In-House

Senior management rely on their in-house counsel to identify and assess both legal and commercial risk and the appointment of the right individual is critical. The individual must be committed to learning the business of the company as well as having excellent legal expertise. Furthermore, they must have the ability to interact with staff and management of the company and perhaps, most importantly, they must possess a willingness to be part of the decision making process. In-house counsel occupy a pivotal role within any organization and as such, have the following advantages over external legal advisors:

a working knowledge of the company and its business relationships;
access to the sum parts of the company;
the ability to directly influence decisions made by management within the company.

This holistic approach of in-house counsel provides a legal service that supports the company’s business by being able to swiftly construct more practical, comprehensive and commercial advice than that which an external counsel could offer.

Our Team

Our core team consists of the following individuals, who between them have over sixty years of legal experience, practice and recruitment. Our unique skill set is the result of us having practiced law as attorneys as well as placing lawyers at private and public companies throughout Canada.

Sumit Chakravorty was most recently employed as Associate General Counsel with a NASDAQ-listed US based corporation where he was responsible for dealing with its international matters. He was previously with the law firms, Arnold & Porter and Wilmer Hale where his primary practice was mergers and acquisitions. Sumit has lived and worked in the cities of London, Washington DC and Boston.

Jonathan Marsden has over a decade of in-house recruitment experience during which time he has worked extensively placing lawyers into a wide range of multinational and start-up companies in many industries. Jonathan’s legal career spans two “Magic Circle” law firms in London. He became a recruiter in London in 1995 and has built a successful international legal recruitment business.

Sarah Marsden started her legal career with Cameron McKenna, working in their London and Hong Kong offices. She also worked as in-house counsel with two prominent shipping insurance associations.

How We Work With You

Some lawyers are quick to disparage an in-house career, viewing it as a “soft option” compared with private practice. In reality, in-house lawyers often have to supplement their legal skill set with management and business skills in order to meet the demands of their commercial environment, where their advice and guidance may not only affect the bottom line of the company but moreover shape its future. Our team has unparalleled experience having worked in both private practice and in-house positions. This has enabled us to identify and resolve many of the issues that companies and individual lawyers need to address when finding the best person for the job. The core values of our business are to:

understand and uphold our candidates’ and clients’ respective interests;
maintain honesty and integrity throughout the entire recruitment process;
provide unbiased and comprehensive advice to both clients and candidates at all times.

Initial Consultation with the Company

A company’s recruitment procedures will often require the input of several individuals. For example, the company’s General Counsel will likely engage the assistance of the company’s HR team and depending on the seniority of the position being filled, the decision to employ an individual or indeed, decide on the precise nature and role of the position itself, may require the input of the CEO and/or the CFO. In order to understand your business and its needs, we will arrange to meet with every decision maker involved in the process and help you by working on the job specification itself, giving you commercial guidance on remuneration trends and benefits based on current market conditions.

Action Plan

Following our consultation, we will prepare a shortlist of candidates for you to interview and will meet with you again to review the potential applicants. In drawing up a short-list, we will typically use all three of the following methods of recruitment:

database - we have an extensive database and work with lawyers of all levels. We may already know of certain individuals who are suited to the position;
advertising - we regularly use advertising to attract candidates for in-house positions and have found this to be an effective way to inform the legal market of the role;
headhunting - unlike some of our competitors (who have conflicts), we are able to use headhunting as a means to target candidates with the specific skill set required.

Follow up/Feedback and Recruiting the Best Candidate

Throughout the process we will act as the intermediary, ensuring that there are no miscommunications or misunderstandings between the parties and that the whole process runs smoothly. We will help you to arrange second interviews and any subsequent meetings that may be required. We will also advise you on the substance and form of the offer to be made to the selected candidate and how best to present it. Finally, we make it a point to keep other short-listed candidates warm and involved in the process.