SeltzerFontaine LLC

Visibility greatly impacts career success. Being visible means not only being seen but also being included, recognized, and valued by others. Doing good work is a given; the more people know you, and are aware of your projects and results, the better the chances of your name being suggested when opportunities for interesting work or career moves arise. Especially if you spend some or all of your time working remotely, you must go above and beyond to remind people that you exist and are a valuable member of the team. It’s easy to get stuck in your work-from-home bubble and fall off the radar, so it’s vitally important to communicate proactively. Don’t fade into the background when it comes to group meetings and conversations. If there’s an issue where you think you can contribute, speak up. But make sure what you’re sharing is meaningful; don’t talk just for the sake of hearing your own voice. There is a fine line between visibility and self-promotion. Take credit for your work, but don’t take away from others. Share the glory. Explicitly acknowledge your team for their good work during meetings, in emails, and over chat. In return, they will be more willing to shine the spotlight on you. Don’t think that communicating electronically replaces the need to talk with people directly either by phone or video. Personally connecting with others in today’s highly automated and technological environment will help differentiate you from the crowd. What will you do today to raise your profile? #careeradvice #visibility #careeradvancement #legalrecruiting #networking 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.

It’s called social media for a reason. It’s important to interact with other people online, not just post content. Join groups and respond, comment, share, and like others’ posts. But be careful what you click on because that becomes part of your online presence, as well. Remember that social media is about people, and people want to interact with other people, not nameless, faceless entities. You can present yourself as an approachable, caring professional by offering useful tips, opinions, personal interests, quotes, and articles with a personal touch. You also should share a little bit (but not too much!) about yourself to make yourself relatable and to stand out from all the others who are being strictly business. But be careful not to overshare or veer off into any danger zones such as controversial subjects and unprofessional or unethical content. Have you managed to find the right balance between being professional yet approachable? #socialmediatips #networkingtips #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.

Good lawyers need high EQ (emotional intelligence) as well as high IQ. Clients need a lawyer’s perspective and personal connection along with the professional detachment taught in law school. You must effectively read the emotional tone of any situation and respond appropriately. In some instances, clients need empathy and appreciation of any sensitivities surrounding the legal problem, especially in emotionally charged practice areas such as in employment and family law. While it’s true that you “attract more flies with honey,” some law practice situations call for a more confrontational approach. Balancing these two approaches can create an understandable tension for lawyers trained to define effective advocacy as adversarial conduct. A good lawyer knows when to be tough and when to be nice, and is effective in both types of situations. How do you balance your heart and your brain to set the right emotional tone in a sensitive legal (or business) situation? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #softskills #careeradvice 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.

People skills are almost as important for successful lawyering as legal skills. Many law firm partners would say that the majority of their time is spent winning new work and managing client relationships. Therefore, networking and client care are as important in a law firm as giving accurate and ethically sound legal advice. To develop business and service a client’s legal needs effectively, you must understand the problem or goal fully. That requires the ability to hear the client’s concerns, creative and strategic thinking to devise possible solutions, communication skills to convey the various options available in language they can understand, and judgment to assist the client in selecting the best course of action. All of the legal knowledge in the world will do you and your clients no good if you cannot relate to one another. Have you had a situation where it seemed like you and your clients were speaking different languages? How did you handle it? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #artificialintelligence #softskills 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.

