Peter Clark’s Post

There's a lot of talk about the highly sought after "first legal hire" role. Rightfully so - it's an exciting position! But so far this year, I've seen a greater number of 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 legal hire roles. Startups obviously took a beating in 2023. But now that the market is correcting itself, the GCs who toughed it out solo are finally getting the approved headcount for a 2nd hire. Naturally, it's 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 tempting to rush into hiring after being solo for so long. But hiring needs to be done with strong & clear intention. Before running to get the first "perfect candidate" you can find, you HAVE to take a step back and evaluate your needs, or you risk an unnecessarily drawn out search and/or quick turnover. These are 3 big 2nd legal hire trends I've been seeing: ✨ 1: Specialized GCs are bringing on attorneys with completely different skills to balance out the in-house coverage & reduce outside counsel spend. Lots of corporate-focused GCs hiring healthcare/regulatory attorneys. ✨ 2: Generalist GCs are more keen on all-around support. Think more junior versions of themselves who have a solid foundation & a hunger to develop/grow. ✨3: Both types of GCs who are drowning in paperwork and processes are turning to legal ops pros, contracts managers, and/or paralegals. Like I said before - while it can be tempting to chase after the shiny senior attorney, depending on your workload, these can be more efficient & cost-effective hires.

🚨‼️job alert! Who wants to work with me? Please share if it’s not you 🤗 We are officially hiring on our business development team here at Paragon Legal! Here are the reasons why you should join that you can’t see in the job description: 1) we are objectively the best out there (confirmed by our clients, our attorneys, and our bias) 2) we are investing in explosive growth 3) we have a hunger to win, but not just individually — we win for our clients, our attorneys, our team, and ourselves 4) you will get to hear my dog Sato in the background often and his face from time-to-time 5) if you think my LinkedIn jokes are good, well, you’ll be disappointed, but it’s a numbers game 🤗 The list goes on! Who’s ready to do amazing things with me and the team? Apply in the link in the comments or DM me if you have questions. #legaljobs #alsp #legaltech #legalops

I spend a lot of time speaking with people who are looking to change legal ops roles. I encourage them to think about the following: ✋ Head of legal ops or not: Do you want to be the person running the function? I know people who stepped up into the role and enjoy it; I also know people who are happy to remain individual contributors in legal ops. 💡 Originate or inherit legal ops: Do you want to be the company's first legal ops hire? Building a function from scratch can be exciting. It can also be a slog. To be sure, it's a different kind of challenge altogether. 🏢 Company/legal team size: Do you want to work in a small, medium, or large company (which usually maps to legal team size)? IMO there *is* a "right answer" for each individual based on experience. At this point you can say (for example), "I want to originate the legal ops function at a medium-sized company." Then it's a question of comparing offers against one another. My strong recommendation is to prioritize as follows: 👱 Work for the best boss you can find. A great boss is what will ultimately get you the scope, comp, and title you want. 📑 Scope is so important because, uh, it's what you'll actually be doing. Make sure it aligns with your ambition and interests. 💵 Say it with me: Comp is more important than title. Comp is more important than title. Comp is more important than title. #legalops #legaltech #hiring #jobsearch

There are some reasons to feel encouraged by the legal ops job market in the last few weeks. Here’s a roundup of the things I saw in July (outside of publicly posted opportunities). One of our Fortune 500 clients converted a strategic legal ops leader from a consultant to a full-time director-level position last month. The GC of a publicly-traded company with $50B+ revenue secured buy-in to backfill a high-level legal ops headcount. The GC of a technology startup secured funding to hire its first legal ops consultant on a temp-to-perm basis. A legal ops leader upgraded to a new role upon being recruited to an unposted director-level legal ops position. This isn’t the only legal ops pro I spoke to this month being recruited to an unposted role. It can pay to be visible / network. Budget for flexible / consulting engagements often precedes buy-in for full-time headcount in my experience. So it should be a positive sign that Priori has had 10+ flexible legal ops engagements in the last six weeks ranging from Fortune 500s to startups. These have been mostly mid-level roles in some unexpected industries (not tech) and geographies (lots of activity in the Midwest). I know job searches can be frustrating, and I’m not suggesting that there has been a massive influx of legal ops jobs at all levels being posted. Just that there are some positive indicators out there. And if you’re on the legal ops job hunt, I’m here to support you however I can.

I'm often asked for a sample job description for a head of legal operations, so I've worked with some friends from Fortune 100 companies to crowdsource and create this ideal one. Scoping and positioning this role for success is critical and not easy to do. This isn't meant to be perfect, but I hope you find this document to be a useful starting point for your organization to edit as appropriate. Note that this was drafted with a large corporate setting in mind, specifically for roles involving team management or future managerial responsibilities. #jobs #legaloperations #legalops #jobdescription

Don't wait for more legal ops jobs to pop-up; get ready now for when they do! When talking to legal professionals looking to break into legal ops, I frequently hear: - "Not many legal ops jobs around here."  - "No legal ops job market in my region." Some even consider relocating to get a legal ops role, while others settle for a job they don't love. Before landing my first legal ops job, I had never seen a posting for one. This opportunity was in a different province, and despite my former employer's preference for hybrid work, I applied. The job had been open for over five months. I knew I had a better chance of securing the job than they did of finding the right candidate. As a result, I got the job. Fully remote. It took us 15 days to seal the deal. Before my next legal ops job, there weren't many listings either. I still applied to a few to test the waters. I knew I had a good chance of advancing to a higher role, so I needed to be patient. When the opportunity came, I was ready enough to know that it's the best one. It took us 21 days to seal the deal. Just because there aren't many legal ops opportunities available around you doesn't mean you can't pursue that career path. If this scenario sounds familiar to you, I opened 5 new discovery calls to discuss how you can secure a legal ops job in a challenging market. Use this link to book your spot now: https://bit.ly/4ang4D5 #legaloperations #inhouselegal #careertransition #careerdevelopment #legalcareer

Embarking on a transformative journey through the legal hiring landscape in a post-pandemic world! Join us at PS Companies for key insights and best practices that will guide you to career excellence. Your pathway to professional growth awaits – let's navigate it together! #LegalInsights #CareerAdvancement #PSCompanies

Embarking on a transformative journey through the legal hiring landscape in a post-pandemic world! Join us at PS Companies for key insights and best practices that will guide you to career excellence. Your pathway to professional growth awaits – let's navigate it together! #LegalInsights #CareerAdvancement #PSCompanies

Embarking on a transformative journey through the legal hiring landscape in a post-pandemic world! Join us at PS Companies for key insights and best practices that will guide you to career excellence. Your pathway to professional growth awaits – let's navigate it together! #LegalInsights #CareerAdvancement #PSCompanies

Embarking on a transformative journey through the legal hiring landscape in a post-pandemic world! Join us at PS Companies for key insights and best practices that will guide you to career excellence. Your pathway to professional growth awaits – let's navigate it together! #LegalInsights #CareerAdvancement #PSCompanies