SeltzerFontaine LLC

Job hunting or looking to hire? It’s important to have your marketing materials ready. Candidates: · Polish your resume and be prepared to provide your recruiter with highlights to incorporate in their cover letters. · Write a business development plan if you’re a counsel- or partner-level law firm lawyer and have your production numbers (hours, billings, collections, realization rate) and conflicts information (matters and adverse parties) at hand. · Review your writing samples and/or update your representative matters/deal sheet. Prepare a list of references. · And, associates, make sure you have a copy of your law school transcript. Your recruiter will need all those materials at some point in the process. Employers: · Please have an updated and complete website, with additional practice-specific information available for recruiters to provide to prospects. · Encourage your marketing department and recruiting professionals to work together to create materials to attract candidates, not just clients, to the firm. · It’s helpful to provide recruiters with a “law firm highlights” document to share with candidates. Promote your firm’s differentiators, culture, statistics, affinity groups, etc., as well as any recent talent acquisitions, wins or deals, and other positive press. · And make sure your firm’s successes hit the legal press to raise your recruiting profile. Are you ready to roll? #jobsearchtips #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #interviewtips For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

The UCLA Alumni Association is proud to present Bruin Business 100, celebrating the hard work, talent and innovation of exceptional alumni business owners, founders and visionaries. SeltzerFontaine LLC is pleased to be recognized as part of the 2025 Bruin Business honorees! Both founders of SeltzerFontaine LLC, Madeleine Seltzer and Valerie Fontaine, are proud Bruins, as is our team member, Roberta Kass. Check out the full list of celebrated businesses here: https://lnkd.in/g8VJyawv. #BruinBusiness2025 #seltzerfontaine #legalrecruiting

Will they, or won’t they? It’s not a given that your clients, even longstanding ones, will automatically move with you if you make a career move. It’s wise to take a critical look at the move from your clients’ point of view before making the leap. Your client may choose to stay with your old firm for any of a number of reasons, such as: · Your new firm is not on its panel of approved counsel; · Company policy; · Relationships with other lawyers at your previous firm, including those handling their matters perhaps in other geographic or practice areas; · The reputations of both your new and old firms; · Whether someone in the company ever had an unpleasant experience with your new firm or a lawyer there; · It’s easier to keep doing what they’ve always done; and · Some clients simply won’t care enough about you to make the move. Your clients may choose to use both your old and new law firms for a while on various matters, to see which they like best. They will keep the comparison in mind when deciding where to send future business, so be sure you deliver the improved value and performance that you promised! Have you been surprised by your clients’ decisions about continuing to give you work? #lawjobs #legaljobs #jobsearchtips #lateralpartner #legalrecruiting For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

Loyalty only goes so far. Your clients might resent your career move. Law firm partners, your clients may not see your move to another law firm as a benefit to them, and may decide to stay put at your old firm rather than automatically following you to your new home. This may seriously affect the success of your move, especially if your deal was predicated on bringing your existing book of business. You need to consider the impact of your move on the business interests of your clients such as: Timing: Assess whether the timing of your move will negatively influence the outcome of a critical client matter. How far along is the case or transaction and what is its profile within the client organization? It could be too costly or disruptive (to the result or politically within the organization) to move the matter if it’s too far along. With politically sensitive matters, clients want it to go away as quickly and quietly as possible. They do not want delay, nor do they welcome its exposure to more people than necessary, so those matters can be more difficult to move. Conflicts: Of course, you and your new firm will check for legal conflicts before you make your move. Beyond that, you must make sure there are no business or industry conflicts. As law firms become significantly larger, conflicts become an increasingly severe problem. At your previous firm, you already worked through and resolved any conflicts—whether with other clients or in a subject matter. When you move to a new law firm, those issues are reopened. Moreover, your new firm already has an understanding with its current clients about conflicts; thus, resolving conflicts in favor of your new clients may be lower priority. It’s even worse to discover a conflict after the client moves the business to your new firm. Your client may not want to or be able to issue a waiver and may have to withdraw the business after all. Have you ever been surprised when a longstanding client failed to follow you to a new firm ? What were the circumstances? How did it affect the success of your career move? #lawjobs #legaljobs #jobsearchtips #lateralpartner #legalrecruiting For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

Law firm partners, when exploring the market, it’s imperative to consider your possible move from your clients’ point of view. It could make the difference between your success or failure at the new firm. Clients aren’t always pleased when their outside lawyer makes a lateral move because it requires a change in the attorney-client relationship. Either the client must follow the attorney to the new law firm, leave the work with the previous firm and find a new relationship partner, or find a new lawyer and law firm altogether. Regardless of which option the client chooses—and it’s the client’s choice—it’s disruptive and more work for them. In-house counsel has an obligation to their company to ensure that following you to a new firm will substantially enhance their return on outside counsel expenses. To retain the client relationship, you must assess the value your move brings to the client. Determine whether you can offer greater expertise, broader geographic reach, or more efficiency. You should know the metrics at your old firm as compared to those of the new firm, such as hourly rates and/or alternative fee structures, billing practices, the track record of success for specific types of matters, the ratio of partners to associates (leverage/staffing alternatives), and the like. Most importantly, you must be able to clearly communicate your improved value proposition to the client. If your clients don’t follow you, and you cannot deliver the billings your new firm expects, it could doom your future there. Have you factored in the impact of any career move on your existing clients? #lawjobs #legaljobs #jobsearchtips #lateralpartner #legalrecruiting For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

