Northwest Legal Search, Inc.

Northwest has been a member of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) since the firm's establishment in 1987. In fact, Linda Green Pierce, Northwest's founder and president, has been a member of the NALSC board of directors for the past five years, during which time she was involved in the development of the material in the NALSC Code of Ethics.

Pierce has worked in the legal field for over 30 years. She worked as a law firm manager at the Portland offices of Perkins Coie and Preston, Gates & Ellis, which is now K&L Gates. In addition to her duties as president of Northwest, Pierce also serves as a senior attorney recruiter, primarily working with clients in Portland, Seattle, and Northern California. As a recruiter she has successfully placed lawyers in a number of high-profile corporations including Nike, Intel, Hewlett Packard, US National Bank, and Northwest Natural Gas. When working with a managing attorney, general counsel, or human resources specialist Pierce visits the firm or corporate offices to gain a better understanding of the culture of the company or group. She uses this knowledge to provide a suitable and long-lasting candidate match.

Northwest typically serves corporate law departments but also provides services to select private law firms in search of associates or partners. For these clients Northwest provides an extensive candidate data bank, access to a national lawyer market base, a thorough understanding of practice areas, and confidentiality. Furthermore, Northwest can prepare a comparative analysis based on the available information between a Northwest job candidate and another candidate that a client may be considering. Services are available on a retained or an exclusive basis.

The recruiting firm also specializes in providing placement services for companies that have never hired an attorney before. Northwest provides screening and an assessment of legal skills, thus providing employers with only highly-qualified matches. The firm also works with internal recruiters and others who have attempted to fill an attorney position through an internet posting but did not receive the expected response from qualified candidates. In these cases, the employer has usually already spent time on the search process and has limited time left to fill the opening. Northwest can assist in such challenges.

Attorney candidates are provided with resume review services, interview preparation and coaching services, assistance in the negotiation phrase, and confidentiality. Additionally, Northwest provides employee candidates with in-depth information on the market, as well as information on the compensation and benefits that accompany any job position.

Northwest does not provide placement services for current law students or graduates who do not have at least one year of law practice experience. The firm deals only with lateral placements and typically seeks candidates with a JD from one of the top 25 nationally-ranked law schools. The firm also looks at employment records and where the candidate ranked in his or her class.