The placement your
competitors already made.
Counsel places partners, general counsel, and C-suite legal talent into Am Law 100 firms and Fortune 500 legal departments. The kind of hires that close corner offices, not open reqs.
Performance, side by side
Every engagement below is disguised per client confidentiality protocol, but the data is unaltered. These are not case studies written to impress — they are audits written to inform.
Lateral Partner Placement — Capital Markets Practice
A top-15 Am Law firm had been running an open partner seat in capital markets for eleven months. Two prior retained searches produced candidates who either withdrew during conflicts review or accepted counteroffers. The vacancy was costing an estimated $2.8M in unbilled origination per quarter.
Partner placed from a Magic Circle London office. Conflicts cleared before first conversation. Offer accepted in 31 days. No counteroffers materialized.
| Metric | Prior Retained Search | Counsel Engagement |
|---|---|---|
| Search Duration | 11 months | 31 days to offer |
| Candidates Presented | 14 résumés | 6 vetted profiles |
| Offer Withdrawals | 3 withdrawals | 0 withdrawals |
| Conflicts Clearance | Post-offer | Pre-presentation |
| Revenue Impact (Est.) | $8.4M unbilled | Mitigated at close |
| Candidate Retention | N/A (no hire) | 26 months and counting |
Most lateral partner searches fail at conflicts, not at sourcing. A search firm that maps conflicts architecture before the first outreach call eliminates the single largest driver of candidate attrition in Am Law placements. Résumé volume is not a proxy for search quality — it is often evidence of its absence.
Practice Group Build-Out — Cross-Border Regulatory
A PE-backed mid-market firm preparing for a contested acquisition needed to stand up a six-attorney cross-border regulatory practice in 90 days. The existing managing partner had attempted direct outreach; three of the four targets were already in dialogue with competitors. A fourth declined to engage without a dedicated search intermediary.
Six-attorney cross-border regulatory practice stood up in 73 days. Regulatory deadline met. Acquisition proceeding on schedule. All six attorneys placed from AmLaw 50 or Big Four advisory backgrounds.
| Metric | Direct Managing Partner Outreach | Counsel Managed Campaign |
|---|---|---|
| Attorneys Placed | 0 of 6 target seats | 6 of 6 seats filled |
| Time to First Offer | No offers (90 days) | 18 days |
| Time to Full Build | Abandoned | 73 days |
| Competing Firm Exposure | 3 targets lost | 0 targets lost to competitors |
| Bar Admission Complexity | Not mapped | Multi-state mapped pre-search |
| Regulatory Deadline Met | Missed | Met with 17-day buffer |
Practice group build-outs require a sequencing discipline that individual partner searches do not. The order of placement matters: anchor partner first, then associates who follow lateral relationships, then specialists who require geographic flexibility. Firms that attempt concurrent outreach on all seats simultaneously signal desperation to the market and accelerate competing offers.
General Counsel Search — Fortune 500 Regulatory Expansion
A Fortune 500 consumer goods company needed to replace a departing GC with someone capable of leading a compliance build-out ahead of a new FTC rulemaking cycle. The previous GC had been hired from outside the industry; the board wanted sector-specific regulatory depth. Two executive search firms had been engaged over 14 months without a successful close.
GC placed in 44 days with unanimous board approval on first presentation round. Regulatory depth score and compensation structure aligned before first candidate conversation. Compliance build-out team now reporting to placed GC.
| Metric | 14-Month Prior Search (2 Firms) | Counsel GC Search |
|---|---|---|
| Search Duration | 14 months, no close | 44 days to signed offer |
| Sector-Specific Candidates | 2 of 31 presented | 5 of 5 presented |
| Board Presentation Round | 3 rounds, no consensus | 1 round, unanimous |
| Regulatory Depth Score* | Avg. 3.1 / 10 | Avg. 8.7 / 10 |
| Bar Admission Verified | Post-offer | Pre-presentation |
| Compensation Alignment | 2 offers declined | Aligned pre-approach |
General counsel searches for Fortune 500 companies fail most often at the board presentation stage — not because the candidates are wrong, but because the brief was not written precisely enough to filter for board chemistry alongside technical qualification. The GC role is as much a political appointment as a legal one. Search firms that treat it as a résumé exercise will deliver résumés.
* Regulatory Depth Score assessed on a 10-point proprietary rubric covering agency relationships, rulemaking cycle experience, and enforcement track record. Scored by Counsel's practice group leads prior to candidate presentation.
How executive search
actually works
The following is not a differentiator pitch. It is a description of what a properly executed legal executive search engagement looks like — and why most firms you have engaged have not delivered it.
Conflicts Architecture Mapping
Before any candidate is approached, Counsel maps their conflicts exposure against the engaging firm's current client roster. This step — which most search firms perform after an offer is extended — eliminates the largest single driver of lateral attrition. A candidate who cannot clear conflicts is not a candidate.
Compensation Alignment Pre-Approach
Counsel does not present a candidate whose compensation expectations cannot be met. This sounds obvious. It is not standard practice. We obtain market intelligence on current compensation structure before first contact, and we do not initiate conversations that will produce declined offers.
Sourcing Depth Over Résumé Volume
The average retained search presents 12 to 18 candidates. Counsel presents 4 to 7. The difference is not a smaller market — it is a more disciplined filter. Every profile presented has been personally vetted by a Counsel partner with direct experience in the practice area being filled.
Regulatory and Bar Admission Pre-Clearance
For placements requiring specific bar admissions, regulatory certifications, or government ethics waivers, Counsel maps the admission landscape before the search brief is issued. Candidates who cannot obtain the required admissions within the client's timeline are excluded from the pool before any outreach.
"The search firm that finds your next GC faster is not working harder. They already knew who they were going to call before they signed your engagement letter."
Diagnose Your Search
Five questions. Two minutes. A Search Complexity Score that tells you exactly what kind of engagement your situation requires — and why.