“The ability to speak does not make you intelligent.” —Qui-Gon Jinn, The Phantom Menace This coming Sunday, May 4, is Star Wars Day and a good day to draw upon some of the wisdom of that franchise. If the ability to speak does not make us intelligent, how can we stand out from the crowd? You want to be known, easily found, and top of mind. Thought leadership—public speaking, presenting webinars, podcasting, writing for publication (online or print), blogging, and participating in social media increase your visibility, develop your credibility, demonstrate your expertise, and plant seeds for attracting direct client contacts and referrals. An added bonus is that, as you prepare each piece for posting, publication, or presentation, you get further educated on the subject and clarify the issues in your mind—further building your expertise. While there are significant benefits to you, the underlying purpose for every piece is to provide value to your audiences by imparting helpful, useable information on subjects that interest and concern them. What steps are you taking to become a thought leader? May the Force be with you! #personalbrand #thoughtleader #careeradvice #legalrecruiting #lawjobs For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

There’s not just one right way to develop your personal brand and establish yourself as a thought leader. Public speaking and writing for posting or publication is what works for me, but it may not be right for you, and that’s OK. You can find other ways to differentiate yourself. It’s about doing what you love, which usually is what you’re good at. If you enjoy it, you’ll be more likely to actually spend time and effort doing it and will consistently work to improve over the long haul. Whatever avenues you choose, establishing your personal brand and becoming a thought leader requires consistent effort and builds over time. Keep at it. Eventually, you’ll be known in your field—and will reap the rewards. What are the activities you will use for developing your personal brand? #personalbrand #thoughtleader #careeradvice #legalrecruiting For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

This coming Thursday, May 1, is Law Day, and it’s a good day for lawyers to reflect on what the Rule of Law means to each of us and, possibly, reaffirm the oath of office we took when we originally were sworn into the Bar. In most, if not all, jurisdictions, we swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Today is a good day to think about what that means to us individually and as a group. Checks and Balances, a legal and civic education initiative created by a group of lawyers who closely followed the work of the American Bar Association’s Task Force for American Democracy, is encouraging all lawyers across the country to participate in #ReaffirmTheOath—"a nonpartisan, nonpolitical national grassroots effort empowering lawyers in communities large and small to speak out, stand together, and publicly renew their commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law.” On their website they say: “Together, we can make Law Day 2025 a powerful moment for the legal profession to lead with clarity, integrity, and purpose.” You can find a local event or reaffirm your oath online. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gMMswVnC Will you participate? https://lnkd.in/dXWg7P23 #lawday2025 #ruleoflaw #lawjobs #legalrecruiting I usually post about job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market. For information on those topics, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

When it comes to job hunting, what is the “Like Factor” and why is it so important? Employers hire candidates that they are comfortable with, which, quite often, means those like themselves. Therefore, you can identify the most likely targets for employment by researching potential employers’ websites to determine which organizations have team members with backgrounds similar to your own in terms of academics, job history, activities, and interests. In addition to the objective criteria which employers consider, the “like factor” comes into play. That is, because each organization has its own particular style or culture, you must fit in on a personal level with a potential employer. Moreover, you must be perceived to have the attributes necessary to become a successful contributor within that organization, and this must be demonstrated in the interview. Despite how good a match you might be on paper, in the end there are subjective judgments made by both sides (because interviewing is a two-way street) which are difficult to anticipate or alter. Have you ever been in a situation where, on paper, a job opportunity looked like the perfect fit for you and your background, only to find after an interview that it was not a match made in heaven? What was the mismatch? What happened? #lawjobs #legaljobs #jobsearchtips #legalrecruiting #jobsearchtips For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.

The prevailing attitude in Biglaw is: “We only want to see candidates from the top schools, with the top grades, which has always worked for us in the past.” Two UC Berkeley professors ran a study which indicated that law firms would be better served by expanding their recruiting to a wider variety of schools and relying less on grades, while considering other factors that indicated potential success (See: “Predicting Professional Effectiveness,” 36 Law & Social Inquiry 620 (2011) © Shultz and Zedeck). At a California Bar Association program where they presented these results, I heard a Biglaw hiring partner state that his firm was never going to change. He insisted that they absolutely must have lawyers only from the top schools and the top grades, because he and his partners were convinced that it was essential to the firm’s success. He and his partners also believed that the credentials of the firm’s lawyers in its public-facing biographies were important to the firm’s professional image and enhanced its ability to compete for business. The results of that study were published almost 15 years ago, yet many firms continue to operate that way, especially when it comes to associate recruiting. (A big book of business can change their minds when it comes to partner candidates.) But firms that are open to a broader perspective and willing to change will be able to get a wider variety of lawyers on board. Thus, they might be in a better position to compete for the kind of business in the current marketplace that the more traditional firms leave on the table. A willingness to try something new can lead to more opportunities for greater success. Do you think the legal marketplace will ever change its elitist attitude? #legalrecruiting #lawjobs # #lawfirms #legaljobs #biglaw For more insights into job search strategies, the legal industry, and the California legal job market, follow SeltzerFontaine LLC, and connect with me and ring the 🔔 at Valerie Fontaine.