Special focus: Legal recruitment
Talent spotting
With workflow increasing
at law firms in Spain and
Portugal, many are looking
to increase the size of their
teams in the coming year
as the battle for the best
candidates intensifies
A pipeline of transactional
activity has led to a more
optimistic economic outlook
and law firms across Iberia are
stating their intention to increase
headcount in 2015. Indeed, last
year, a number of firms said
they experienced a growth in
personnel of more than 20 per
cent. This represents a contrast
to the restrained approach to
recruitment in recent years.
Jones Day´s Madrid-based
partner Miguel Bermúdez de
Castro says the firm will be
increasing the size of its office
as “we open new practices and
grow existing practices”. He
adds that the firm will be looking
to expand in a number of areas
including banking and M&A.
“If we find a lawyer with a new
set of skills or speciality that we
don´t currently offer, and that we
see a real need for, we are keen
to hire.”
Lois Thornton, a recruitment
consultant at Taylor Root,
confirms that, while recruitment
across Spain had previously
been very slow due to the global
financial crisis, firms are
now increasingly
making lateral
hires in
response to
a “generally
improving
market
and in an
effort to
ensure that
the relative
experience
levels of their
teams is well
balanced”.
Filipa Mendes
Pinto, a
partner at
recruitment
firm
52 • IBERIAN LAWYER • January / February 2015
FIND in Lisbon, agrees with
and postgraduate courses. “Our
this analysis. “In 2014, firms
strategy is to recruit the best
showed a greater will to make
young talent, to train them inlateral hires,” she says. “The
house and to offer them a clear
reasons included: the feeling of
career plan,” he remarks. “The
some economic recovery; the
firm has its own recruitment
lack of junior lawyers, namely
department which coordinates
in corporate/M&A and IP,
presentations, open-day sessions,
due to the strangulation of the
attends job fairs, coordinates
recruitment
of trainees;
the need to
Laterals have to be open
have new
teams that
minded and pro-active, but the
strategically
firm must work on the
had been
integration
identified
as relevant
Manuel Santos Vítor
for the
PLMJ
repositioning
of the firm in
the market;
and normal
replacement moves.”
the recruitment process,
Recruiters and lawyers
and organises written tests,
identify M&A, tax, real estate
interviews and our summer
and dispute resolution as
trainee programme.”
the practice areas in which
It is a similar scenario in
lateral hires are most likely
Portugal. João Caiado Guerreiro,
to take place. Historically,
managing partner at Caiado
many firms have handled
Guerreiro, comments: “We want
their human resources (HR)
to keep the Caiado Guerreiro
matters themselves with a focus
´one team spirit´ so we normally
on hiring younger lawyers.
recruit trainees. That also
Adela García de Tuñón, Hogan
marries well with our organic
Lovells’ HR manager in Madrid,
growth strategy.” Meanwhile,
explains: “Normally we cover
Manuel Santos Vítor, managing
any vacancies internally. Our HR
partner at PLMJ, says his firm´s
team is specialised
trainee recruitment strategy
in the selection
involves a dedicated committee,
and hiring
led by three senior partners, with
process and
an additional support team that
knows the
includes a HR advisor working
market
exclusively in the legal market to
well.
recruit talent.
Also, we
believe our
Firms turning to recruiters
own professionals
The legal recruitment market is
are the best
getting more intense and when
ambassadors for
sourcing candidates, especially
transmitting and
mid-to-senior level lawyers,
promoting our culture.”
some firms do not solely rely on
This organic approach is
personal relations and in-house
mirrored at Uría Menéndez,
expertise, instead turning to
where general secretary
recruitment agencies to manage
Icíar Rodríguez Inciarte
the high volume of candidates
says the firm very rarely
and filter applications.
uses legal recruitment
Bermúdez de Castro says his
agencies, preferring
firm’s strategy involves the use
to recruit young
of personal relationships as
law graduates
well as recruitment agencies.
from university
“At partner level, [the strategy]
“
”
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