What can legal recruiters do about bad actors in the legal community? “Bad actors” refers to lawyers who behave badly, either by engaging in inappropriate conduct (sexual or otherwise) or harassing others on the job. Yet they progress in their legal careers, sometimes earning bigger and better titles and compensation packages, while continuing to behave badly in new settings. Of course, recruiters can decline to represent the candidate. But what if they learn that a client is considering such a candidate submitted through other sources? Many legal recruiters are former practicing lawyers and still are members of a state bar. Thus, they would be subject to the Rules of Professional Conduct duty to report as discussed in Wednesday’s post. Do NALSC: the National Association of Legal Search Consultants members also have a duty under the NALSC Code of Ethics to pass along any information we have? The Code requires that information provided to employers shall be the most accurate information known to the search firm and that no search firm shall withhold candidate information which the employer would reasonably consider essential to its hiring decision. In practice, recruiters rarely have first-hand information about a lawyer’s alleged misbehavior. Rather, we hear complaints from others— the lawyers and recruiting professionals who witnessed the behavior. Should we tell potential employers “I cannot corroborate this, but I’ve heard that there was a reason, involving inappropriate conduct, for the candidate’s departures from past firms. I suggest that you vet this candidate carefully?” That is what I did for the email author cited in Monday's post. Is there a chance of being sued for defamation? Truth is a defense. If the allegations are true, the alleged perpetrator likely won’t sue because they won’t want those grievances aired. But there’s always a chance. It’s possible, however, that the alleged bad actor is confident enough that the probable power differential will cause the recruiter to back down and, in the meantime, the search firm will bear the expense of defending a suit. ?A “#MeToo”-type registry? Is it legal or practical for there to be a database or online #MeToo listing for reporting alleged bad actors in the legal community? How would that work? What other steps can we take to stop them from continuing to land cushy jobs and behave badly in their new environments? Ideas, anyone? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalprofession #metoo #harassment 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.

Despite red flags, why do misbehaving lawyers continually get hired? Unfortunately, lawyers who behave badly, either by engaging in inappropriate conduct (sexual or otherwise) or harassing others on the job often progress in their legal careers, sometimes earning bigger and better titles and compensation packages, while continuing to behave badly in new settings. Firms are dazzled by promises of big books of business and a potential boost to the bottom line. Big rainmakers often are powerful and have powerful friends in past, current, and potential future firms who will vouch for them—the Big Boys’ Club. And, often, these partners are charismatic. While the misbehaving lateral partner may bring an immediate bump to the new firm’s bottom line, there are long term costs to the firm for making such a hire, including: ·???????Reputational – both internal and external; ·???????Negative/disruptive impact on firm culture; ·???????Public “loss” of a big rainmaker when that lawyer is asked to leave; ·???????Possible loss (and their potential contributions to the firm) of other attorneys who were impacted and see the alleged perpetrator remain unscathed; and ·???????Hiring cost—time spent on recruitment, onboarding, and integration as well as recruiter fees. What do you see as the pros and cons of hiring lawyers with a book of business but also a history of misbehavior? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalprofession #metoo #harassment 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.

What can or should be done about bad actors in the legal community? “Bad actors” refers to lawyers who behave badly, either by engaging in inappropriate conduct (sexual or otherwise) or harassing others on the job. Yet they progress in their legal careers, sometimes earning bigger and better titles and compensation packages, while continuing to behave badly in new settings. Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3 requires lawyers who know of another lawyer who has violated the Rules of Professional Conduct “that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer” to report them to professional authorities. Hilary Gerzhoy, ethics counsel at HWG LLP in Washington, DC, calls this a “wishy-washy” requirement, however. She says that there's little risk for not reporting because it's difficult to say whether a violation constitutes a “substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer.” The subject of the complaint will receive a letter regarding the complaint and the defense most likely will assert that there's no basis for it. The result is that allegations rarely meet the high bar for consequences. Failure to report infrequently is a source of discipline.?There's potential risk for those who DO report, unfortunately. Reporting lawyers can become a pariah among the powerful alleged perpetrators’ powerful allies, with career consequences. The reporting lawyers, themselves, can get a reputation for being troublemakers, finding it more difficult to advance in their own careers. This is the opposite of what should happen. But lawyers can make an anonymous report to their State Bar’s ethics hotline and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel has a duty to investigate every report. Non-anonymous reports have a much higher likelihood of achieving results, however. If it’s anonymous, there’s little chance of any definitive action without specifics. Whether anonymous or not, any complaint should detail the behavior as much as possible with a statement that there's concern that the alleged perpetrator will continue with such behavior in the future even if they already moved to another firm. What else can be done about bad actors in the legal community? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalprofession #metoo #harassment 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.

