Steve's Rules with legendary executive recruiter Steve Nelson from the McCormick Group
Steve has been an executive recruiter for nearly three decades and without naming names, he is ready to spill the tea on best practices (and maybe a few not so best practices) by firms and candidates he has seen during his career placing some of law's most driven and successful professionals into highly profitable and growing enterprises across the legal sector. Steve is a former lawyer and journalist and is a Fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and a proud son of Wilkes-Barre PA. Master of Ceremonies for Steve's Rules is Murray Coffey Principal of M Coffey mcoffey.net
Episodes
Last year, we discussed what the impact of the executive orders would be on the firms that settled with the government. Now that a year has passed, Steve and his colleague David Ris provide some observations. Among the areas covered:
- How much turnover has there been at the settling firms, as well as those firms that challenged the government.
- Why some firms have seen significant departures, while others have not.
- ...
In this episode, I interview Deborah Farone, former Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at both Cravath and Debevoise, on her new book "Breaking Ground: How Successful Women Lawyers Build Thriving Practices." Among the topics:
- How Deborah is helping marketing professionals and law firms in her current consulting firm, Farone Advisors.
- The wide scope of her interviews for her book, including women ...
In this episode of Steve's Rules, Chuck Curtis of CLCurtis31 Consulting and I discuss a myriad of issues relating to partner recruiting and integration. Chuck had a 25-year career working in high-level recruiting positions in law firms such as Pillsbury Winthrop and Latham & Watkins before starting his own consulting firm three years ago. Among the topics covered:
- The range of consulting services provi...
In this episode, I am joined by Law Firm Strategist Wendy Bernero, co-founder of Yate Collaborative, and a veteran of senior marketing and business development roles at many premier law firms. We discussed:
- The background and scope of Yate Collaborative.
- The evolution of legal marketing and business development over the past 30 years.
- Advice to legal professionals on how to position themselves for leadership positi...
In the latest episode, I have a wide-ranging discussion with Susan Lambreth of LawVision, who is the nations leading authority on Practice Management in Law Firms. Among the topics we discuss are:
- What are most firms looking for when they retain her services
- Her various roundtables and what types of professionals are included in each.
- The importance of her certification programs.
- The evolution of practice managemen...
In this episode, Steve interviews Jonathan Greenblatt, Co-Founder and Chair of Legal Innovators, which is changing
the game when it comes to the recruitment of junior and mid
level talent in the legal industry. Among the topics addressed are:
- Why the current system of recruiting and training junior associates is flawed;
- Legal Innovators' process for selecting law graduates;
- Why the firm's trainin...
In this episode of Steve's Rules, Steve has a conversation with Tim Corcoran of the Corcoran Consultant Group, a leading consultant on law firm compensation. Among the topics discussed were:
- The primary issues that are leading firms to retain your services?
- The most frequent flaws in law firm compensation systems
- Balancing the contributions of rainmakers and key subject matter experts.
- How firms handle compens...
The Trump Administration’s executive orders aimed at various law firms has resulted in the most significant issue that the country’s leading law firms have faced in recent memory. Some pundits in the mainstream media have even predicted the demise of the firms that settled with the Administration. In this episode of Steve’s Rules, Steve and his McCormick Group colleague Dave Ris provide some insights on the impact ...
While the current environment is chaotic, savvy government attorneys, particularly those with administrative law experience, may find this the perfect time to make a lateral move into law firm practice. In this episode of Steve’s Rules, we take a deep dive into the legal market implications of the new Trump administration—particularly the regulatory shifts, enforcement priorities, and job market changes that will im...
Get ready to uncover the dynamic shifts in the legal landscape with our esteemed guest, Patrick Fuller, Chief Strategist for American Lawyer Media. First, we discussed the ripple effects of recent elections on antitrust, international trade, and white-collar investigations, and even in mergers and acquisitions. Then Patrick provides a deep dive into the data that is being produced by ALM regarding law firm profitab...
In this episode of Steve's Rules, podcast partners Murray Coffey founder and principal of M Coffey and executive recruiter Steve Nelson from The McCormick Group discuss some of Steve's market updates and then go deep on best practices in legal recruiting agreements.. This episode should be of special interest to those on the law firm side responsible for engaging executive recruiters for lateral placement...
Join us on this episode of Steve’s Rules, where Steve Nelson, Executive Principal at McCormick Group, dives into the evolving roles within law firms, particularly focusing on the rise of professional staff in key leadership positions. We explore the recent trend of hiring COOs from non-traditional backgrounds, such as legal operations, and what this means for the future of law firm management. Whether you're a ...
In this episode, Murray Coffey and Steve Nelson delve into the intricacies of legal recruiting, offering a blend of practical advice and personal anecdotes. They discuss the best ways to manage recruiter inquiries, key considerations for those contemplating a career move, and the importance of building solid relationships with reputable recruiters. Additionally, they cover current market trends and emphasize the sig...
Overview:
This episode provides a deep dive into the essentials of business planning for attorneys considering lateral moves. Steve Nelson leverages his extensive experience in legal recruitment to guide listeners on crafting high impact business plans that align with market trends and firm expectations. This episode may be our most practical and actionable let. We even have Steve’s business plan templates in our sho...
The decision to pursue other opportunities is multilayered with no one consideration being more important than the other. Yet compensation often is a driver. But most professionals including lateral partners at law firms don't do a deep enough dive on a target firm's compensation structure. Each firm approaches compensation differently. Which means it is incumbent on the candidate to know what is importa...
Leveraging government service into a lucrative career in government relations can be done. But, it can be tricky to turn your knowledge and connections into a career path. This podcast will be especially informative for those folks currently in Capitol Hill contemplating your next move. We start out the second season of the acclaimed Steve's Rules podcast series with a fast paced discussion featuring McCormick ...
Well, here it is the 2023 season finale of Steve's Rules. In this very special episode we are joined by Steve's colleagues Saadia Sultan and Rob Verga who share insights from the 2023 lateral recruiting in market and their predictions for 2024. We end our podcast with some truly hard won observations about how firms and candidate's can impede their own efforts and some best practices as well. As al...
In this episode Steve provides some intel on the hottest lateral partner market (hint they call this city the Third Coast, and its the place Murray first drew breath.) Then we discuss contingency and retained search and relative merits of each approach based on your firm's profile and needs. Finally we hear a hunk from Steve's standup show. We packed a lot into 30 minutes. If you have any thoughts or ideas...
Law firms need to hire business professionals as skilled and capable as the lawyers in their respective areas of focus. And yet, many firms still try to hire professional staff by relying on self-sourcing, agencies, or contingency recruiters. Steve explains why these results are often mixed at best. And what firms need to do to make sure they are recruiting the very best talent. Steve also shares his thoughts on som...
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