Legal Services Staffing: An interview with Shelby Thompson, Legal Division Manager
Legal service staffing is a niche area that requires a deep understanding of different practice areas and types of law. In an interview with Shelby Thompson, Legal Division Manager at Eastridge, she discusses the crucial role of supporting our judicial system and ensuring access to justice. Industry knowledge is essential to succeeding in legal service staffing. Understanding the intricacies of the legal services industry and building relationships within the community is vital to making successful placements.
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Legal Services Staffing An interview with Shelby Thompson, Legal Division Manager
Navigating Specialized Legal Practices: Staffing Solutions in Legal Services Legal service staffing is a specialization that requires a deep understanding of different practice areas and types of law. In this interview, Shelby Thompson, Legal Division Manager at Eastridge explores how understanding the intricacies of the legal services industry and building relationships within the community is vital to making successful placements.
Table of Contents Navigating Legal Recruitment: An Insider's Perspective (1:51) What are companies' top three legal services staffing problems/challenges? (4:07) What is Eastridge’s Unique Approach to Legal Services? (3:41) What Makes Eastridge Unique: Capabilities & Processes (2:41) What Makes Eastridge Unique: Leadership & Employee Ownership (2:09) Overview of the Top Roles in the Legal Industry (3:53) Strategic Approaches to Legal Staffing for Firms and Departments (3:02) The Power of Finding the Right Fit: A Story of Transforming a Legal Career (1:40) Key Points for Selecting a Legal Services Staffing Provider (2:36) Transparency: The Key to Success in the Legal Services Staffing Market (1:18) Unique Legal Staffing Value: Specialized Expertise in the Legal Industry (1:24) The Power of Personal Connections in Legal Staffing (2:29) What’s the definition of a servant leader? (0:53)
Navigating Legal Recruitment: An Insider's Perspective “When you’re talking about a paralegal, legal secretary, or attorney, there are a variety of practice areas that they could have experience in.” Leveraging Subject Matter Expertise Industry knowledge is essential to succeeding in legal service staffing. Understanding the legal services industry's intricacies and building community relationships is critical to successful placements. (1:51) 4
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What are some challenges companies and legal firms face in recruiting? New Work Dynamics Some of the top staffing challenges companies face in the legal arena are retention, work-from-home policies, and the role of staffing agencies. (4:07) “Clients come to us for market intelligence. Whether they want perspectives on work-from-home, work-week hours, or salary insights, we can provide hard data from our day-to-day activities across the board.”
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What is Eastridge’s Unique Approach to Legal Staffing and Recruiting? “We have a personal relationship with many of the firm administrators we work with as our clients, and we attend their events to meet them face to face.” Emphasis on Creating a Relationship Eastridge builds strong connections with their clients and candidates by sponsoring local legal administrators’ chapters and participating in industry events. (3:41) 6
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What Makes Eastridge Unique: Capabilities & Processes “When a client first wants to work with us, we immediately schedule a video or in-person intake meeting so that we can understand what the client is really looking for.” A Process Focused on Legal Recruiting Eastridge’s unique capabilities and processes make it a trusted partner for law firms and legal departments. (2:41)
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What Makes Eastridge Legal Recruiting Unique: Leadership & Employee Ownership “Eastridge's dedication to ensuring that we have a good support system in our leadership is something that I haven’t seen happen at other staffing firms.” A Culture Built for Success Eastridge provides a robust support system and training opportunities for personal and professional growth. This creates a supportive culture, where everyone is an employee-owner and given the tools they need to succeed. (2:09) 8 8
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Overview of the Top Roles in the Legal Industry “Approximately 80 percent of the legal candidates we represent to our clients are passive candidates. Most of the time, the readily available ones aren’t necessarily qualified.” Targeted Recruiting of Passive Candidates The top roles in the legal industry include legal administrative assistants, paralegals, contract administrators, attorneys, and patent agents. (3:53) 9
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Strategic Approaches to Legal Staffing for Firms and Departments “Most clients will either evaluate the budget or want to test a candidate beforehand, so they’ll do temp-to-hire.” Exploring Staffing Options Utilizating temporary staffing, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire placements in the legal sphere offers valuable solutions for a wide range of scenarios including leave of absence, pre-hiring assessments, testing candidates or roles, and swift fulfillment of posted and unposted roles. (3:02) 10
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The Power of Finding the Right Fit: A Story of Transforming a Legal Career A Game-Changer One Eastridge candidate success story emphasizes the significance of work-life balance and cultural fit in the legal profession. (1:40) “The candidate told me once she got her offer in hand that she probably would have decided to stop being an attorney if I hadn’t found her this role.”
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12 Key Points for Selecting a Legal Services Staffing Provider “You must have a firm knowledgeable in all legal areas and know people in the industry and the community surrounding your company or your firm.” Recruiters with Legal Experience Involvement in the legal community is crucial for a staffing firm, as it helps them stay updated with industry trends and build connections. (2:36)
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Transparency: The Key to Success in the Legal Services Staffing Market “Transparency is a way to level up being a recruitment partner versus a recruitment vendor.” Fostering Stronger Relationships Transparency during the offer stage, including sharing information about competing offers and counteroffers, helps clients secure the desired candidates and fosters stronger relationships. (1:18)
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Unique Legal Staffing Value: Specialized Expertise in the Legal Industry “When clients work with Eastridge Legal, they know they are working with a team specializing in the industry.” A Sole Legal Focus Eastridge's specialization in legal staffing comes from a dedicated business development representative and a team of recruiters with extensive experience, success stories, and a deep understanding of the legal industry. (1:24) 14
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The Power of Personal Connections in Legal Staffing “Approaching any circumstance within legal staffing has to come from a personalized point of view.” Critical Elements to Legal Recruiting By building personal connections, Eastridge can represent their legal clients effectively and place candidates in roles where they can thrive. (2:29) 15
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What’s the definition of a servant leader? “If clients need another candidate to talk to, I would rather my team succeed ten times over than my own personal gain.” Supporting and Empowering Team Members By focusing on the growth and well-being of others, servant leaders create a positive and productive work environment. (0:53) 16 16
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About Eastridge Established in 1972, Eastridge Workforce Solutions is an employee-owned provider of full-service talent acquisition and management solutions for companies globally. Eastridge provides a full range of solutions including professional / technical and industrial staffing. We also provide workforce management solutions such as employer of record, recruitment process outsourcing, as well as managed service provider programs. Our services are backed with Talient, a proprietary workforce technology that streamlines every step of managing your extended workforce. Eastridge proudly helps over 20,000 associates find jobs annually across the globe.
Shelby Thompson Shelby Thompson is the Legal Recruitment Division Manager at Eastridge Workforce Solutions. With years of experience in legal recruiting, Shelby has a strong background in the legal field. She obtained her ABA-approved paralegal certification after completing her undergraduate degree in pre-law and ethics at Sonoma State. Shelby started her career as a litigation paralegal in a large defense firm, where she used Eastridge to secure her position. After staying in touch with the company, she was offered the opportunity to join Eastridge as a legal recruiter and is now a division manager.
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