Welcome to the Fall of 2004! The Olympics have come and gone, the Presidential Election has just concluded – an exciting couple of months all around…. Of course, during these last few months of 2004, you are likely strategizing about your hiring plans for the coming year. Our latest edition of The Special Counsel Column is chock full of ideas about recruitment, management, retention, and information about the new federal overtime regulations. As you look toward 2005, we hope that you find the information helpful as you formulate your staffing plans for the coming year.

As always, we welcome any suggestions, comments, or questions you would like to share with us so that we may incorporate your thoughts into future editions of the newsletter. Please email us at the following address: column@specialcounsel.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

On behalf of Special Counsel, best wishes for a profitable year end, a healthy and prosperous new year and an exciting 2005.

Jodi L. Nadler
Vice President, Special Counsel

Special Counsel® is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Legal Network Ltd., the leading legal workforce solutions firm in Pittsburgh with a national reputation in supporting legal project work. Established in 1995, Legal Network has offices in Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

Legal Network has been the recipient of numerous local and national awards celebrating the company’s business performance and commitment to individuals. The addition of the Pittsburgh office of Legal Network provides Special Counsel the opportunity to service its national clients in an important legal market. Following this transaction, Special

Counsel will offer services to clients from 38 offices across the United States, and plans to open additional locations in 2005.

“Special Counsel has worked with Legal Network for several years, providing services for our respective clients, and now we are pleased to add the experience and knowledge of the Legal Network team to our organization,” stated John Marshall, president of Special Counsel. “Special Counsel has cemented itself atop the legal staffing market with a blend of strong organic growth, targeted acquisitions in promising legal markets, and the development and growth of our talented professionals. Our acquisition of Legal Network advances our plan to augment organic growth with companies in strategic markets that share our commitment to clients, consultants, and staff.”

More information on Legal Network Ltd. can be found by visiting its Web site: www.legalnetworkltd.com.

Annual Employee Appreciation Day – Falls during mid-March. Nice way to thank your staff for their hard work – buy breakfast, lunch, have an afternoon ice cream party – just say, “thanks!”

Annual Administrative Professionals Week – Last full week of April, with Wednesday being designated Administrative Professionals Day. Recognizes and celebrates the work of secretaries, administrative assistants, and other office professionals for their growing and diverse contributions to the workplace.

The art of hiring the best professionals for your organization begins with the interview process. Remember, not only is it important for the candidate to make a great first impression with you, it is equally important for the employer to make a great first impact on the candidate. When competing for the best talent in the marketplace, you must put your best foot forward from the moment the candidate walks through your door.

First and foremost, there should be a standard, organized interview plan for all professional candidates who interview with your firm. Impress the candidate by being “interview-ready.” Greet the candidate at the door, have an organized and prepared interview schedule/plan, and be able to provide the candidate with both a firm brochure and benefits summary. Think about it - employers are impressed by candidates who come prepared to an interview with several copies of their resume, a list of professional references, transcripts, and writing samples (where appropriate). Why shouldn’t you be equally prepared? Remember, first impressions are important for all parties involved.

Standardize your interview practices and be consistent in your interview questioning. Train both your recruiters and your hiring managers on effective interviewing techniques. Your objective is to have a consistent line of questioning for each applicant. Consistency in the process will enable you to make a more informed determination as to which candidate is most qualified for the position.

Educate your recruitment professionals and managers on avoiding improper interview questions and making binding contract statements.

Let us assume the obvious – that your interviewers know not to ask questions which can be construed as discriminatory based on protected classes – gender, race, color, national origin, religion, age, and disability.

However, there are other lines of questioning which might seem innocuous at first, but could be alleged to show illegal bias. Here are some examples:

On occasion, we have had candidates return from interviews with our clients describing a line of inappropriate questioning to which they had been exposed during their interview process. Improper interview questions send a bad message to candidates. Understanding that most interviewers are simply inquisitive and do not mean to be insensitive or inappropriate, nonetheless, as employers you want to avoid these interviewing pitfalls. Generally, interviewers try to get to know candidates “as people” once they have determined that a candidate is technically qualified for the open position. However, getting too relaxed during the interview could prove problematic. Caution your hiring managers not to tread in these potentially dangerous waters.

Educate your recruitment professionals and managers on how to ask the most effective questions of interviewees.

Encourage your hiring managers to ask thought-provoking and open-ended questions geared toward discovering what the candidate already has done. Demonstrating past experiences, rather than postulating about “what they would do if” will enable the interviewers to better screen candidates. Thoughtful questioning will be impressive to the candidates as well.

