Methods to find qualified applicants for in-house positions

How do law department lawyers find additional hires? Based on over 600 responses to a survey reported in InsideCounsel, March 2007 at 60, the clear edge goes to placement firms (See my post of July 5, 2006 on executive search firms’ services.). Here is the rank order given by respondents for their methods and resources to hire lawyers:

Placement firms (61.5%)
Employee referrals (46.6%)
Law firm referrals (45.8%)
Classified ads (44.2%)
Online job boards (42.8%)
Recruit from outside firms (31.4%) – but the choices do not include the more preferred source, law departments (See my post of March 26, 2007 as to sources.)
Law school recruiting (11.8%) (See my post of Nov. 8, 2005 about how infrequently law departments hire straight from law school.).

One other method was not asked about (See my post of March 17, 2007 about Motorola and its public announcement of a high-level opening.). Nor did the survey ask about the practice of hiring secondees (See my post of Sept. 21, 2005 on recruiting secondees and hiring restrictions.).