Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every Tuesday.

Q:I am a fourth-year attorney working with a couple of different recruiting agencies. I'd like to know exactly what the relationship is between the recruiter and the attorney. There does not seem to be anything contractual in the sense of exclusive service, because isn't the concept, essentially, "You go with the recruiter who gets you the job you like best"?

I ask this because I have gotten a slew of calls from different recruiters, and all promise to place me here and there, and then, I never hear back from them.

Bottom line: Is there anything contractually binding between the recruiter and the attorney?

Bottom Line

Dear Bottom Line: I found this to be such an interesting question because I think there are probably a dozen different answers. However, the only answer I can give you here is from my point of view and my experiences. I will say that I have spoken with many of my colleagues over the years, and it would seem that my feelings are shared with the majority of recruiters.

I can't imagine that there are any search firms that have contracts in which you become obligated to work with only one recruiter or firm. At least, I have not heard of this. What I do know is that it makes perfect sense for a recruiter to ask for exclusivity. Why not? I know that at my firm, when we meet a candidate who is not working with any other recruiters, we ask him or her to work with us on an exclusive basis for at least two weeks. If we have not performed up to expectations within that time frame, then he or she should definitely broaden the search to include other recruiters, because clearly, we are not doing a good job.

Why do we want exclusivity? Well, it would make perfect sense that if we have a candidate who is working only with us, we would give special consideration and attention to that candidate. The chances of placing that candidate are excellent since he or she has entrusted us with their job search. On the other hand, if we are representing a candidate who is working with two or three or four other recruiters, we know that we are going to run into potential conflicts and also narrow the field of clients with which we can work.

For example, last week we met a stellar candidate, and we really clicked. We had a number of opportunities for this candidate, but he had already been submitted to all of them by several other search firms. Now, as much as we are crazy about this candidate, it is not a good business decision for us to spend a tremendous amount of time trying to find places to send him because, thus far, every place we have mentioned has already been covered. Of course, as new opportunities occur, we will tell him about them, but there really isn't too much else we can do at this time.

On the other hand, it is a good business decision to spend the lion's share of our time with the many candidates who want to work with us exclusively. These candidates must be our first priority; we owe it to them, to our clients and to ourselves. The major search firms basically all have the same openings, and so the chances of finding the job they "like best" with one search firm are pretty good. Keep in mind: I am speaking about law firm jobs right now. I do think an in-house search needs to be handled in a different manner, but that is something I have discussed in past columns and will discuss again in the future.

Now, what about all those recruiters calling you with promises of placing you here and there and then you never hear from them again? What is that all about? If a recruiter calls you with a great opportunity and you are interested, go in and meet with him or her. Some recruiters will give you the name of the client over the phone; most will not, simply because it is not good business sense to give out the name of a client without meeting the person first.

There must be a reason that you aren't hearing back from these recruiters. Are you telling them that you are interested in the opportunity? Or are you telling them that you are already working with a number of other recruiters? Or are these recruiters from search firms that you have never heard of and they are just canvassing the market without any real clients? Or are they asking you a lot of questions during these phone calls in which the answers would indicate that you are not the right person for these opportunities? No matter what, I can't figure out why a recruiter would call someone and tell them they have a great job for you and then never follow up by meeting with you or at least calling you back. I would block that person's phone number.

The bottom line here is that unless you sign something, there is no contractual obligation to work with just one recruiter. But as far as I see it, it makes good business sense to start out a job search with one recruiter and see what he or she can do for you. By all means, go meet a few recruiters before deciding which one is the best one for your search. Working with a headhunter is a team effort, and if you find someone who seems to be a good teammate, stick with that person exclusively for a bit and see what he or she can do for you. It makes sense that they are going to work much harder for you if they know you are entrusting your search entirely to them for a certain period of time.

Best of luck!

Sincerely,
Ann Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates