NEW FIRM BRINGS ORDER TO LAW SCHOOL RECRUITING CHAOS
JD Match Uses Sophisticated Algorithm To Bring The Right Students To The Right Firms
Talk about entropy – random movement of molecules in motion. Just look at what happens in the law recruiting market. Law school graduates scrambling to find a firm that might hire them, much less grant an interview. Law firms trying to gauge which of these bright men and women, barely out of caps and gowns, will work best for their firms – and then judging on some vague instinct. Newly minted lawyers, many of whom have been educated for firms whose cultures are often more up-to-date than the vision of law schools that are still too anachronistic to make sense, and recruiters who too often have an idealized vision of their firms’ needs or cultures. Talents wasted, time wasted, and money wasted.
But then there is Adam Smith, Esq., brainchild of the brilliant Bruce MacEwen and the brilliant (I use these terms precisely) Janet Stanton, who have introduce JD Match -- a new firm that uses an advanced mathematical algorithm to more accurately match law firms with students who prefer them.
Bruce MacEwen is an internationally-recognized consultant and observer of the legal profession. His blog, under the name Adam Smith, Esq. , is one of the most widely read and respected law blogs in the field, with more than 4 million page views annually. He is not only a lawyer, but an economist, and expert in law firm economics and management. Janet Stanton, an experienced marketer, is a partner at Adam Smith, Esq. and the CEO of JD Match.
Says Stanton, “An intrinsic shortcoming of the existing recruiting process is that law firms can’t know every law student and can’t go to every law school.” JD Match bridges that gap with an ever-widening universe of participating law school students and law schools. “Results on Match Days,” she says, “constitute valuable, real-time, unfiltered marketing information.”
The service, which is membership based, is open to all law school students, law firms, and law schools in the U.S.. Law students from any U.S. law school can create a profile of their wishes for no charge -- free. Law firms pay an annual subscription fee based on their lawyer had count. Membership for law schools is free.
During recruiting season, law firms can specify the characteristics of students the would find attractive, and J.D. Match will identify all students who fit that profile.
There is, of course, a timeliness to this program, at least because economic conditions have been forcing a need to recruit more systematically and carefully. JD Match is an answer for its time, and for the future of the legal profession.