Director of Legal Talent Acquisition

The Director of Legal Talent Acquisition is responsible for leading the Firm’s strategic attorney recruiting efforts across all offices. This role will design and execute a cohesive, market driven talent acquisition strategy for lateral partners, counsel, associates, and law students (including on campus recruiting and summer associate programs).

The Director will serve as a key advisor to Firm leadership, including the Managing Partner, Executive Committee members, Practice Group Leaders, Section Heads, and regional Office Managing Partners, to ensure that attorney hiring is aligned with the Firm’s business objectives and growth priorities. This position oversees the full life cycle of attorney recruitment, including branding and outreach, sourcing and assessment, offer and onboarding processes, and integration, while delivering a high touch, client service oriented experience to candidates and internal stakeholders.

Responsibilities:

Strategic Talent Acquisition & Planning

• Develop and implement a comprehensive, firm wide attorney talent acquisition strategy that supports the Firm’s short and long term business objectives.
• Partner with Firm leadership to identify strategic hiring priorities, including lateral partner and key lateral associate opportunities, and design bespoke recruiting plans for priority practices and offices.
• Monitor and interpret market trends, competitive intelligence, and hiring data to inform recruiting strategies and provide actionable insights and recommendations to leadership.
• Create and maintain clear value propositions and talking points tailored to different candidate populations (lateral partners, counsel, associates, non track attorneys, and students).
• In collaboration with Human Resources, ensure the attorney recruiting function is compliant with applicable federal, state, and local employment laws and Firm policies.

Full Cycle Attorney Recruiting

• Oversee and manage the full life cycle of recruitment for lateral partners, counsel, associates and law students, from requisition through offer acceptance and onboarding.
• Design and manage processes for the use of contract and alternative track attorneys, including relationships with staffing agencies and oversight of related policies and practices.
• Negotiate, manage, and periodically review agreements with search firms, recruiters, and other external partners.
• Collaborate closely with the professional personnel committee, finance, and other business services teams to support business driven staffing decisions and to ensure smooth integration of new hires.

Campus Recruiting & Summer Associate Programs

• Develop and execute the Firm’s law school outreach, on campus interview, and callback strategies, including school selection, scheduling, interviewer assignments, and candidate evaluation processes.
• Design and oversee summer associate programs across participating offices, including orientation, work allocation, training, evaluations, feedback processes, and social events.
• Maintain regular communication with summer associates and law student candidates and ensure a best in class candidate experience throughout the recruiting and summer programs.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with law schools, student organizations, and key campus contacts; represent the Firm at on campus events and recruiting related programs.

Leadership, Team Management & Collaboration

• Lead, manage, and develop the legal recruiting team, setting clear expectations, standardizing core processes, and fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Provide coaching, feedback, and professional development support to team members to enhance performance and service delivery.
• Serve as a strategic partner to Firm leadership, practice group leaders, and hiring partners, offering guidance on recruiting best practices, interviewing, selection, and candidate assessment.
• Partner with HR, Professional Development, and other administrative departments to ensure cohesive talent strategies and effective onboarding and integration of new attorneys.

Data, Systems, Budget & Reporting

• Oversee the Firm’s applicant tracking and recruiting systems (e.g., FloRecruit and VibyAderantt), ensuring effective usage, data integrity, and meaningful reporting.
• Develop, track, and manage recruiting budgets, including summer associate programs, on campus recruiting, search firm fees, and related expenses.
• Prepare and analyze recruiting metrics, reports, and projections for Firm leadership, including pipeline activity, hiring outcomes, and program effectiveness.
• Manage external recruiting profiles and surveys (e.g., NALP forms, law school reports, and other relevant publications) in coordination with appropriate internal stakeholders.

External Relations & Firm Brand

• Build and maintain strong relationships with search firms, professional networks, and industry organizations (e.g., ALA, NALP) to enhance the Firm’s visibility and access to top talent.
• Stay current on legal industry recruiting trends, compensation developments, and best practices, and share relevant insights with Firm leadership.
• Collaborate with Marketing to ensure that recruiting related materials and the careers portions of the Firm’s website effectively communicate the Firm’s brand and value proposition to candidates.

Qualifications

Skills and Competencies

• Demonstrated ability to lead a sophisticated attorney recruiting function in a large law firm or comparable professional services environment.
• Strong strategic thinking and business acumen with the ability to translate Firm objectives into practical, data informed recruiting plans.
• Ability to push back, manage up and manage expectations in terms of hiring needs with stakeholders.
• Exceptional project management, organizational, and time management skills; able to manage multiple, time sensitive priorities in a fast paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal, relationship building, and influencing skills; able to work effectively and credibly with senior partners, Firm leadership, and external stakeholders.
• Strong client service orientation with a commitment to delivering a high quality candidate and stakeholder experience.
• Superior judgment and discretion, with the ability to handle highly confidential and sensitive information.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to present information clearly and persuasively to senior audiences.
• Proven ability to lead, manage, and develop high performing teams.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort working with data, metrics, and reporting to drive decision making.
• Proficiency with applicant tracking systems, recruiting databases, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook), LinkedIn Recruiter, and other talent management tools; aptitude for learning new technologies.

Education/Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related discipline required; an advanced degree (e.g., Master’s or J.D.) is preferred.
• Minimum of 8–10 years of progressive experience in attorney recruiting, talent acquisition, or related human resources roles in a law firm or comparable professional services environment, including experience with both lateral and campus recruiting.
• Prior supervisory or team leadership experience preferred in a multi office or national recruiting function.

If you are interested in this opportunity email your resume to Jill Tomarken, jtomarken@friedmanwilliams.com .  Thank you.