June 26, 2025
How to Run a Fast, Effective Legal Search—Without Compromising Quality
You’re in the middle of trial prep when your paralegal gives notice. Or worse, an associate quits with two weeks left before a deal closes, and no one else has capacity. The calendar doesn’t care, and neither do your clients. You don’t need a long hiring process. You need someone who can step in, now.
This kind of urgent search is common in the legal world. It’s high-pressured, time-sensitive, and easy to get wrong. I’ve been on the receiving end of plenty of those calls: “We need someone – yesterday.” What comes next matters.
Fast hiring isn’t just about moving quickly. It’s about knowing where speed helps, where it hurts, and how to stay focused on what the role really requires.
In this post, I’ll break down five steps we use at JurisTemps to help legal teams hire fast, without compromising fit, performance, or peace of mind.
1. Define the real need – not just the job title
Job titles in the legal field rarely tell the full story. “Associate” doesn’t tell you what kind of law they practice or how senior they are. “Litigation paralegal” might mean anything from managing discovery to drafting motions. And in many states, “legal assistant” and “paralegal” are used interchangeably, especially at smaller firms.
When firms hire off title alone, they often end up with someone who technically fits the role but isn’t equipped to do the job they actually need done.
That’s why the first step in a fast search isn’t posting the job, it’s getting clear on what this person needs to deliver in the first 30 – 60 days. Are they e-filing in Missouri and Illinois? Managing 75 client matters? Supporting multiple attorneys under pressure?
Kackovic & Deichmann (2025) found that in high-stakes selection processes, the initial screeners, those identifying general promise and alignment, were more successful at spotting high-potential talent than the final decision-makers, who tended to fixate on “picking the best” and leaned toward safer, more conventional choices.
“The professionals were surprisingly good at spotting talent... but for final choices, it may be more useful to think about meeting specific objectives than believing you can winnow the group to the best of the best.”
— Kackovic & Deichmann, Harvard Business Review, 2025
That research reinforces what we see in legal recruiting every day: the best hires come from clearly defined needs, not rigid checklists. Focus on outcomes and let that shape your ideal candidate profile – not the other way around.
2. Build the process before the search starts
Hiring moves quickly, until it doesn’t. One of the most common breakdowns we see in fast legal searches is process paralysis: the job gets posted before anyone has agreed on who’s reviewing candidates, who’s conducting interviews, or who actually makes the final decision.
The result? Promising candidates get stuck in limbo, and the firm loses credibility in a tight market.
This isn’t just anecdotal. A 2022 survey by Greenhouse found that 58% of candidates drop out of hiring processes due to poor communication or unclear next steps (Suzuno, 2022). That number reflects a broader pattern confirmed by Chambers (2022), which warns that uncalibrated or overly complex processes often delay decisions without improving outcomes. In fast-moving industries, and law is one of them, those delays can be fatal to a search.
“Finding out whether someone is a good fit might take a little time, but you could lose candidates to companies with faster hiring times if you drag your feet too long... 62% of professionals lose interest two weeks after the first interview if they haven’t heard back.”
— Chambers, Harvard Business Review, 2022
In the legal world, where deadlines are non-negotiable, the bar is even higher. If you want to move fast, the process needs to be pre-aligned. That means before you even post the job, Lyons (2024) suggests clarifying key outcomes and potential red flags internally.
And don’t forget communication. Decide upfront how you’ll stay in sync with your recruiter or hiring team – whether that’s daily check-ins, weekly updates, or a quick call when a resume hits the mark. Silence slows momentum.
The firms that succeed in fast searches aren’t improvising. They’ve already mapped the path before the search begins.
3. Don’t rely on job boards – use every tool in your toolbox
In fast searches, waiting for the perfect resume to land in your inbox is a losing game. Most qualified legal professionals aren’t applying, they’re billing, they’re fielding client calls, prepping for trial, or managing closings. They don’t have time to scroll job boards.
That’s why the most successful legal teams use every resource in their hiring toolbox: alumni lists, internal referrals, bar associations, niche job boards – and yes, recruiting agencies.
When speed is non-negotiable, don’t overlook temporary legal staff. Temps can provide immediate coverage, keeping work moving while you continue your search for the right long-term hire.
This isn’t guesswork. According to LinkedIn’s Talent Trends report, over 70% of the workforce is passive, and agency-sourced candidates are far more likely to fill urgent or hard-to-place roles (Gager, Sittig, & Batty, 2015). These candidates aren’t invisible – they’re just inaccessible unless someone’s already talking to them.
In law, the filters are tighter. You need more than just general experience, you need jurisdictional fit, specific filing experience, confidentiality acumen, and someone who can hit the ground running. That kind of precision requires proactive sourcing, not passive posting.
When you use every tool available – including a recruiter who understands the legal landscape – you move faster, with better results.
4. Focus interviews on capability, not credentials
It’s natural to want to be thorough when hiring under pressure. But here’s the irony: the more elaborate the interview process, the more likely firms are to default to “safe” candidates, those with polished resumes, familiar logos, or degrees from the right schools.
Irina Cozma (2024) emphasizes that first-time or untrained interviewers often rely on gut instinct or surface-level impressions in the absence of clear structure and job relevance. Her advice is direct:
“Without guidance, interviewers may default to vague questions or get sidetracked by charisma or brand familiarity. Instead, ask specific, behavior-based questions tied to the job at hand. These reveal far more about a candidate’s actual readiness.”
— Irina Cozma, Harvard Business Review, 2024
Structured interviews – those built on consistent, job-relevant questions – improve predictive accuracy, reduce bias, and are more legally defensible. In legal hiring, that means focusing less on polish and more on practical experience. Ask what they’ve done, not what they’ve seen. It’s not about being impressed. It’s about being confident in the hire.
5. Move fast - but stick the landing
Once you’ve made a decision, don’t wait to formalize it. Draft the offer, confirm the start date, and get onboarding in motion. A fast search doesn’t end with “you’re hired”; it ends when your new hire is fully integrated and productive.
In legal environments, early momentum matters. A 2007 meta-analysis published in the Journal of Applied Psychology found that onboarding practices that build role clarity, self-efficacy, and social acceptance are positively linked to job satisfaction, performance, commitment, and retention. These outcomes are especially important in legal roles, where the stakes are high, and expectations are immediate.
“Newcomer adjustment mediates the relationship between socialization tactics and outcomes. When organizations help new hires gain role clarity, confidence, and social integration, outcomes improve across the board.”
— Bauer et al., 2007
If you’re working with a recruiter, make sure onboarding expectations are shared early.
- Will the hire be shadowing someone?
- What systems access do they need day one?
- Who is checking in with them during the first week?
Fast hiring only works if the person can truly hit the ground running. That means setting them up to succeed, not just to start.
Conclusion: Fast doesn’t have to mean frantic
Urgent legal searches happen. But they don’t have to feel chaotic. When you define what you need, build the process upfront, use all the tools at your disposal, and stay clear on communication, you can move quickly without compromising fit, performance, or peace of mind.
Fast hiring works best when it’s structured, not reactive. And in legal recruiting, that structure is what sets successful searches apart.
Aaron Koshner is a legal recruiter at JurisTemps, where he focuses on talent strategy, candidate experience, and legal hiring practices. He studied cognitive and organizational psychology at Columbia University and brings an evidence-based lens to everyday hiring challenges.
