Our Process
We have a dynamic legal employer database that is updated 24 hours a day in our data facilities in both the United States and abroad. Our database contains contact information for hiring authorities in virtually every law firm, corporation, college, university, law school, and courthouse in the United States. Our service works by allowing you to contact those hiring authorities that best fit your chosen career path. If you want a job, this is the most successful way to get one.
We operate in a different paradigm from that typically considered by lawyers or law students hunting for jobs. A targeted, self-initiated resume distribution as a means to find a job may be counter-intuitive to most legal professionals. However, the vast majority of job hunters (whether lawyers or other professionals) find jobs by writing letters of interest to potential employers. This is a very different concept than the more traditional, but oftentimes less effective, options such as on-campus interviewing or using a legal recruiter.
Visit our testimonials page to see our members share anecdotal evidence that our process works!
We are different, our processes are different, and you will be able to feel this difference yourself. You can search contacts online and purchase them on your own or allow one of our Employment Advocates to guide you through the selection and purchase process. If you select the online option, you will be directed to a page where you can choose to enter your job preferences yourself, including employer specifics such as size of the organization or focus areas. Alternatively, you may choose a consultation with one of our Employment Advocates who will discuss your job search options and concerns through a telephonic interaction with you. Our Employment Advocates are experts who will answer your questions and also provide insights on what to expect from the Legal Authority process.
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Fill out our Sign Up Form. Make sure that your contact information is accurate, so that we can call you and discuss the best way to begin the search for your next job. Also, be sure to give us a phone number where you can be reached during regular business hours—we exercise complete discretion when we contact you. Paste your resume and cover letter (if you have one) into the boxes provided. All of the information you share with us will be 100% confidential and will never be shared with any outside party. Legal Authority understands that your job search is deeply personal, and all dealings with Legal Authority are strictly confidential—regardless of whether or not you choose to use our service. |
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After you fill out the Sign Up Form, you will receive a call shortly to set up an appointment to discuss your job search and resume over the phone. Generally, you will be contacted the same day you sign up. |
| Step 3 |
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During a scheduled appointment, you will speak directly with your Employment Advocate. All of our Employment Advocates have experience working with the legal industry, which allows them a special understanding of the issues specific to a legal job search. Your Employment Advocate will provide an assessment of your overall marketability and will examine your resume and your specific skill set so that a targeted market of employers can be created. Your Employment Advocate will take careful notes throughout the process so that he/she can communicate this with other Legal Authority professionals if you choose to go forward with a job search. Additionally, your Employment Advocate will also offer a critique of your resume to help ensure that you are making the best impression on employers. There will be no fee for any of the above services. |
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During the same telephone call with your Employment Advocate, several database searches will be performed using the most sophisticated legal employer database in the world. We will generate a list of legal employers that meet your specific needs (based on your desired location(s), practice areas, and employer preferences, ranging from the type of organization to the size) and discuss what your feelings are regarding an appropriate course of action with your job search. We will then finalize the search results and provide you with the exact number of employers that meet your specific criteria. This will be your targeted market, and it can be as large or as small as you choose. While some job searches require more action than others, you need to remember that the larger your target market is, the greater your chance of employment. However, if a client is interested in a very focused job search in a rather small area, we may recommend as few as 20 employers. |
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Once you become a Legal Authority client, we provide you with access to our exclusive members-only online system. As soon as you upload a current version of your resume, you will immediately be assigned a Legal Authority Resume Professional whose job it will be to work with you in writing a resume and cover letter that best markets your abilities.
Your Resume Professional will begin creating a personalized resume and cover letter for you, which will be submitted to you for your review. Once you have reviewed the first drafts, you will have the opportunity to provide feedback concerning your documents (including changes, specifications, and preferences) using our state-of-the-art, web-based software. Your Resume Professional is assigned the task of both working for you and working with you, which means that you have the ultimate say in what is done. The guidance and expertise of the Resume Professional will help you figure out what is right for you, but your decisions and your input will be what is ultimately reflected in the final product. By giving you total control over the process (while not making you do any of the work), we ensure that the outcome will be exactly what you had in mind.
All of our Resume Professionals spend their entire days writing resumes and cover letters and are among the very best in the industry. Our Resume Professionals have been trained to know what is important to emphasize in your background and what legal employers look for in a resume and cover letter. Not only do we help you decide which employers to target, but we create polished, winning documents for you that speak to your strengths and achievements and show you in the best possible light. Legal Authority gives you the professional edge you need to get your foot in the door. In fact, it is not uncommon for our well-crafted resumes and cover letters to generate interviews with firms and corporations that had been approached to no avail prior to using Legal Authority.
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Once you have approved the final version of your resume and cover letter, our Data Analysis Department will review the data that will comprise the contacts in your search for errors and potential inaccuracies. To the extent that data is incorrect, the corrections will be made immediately. More than 85% of the time, our Data Analysis Department approves all data for printing within 24 hours. |
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Once our Data Analysis Department is satisfied with the data comprising your search, your data is sent to a Legal Authority Word Processing Center, and your resume and cover letter are printed on high-quality bond paper. We will also include envelopes that are addressed to each employer and contain your return address. Each of your letters and envelopes are specifically addressed to the hiring contact within each hiring organization you are approaching.
 Your application materials will be shipped to you via Federal Express. Your cover letters will be postdated one week from the date of shipment (unless you specify otherwise).
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All you have to do is sign the cover letters, stuff the envelopes, stamp each envelope, and mail them.
Then you can sit back and remain confident that your resumes and persuasive cover letters are reaching a carefully tailored market of potential employers.
Once the mailing is out, remember, you are still a Legal Authority client. We are here to help you throughout your career. Your Employment Advocate will answer your questions or concerns about the interviewing process or starting your new job, and we're always happy to hear about your successes. To hear what current Legal Authority members are saying, click here.
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