How can we deal with bad actors in the legal profession? “Bad actors” refers to lawyers who behave badly, either by engaging in inappropriate conduct (sexual or otherwise) or harassing others on the job. Yet they progress in their legal careers, sometimes earning bigger and better titles and compensation packages, while continuing to behave badly in new settings. What can be done about them? Do recruiters and other attorneys have a duty to reveal information about them—even if it’s secondhand? Is there a risk in doing so? What about a #MeToo-type registry in the legal profession? The situation: I received an email from a female partner “seriously questioning why certain white male partners can end up getting a soft landing at major BigLaw firms after having been at least three times ousted from other BigLaw firms.” “My question is, should I have spoken up about these sh**ty men – or told recruiters about them – so that maybe they did not get a soft landing? Is it too late to do so? Or am I being idealistic and things likely would not change even with a disclosure? "Historically, I never had the power to make that happen, even as a C-suite officer in a firm. I remember that I really appreciated it when you told me about a horrible candidate back in my [BigLaw] CRO days. I raised the issue with management for more inquiry (never citing my source) and they did nothing about it. (Fortunately, that guy ended up not joining the firm but it wasn’t my inquiry that did it.) But that was over a decade ago. "Are things different in 2025? “I’m wondering if I should do more to stop the cycle of these people (a) earning a MONSTROUSLY good living, (b) subjecting other people to the same BS and (c) never learning the lesson. I was only peripherally affected by this particular guy’s BS, but I definitely witnessed it and it did have some effect on my advancement back in the day . “Should we be encouraging women to speak up and create a network of this information? Or will it just be ignored because he will make a lot of money and so will his recruiter?” The rest of this week’s posts will discuss this issue. Please feel free to chime in. #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalprofession #metoo #harassment 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 getting references during your job search, you don’t want any surprises. It’s wise to prepare the folks on your reference list well ahead of time. Before even providing any names and contact information for reference checking, contact everyone on your prospect list to inform them of your job search and get permission to use them as a reference. · Let them know what type of position you seek, including the names of specific employers who may call. · Review job descriptions and your qualifications and accomplishments relating to your fit for those jobs. · Provide them with your updated resume so they have all relevant facts at their fingertips. · Make sure their understanding of your starting and ending dates agree with those on your resume. · Review the circumstances of your leaving your current and any past employment, especially with their company. · Listen carefully to what they might say in a reference check. · Ask them not to discuss compensation with a prospective employer and, especially, not to guess. · Keep them apprised of your job search progress and when they may expect to get calls. (Find out if they might be unavailable during that time.) · Thank them for agreeing to serve as your reference and ask them to keep you informed of any such inquiries they receive. · And thank them again once you accept your new position. What else do you suggest? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #jobsearchtips #careeradvice 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.

In the job search process, who you put on your list of references and when you provide that list depends on a number of factors. As with many things in life, timing is everything. If you’re presently unemployed, or if your current employer knows you’re looking for a new position (i.e., you’re part of a layoff or your present position has a completion date, such as with an internship or project employment), then you safely can offer your complete list of references relatively early in the interviewing process. If, however, your job search is confidential, you can offer a list of references omitting any from your current employer. The first list could include past employers, senior people who are no longer with your firm and, for example, if you’re a lawyer, judges before whom you have appeared, or co-counsel, if you trust them to keep your confidence. If the prospective employer insists on checking references from your current employer, and you want to keep your job search under wraps until you have a solid offer in hand, it can become a Catch-22 situation: Asking your current employer for a reference can be, in effect, tendering your resignation, but you may not actually end up with an offer of a new job. In that case, offer someone from your firm who is NOT the person to whom you would give notice of your intent to leave but who has seen your work, and whom you trust to protect your confidentiality. Ideally, references from your current employer should be provided only when the prospective employer makes a job offer contingent upon that reference. But provide them only if you’ve decided to accept that offer once the final reference check is completed. In that case, you give notice of your job search, the pending offer, and desire to accept that offer, to your current employer all at the same time—and then ask them to provide you with a reference. It’s a delicate balancing act. How would you suggest handling the delicate timing of providing references during your job search? #lawjobs #legaljobs #legalrecruiting #jobsearchtips #careeradvice 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.