Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or in this case, the recruits or the reputation?

• Author: Lecker, Lori

In the business of law, the proverbial "which came first?" discussion creeps its way into any number of meetings. Should you spend money on national advertising in order to provide services nationwide? Should you provide services nationwide before starting a national ad campaign?

Marketing and recruiting departments constantly face this same dilemma: To recruit attorneys in a market, you need a strong reputation. To build your reputation, you need a critical mass of attorneys so that you'll be taken seriously by everyone from prospective clients and business people to reporters, recruiters and other lawyers. It's no wonder the cocktail hour is so popular at LMA events.

The (Unoffical) Analysis

A poll of marketing and recruiting professionals throughout the country found each of the law firms we talked to--and they ranged in size from 100 lawyers to 1,200 lawyers--experienced this scenario. What the firms didn't have in common was how they dealt with the situation. And even more unique to each firm was the amount of interaction between the marketing and recruiting groups, and what the two departments did to coordinate efforts.

While nearly every marketing and recruiting person we talked to recognized the value of coordination, more than 47 percent of them never conferred with their colleague on the other side of the aisle. One marketer and several law firm legal recruiters commented that working together was a great idea, but one that had never occurred to the firm prior to the survey. A few of the collaborations between the two departments mainly consisted of basic generic recruiting and diversity brochures for law school recruiting, not the strategic or focused approach that one might expect. Lateral or merger recruiting collaborative efforts were nearly non-existent.

When asked about their relationship with recruiting or marketing, a solid number of respondents indicated a good relationship. In fact, many of the marketers started out in legal recruiting, which they say gave them tremendously valuable insight into each role. However, a significant portion--more than 55 percent--indicated mediocre or poor working relationships between departments. This clearly leaves room for improvement, and it appears to be mainly in the lateral recruiting area.

One theme that emerged from this research is that the business of recruiting and the business of marketing are inextricably tied together. Marketing sells a firm and, most importantly, its people...