relationship with them without spending a dirham. But things have changed. Now you find yourself paying for this person, who is usually the one the firms are happy to sacrifice (they don’t give their top fee earners!), and you can’t choose what expertise they have—you’re stuck with what you’re given.
ALSPs are more flexible, as you can choose from their panel of lawyers; however, they are still, at their core, law firms and therefore charge accordingly. You are also limited to lawyers from their panels and their fee structure. Many ALSPs provide lawyers based in other jurisdictions, where they have a larger panel, so you end up with a remote worker who has limited local experience.
The Answer: Use a Recruitment Agency
The answer to solving this dilemma is to use a recruitment agency. You have an existing relationship with them; perhaps they placed you and/or your team, so they know the personalities and work involved.
Another benefit of using a recruitment agency is that you are not limited to a panel of lawyers. Collins Search directly headhunts the skillset that you’re looking for, just like for a permanent hire, so you can dictate the level, background, personality, and expertise of the person hired.
With a recruitment agency, you can also be more flexible on the cost (again, like a permanent hire). If budgets are tighter, recruiters can headhunt more junior lawyers or those from a background that won’t cost you extortionate amounts.
Finally, recruitment agencies don’t charge the same as law firms, so it will cost you significantly less to find someone through a recruiter than a law firm.
How Does It Work?
When hiring an external legal consultant through a recruitment agency like Collins Search, it will look and feel on a day-to-day basis exactly the same as hiring a secondee: we manage the payroll, visa, medical insurance, and other core benefits of the consultant, and you manage them on a day-to-day basis either on-site at your offices, just like they are a temporary employee of your business.
This also allows you to continue to pay for this service through external legal spend or project spend, rather than HR’s budget, if you prefer.
When you’re ready to make a hire, reach out to Collins Search and instruct us similarly to a permanent search. We can go over the details of the search, create a role profile to attract candidates, and find the right person for your team.
Conclusion
Hiring legal consultants through law firm secondees or ALSPs used to be great, but now it’s an expensive and limited solution to the problem. Utilizing a recruitment agency to provide a more tailored and cost-effective approach is the future of hiring legal consultants. Contact team@collins-search.com if you’re interested in exploring this further.