Valerie A. Fontaine earned her JD from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) and her BA, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, from UCLA. She was on the Editorial Board of COMM/ENT, a Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law. Valerie practiced law with a prominent Los Angeles law firm and entered the legal search profession in 1981. Valerie is past Secretary to the Board of Directors of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) and former Chair of its Newsletter Committee. She currently serves as a consultant to NALSC headquarters.
Are you nervous about your upcoming job interview? Don’t try to calm down. Get excited instead. Much has been written about how to banish pre-interview jitters, but a better strategy is to use that energy to enhance your chances of success. Reframe your feelings The trick is “anxiety reappraisal,” as described in a March 23,…
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Top talent is a hot commodity and will have many suitors. Thus, to engage and ultimately hire the best candidates, you need to woo them. The interview experience is a major factor in whether a prospect chooses to join your organization because your recruiting and hiring process reflects what it’s like to actually work there. According…
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With increased competition among law firms, business development is a top priority. To maximize revenues, many—if not most—law firms incentivize rainmakers via compensation models which encourage business development. They track originations as a way to reward those who bring in the most business. Historically, however, the most profitable U.S. law firms never tracked originations. They…
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O’Melveny jumped to the front of the Biglaw recruiting pack with the announcement of its plans to use a gamified career assessment and recruiting platform to evaluate potential law school candidates. Through the gamification of recruiting, the firm hopes to broaden its recruiting pipeline and gain access to more diverse candidates. Gamification uses game theory,…
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