Remind the interviewers to review the candidate’s resume prior to the meeting so that they are able to make pointed inquiries into the candidate’s experience and draw correlations as to how that background could relate to the open position. At the same time, you must make the hiring managers aware that the interview is as much of a fact-finding mission for the candidate as it is for the employer. That said, the interviewer should be a champion of the firm and be prepared to offer highlights of the position, department, and firm as a whole and should be open to answering several candid questions from the interviewee as well.

Depending upon your organization’s particular interview process, it is highly recommended to include a “peer” interviewer in the interview schedule. Candidates need to meet with supervisors, hiring managers and others in positions of authority and who have decision-making power. However, it is equally important for them to meet with folks they will work with on a daily basis as potential co-workers. Train the peer interviewers on appropriate lines of questioning as well.

Here are some sample interview questions:

Asking for more than one example of past experiences will help the interviewer identify themes and patterns of behavior.

This non-exhaustive sampling of interview questions has one important common component: they cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” Candidates must articulate a thoughtful and candid response – much more helpful to you as you evaluate potential new hires.

At the conclusion of the interview process, be sure to bring closure to the meeting. Provide impressions to the candidate, a timeframe within which a decision will be made and offer a business card for future follow-up questions from the candidate.

Finally, timeliness in your decision-making process will enable you to hire the best talent. Top performers are interested in joining organized, decisive employers that offer clear career paths for their employees. It is important to send this message from the beginning of your interview process. Having a successful and organized interview plan -- from inception through acceptance of an offer -- is key to attracting the best talent.

We at Special Counsel are always on the lookout for items of interest to our clients, regarding both the legal marketplace and staffing in general. One current issue that may impact our industry is the new U.S. Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) overtime “white collar” regulations. We are happy to share the information below and hope it is both beneficial and informative.

The new regulations went into effect on August 23, 2004. The changes to the regulations are intended to update the standards used to determine whether “white collar” employees are exempt from the overtime requirements of the FLSA. Under the FLSA, an employee may qualify for exemption if the tests relating to salary and job duties are met. In addition to increasing the minimum salary level below which employees are entitled to overtime pay to $455 a week ($23,660 annually), the new regulations also revise the duties test of the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions.

The new rules also provide that paralegals and legal assistants generally are not considered exempt professionals. Section 541.301(e)(7) states that paralegals and legal assistants generally do not qualify as exempt unless they hold advanced specialized degrees in other professional fields and use that advanced knowledge in the performance of their duties. The section concerning paralegals and legal assistants, 29 C.F.R. Section 541.301(e)(7), reads as follows:

Paralegals and legal assistants generally do not qualify as exempt learned professionals because an advanced specialized academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for entry into the field. Although many paralegals possess general four-year advanced degrees, most specialized paralegal programs are two-year associate degree programs from a community college or equivalent institution. However, the learned professional exemption is available for paralegals who possess advanced specialized degrees in other professional fields and apply advanced knowledge in that field in the performance of their duties. For example, if a law firm hires an engineer as a paralegal to provide expert advice on product liability cases or to assist on patent matters, that engineer would qualify for exemption.

You may find a copy of the final rules on the Department of Labor’s web site at www.dol.gov/fairpay. Please also review
your state’s wage and hour laws as employers must consider the standards most protective to employees.

This communication is provided for general informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. You should consult legal counsel of your choice to discuss your specific facts and circumstances, or for answers to any specific legal questions you may have.

As legal recruiters who place professionals in both the private and corporate sectors, we are often asked how hiring authorities can better assess the candidates they hire, and, most importantly, keep the key employees they bring on board. As employers, you are all aware that making an ineffective hire or losing a pivotal staff member of your department can prove extremely costly on various levels. This article will examine the soft costs of an employee vacancy to your department and how you can minimize those vacancies by implementing key employee retention safeguards.

To avoid the heavy costs associated with employee vacancies, you must first examine whether your organization has an effective recruitment process. In other words, are you hiring the right candidates from the start? Equally as important, if not more important, is that you must have an effective retention program in place to avoid excessive and unnecessary employee departures. The bottom line is that you cannot afford to lose your star professionals. But, how do you keep these important members of your legal team?

There will always be natural attrition in your organization due to factors beyond your control. However, there are some simple preventative measures which you can implement to limit key staff departures. Here is a list of actions your department must take in order to protect your most valuable assets – your key employees.

In sum, it is imperative to recognize that effective recruitment and successful retention strategies are the key elements to avoiding the negative effects of unwanted staff vacancies. Invest in your recruitment efforts and in your employees once they have come on aboard. The end result will be a substantial increase in both overall productivity of the department and employee loyalty.