The practice of partner placement is not the practice of recruitment.
Recruitment scales. It assumes fungibility: more files, more matches, more fees. In the partner market, there is no fungibility — only a small group of professionals with specific books, specific cultures, specific reasons to move. Most will not move. Some will, once, in a decade. The craft is knowing which, and when.
The brief
The mandate comes before the search. We write it together — weeks, not days — to define what the seat actually requires, what the compensation can be, what the firm can offer beyond compensation. The brief governs everything that follows.
The brief governs everything.
The approach
Direct, individual, off-record. No databases marketed. No mass InMail. Introductions from practice to practice.
The assessment
We read the book. We read the culture fit. We let the professional read the firm without our pressure.
Without our pressure.
The transition
Partner moves fail for reasons that appear after the signature. We stay for the first year, quietly, if invited.
On retainers and what we decline. We work on retainer, on exclusive mandates. We do not accept contingency engagements. We do not run parallel mandates on the same role for different firms. If we do not believe we can close the search well, we say so at the outset.