Helping an international firm launch their Dublin office
Background:
- As a result of a competitive pitch, we were mandated to launch the Dublin office of an international law firm.
Strategy:
- The firm was only interested in hiring key established players across Corporate, Technology, Financial Services, Tax, Commercial Litigation and Employment. In the first instance the firm was keen to find a leader to manage the office.
- We collaborated with the firm to produce a bespoke briefing document – this resonated with candidates as it focussed on the firm’s strategy to set up in Dublin.
- Our close working relationship with the firm’s partners and recruitment team was essential in achieving the quality of candidates that they sought.
Challenges:
- Finding a leader
- Candidates concerned about the challenges of joining an international firm coming from a leading domestic firm.
- Commitment to the Dublin market longer term
- We targeted a shortlist of partners, based on the strength of client synergies and understanding the strategy and what is involved in joining an international law firm. The strategy was key especially in a small market where there is a relatively small pool of partners whom the firm wanted to approach and who were open to this type of opportunity particularly when moving as a lateral had been less common historically.
Outcome:
- We used our market knowledge and insight to identify the candidates. Market insight was key.
- The client recognized the need for swift action and quickly mobilized key decision makers to sell the firm to the candidates and moving the process at a quicker pace than usual working in line.
- This search resulted in a successful outcome where the client recruited laterals from the top Irish law firms across all of the areas mentioned above.
What did we receive from the client that contributed to the success of the search?
- We worked very closely with the Managing Partner and the London office during the whole search.
- The client was very grateful for our market knowledge, insight and advice on financial packages when things progressed to offer stage, resulting in a positive outcome despite the fact that in many cases the candidates were counter-offered by their existing firm.