I’ve worked with a number of recruiters over the years and you are by far the most professional and one I liked the most. I’ve really appreciated how you’ve kept me up to date and handled each step of the process.
I’ve worked with Valerie on a couple of occasions, and she is the best recruiter I’ve encountered, bar none. I’ve received multiple job offers every time I’ve worked with her, which is a testament to her focused approach. If you’re looking for someone who cares about your career goals, is incredibly responsive and committed to finding your next role, stop your search now. Working with Valerie is a like getting a custom suit – the experience is tailored to you. She provides insightful and constructive feedback on your resume, will only send you positions that you are a great fit for, and will be your best advocate during salary negotiations. I recommend and connect her to friends and colleagues any chance I get. Thank you, Valerie!
Roberta was an amazing resource and friend during my job search. Her knowledge of the industry, the LA market, and recent hiring trends was invaluable in helping me locate good fits for my next move. Her willingness to meet, discuss my questions, and prepare me for interviews was integral to the successful conclusion of my search.
Valerie is a dedicated, hard-working, thorough, kind, and understanding professional. I was so impressed with the amount of time she devoted to her clients and to assisting prospective candidates. As a recruiter, she walks you through every step of the process. But she is so much more than a recruiter.
Valerie Fontaine is extraordinarily knowledgeable about the LA legal job market. Valerie is also just a kind, pleasant-to-deal-with person, which goes a long way and isn’t always a given among recruiters.
Madeleine is a rare headhunter…not trying to talk me into a job because it might benefit her, but truly looking out for my interests, as well as her client’s.
Valerie is a world-class, awe-inspiring professional. She is always able to deliver on-time and at great value. In addition, she has been an inspiration to all attorneys that have read her outstanding book. Valerie’s book – The Right Moves: Job Search and Career Development Strategies for Lawyers – is a must read for all attorneys and law school students that are serious about success in their careers in the Law.
Valerie just released the updated 2nd edition of her book, search for it on Amazon and NALP.org, read it and be inspired.
Madeleine found me my “perfect fit” job. She listened to me and understood my needs as well as those of the employer. Her ability to understand what the employer is looking for and to understand the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses give her a unique ability to make a match that will last instead of simply filling a position.
Randy is a peerless professional in legal placement in Los Angeles. She remains at the top of my list, both because of her integrity and her extraordinary attention to detail.
In a time when the legal market is tough and the role of the legal recruiter has changed, Roberta remains fully engaged, connected and responsive. She knows the market intimately. She is scrupulously ethical and gives generously of her time. I consistently recommend her to my clients.
Valerie is someone I think of first when I look to partner with a professional search firm. I have known her for many years and have come to expect integrity, consistent communication, and the highest level of partnering towards mutual goals from her and her colleagues.
Madeleine helped me with a difficult job search that other recruiters had no success in pursuing. As a result of Madeleine’s hard work, experience and contacts, I found a good position at a wonderful firm. I think that she is a great person to work with and I am very happy to be able to recommend her.
I was amazed to read such a comprehensive, detailed “how to” for any prospective or current lawyer in just one short volume! This book [The Right Moves: Job Search and Career Development Strategies for Lawyers] contains everything a lawyer needs to know about how to get and keep a job in any area where his or her expertise might lead. And, how to move ahead as far as he or she wishes to go. It is interesting, very readable, and not written in “jargon.” Any lawyer or lawyer-to-be would benefit by perusing this book and every law office and law library should own at least one copy. See Amazon review here.
Randy came highly recommended to me for a very specialized attorney search. She is the best recruiter I’ve ever dealt with. Randy is not only extremely knowledgeable, professional and results oriented, she is extraordinarily bright, articulate, creative and fun. She provided my company with numerous highly qualified candidates. Overall, Randy was simply a delight to deal with.
Valerie is an exceptional legal recruiter. She has her finger on the pulse of the Los Angeles legal market. She has contacts at the best law firms in town and no one works harder to get you in the door and prepare you to succeed in the highly competitive arena of the legal profession. Valerie has gotten me job offers from some of the top law firms in the country, and has successfully placed several colleagues I’ve referred to her over the years. If you need a legal recruiter, you simply cannot do better than Valerie Fontaine.
Randy is an excellent recruiter. She is honest, committed, informed and responsive and will make every effort to get you into a position that will be a great fit. Randy is the only legal recruiter I have ever used and if I ever need a recruiter again, Randy is without a doubt the person I would call.
Of many legal recruiters with whom I’ve worked, Madeleine stands out as someone who truly listens, who is objective, and who strikes the right balance of pragmatism and enthusiasm when discussing prospects. Ultimately I did not get a position through her, but that was due to decisions on my part – I’ve regarded her highly since then and recommended her to other lawyers.
I am fortunate to have read the book [The Right Moves: Job Search and Career Development Strategies for Lawyers] and have the privilege of knowing the author. Valerie, in a nutshell, is a top level recruiter, consultant, and writer. The book is not fluff and is full of valuable information and strategy tips. I highly recommend it. See Amazon review here.
I was a candidate that Valerie had identified for a publicly traded client’s General Counsel position. Although the position was not of significant interest to me, I was extremely impressed with Valerie’s professionalism and knowledge. Moreover, in my working with various executive recruiters in the legal profession during the course of my career,I can with great confidence state that Valerie ranks as one of the best, always cognizant of the candidates’ interests as it relates to the search she is seeking to fill.
With her demonstration of her expertise illustrated by her outstanding book,a must read for the fledgling young lawyer,Valerie also possesses a wonderful demeanor, affable to a fault, and a sense of style and storytelling that makes interaction with her enjoyable and fun.
I heartily recommend Valerie based upon her deep understanding of the legal profession, her unique assessment of the client’s needs and those of potential candidates and her direct, yet gracious, personal style. Suffice to say, she won’t waste your time and it will be time well spent with her if you’re offered that pleasure.
Do you love your job? Do you see yourself doing it until you retire? If your answer is anything but “Yes!” to either of the above, Valerie A. Fontaine’s The Right Moves: Job Search and Career Development Strategies for Lawyers is essential for you and all attorneys considering a move—now or in the future. From tips for working with a “headhunter (and most of us don’t mind that term)” to channeling Alec Baldwin with “Always Be Networking,” Fontaine’s book is a wealth of information—and all of it valuable—for attorneys everywhere. Read online review here.
Randy is not only exceptionally gifted at what she does, she also brings energy and sense of humanity to her work.
I hired Valerie Fontaine, who is a principal of the Seltzer Fontaine legal search firm, to conduct a search for a new Executive Director for a non-profit organization for which I serve as board chair. She was great to work with, she was diligent, she knows her field, and she produced results. Even when we found someone who we thought might work out, she kept looking for potential candidates. She’ll be at the top of my list in any search for which I’m responsible.
Randy is a trusted counselor and advisor whether retained by the hiring firm or by the candidate looking for placement. Highly recommended.
Besides being a talented legal recruiter, Valerie’s book “The Right Moves” should be a must read for attorneys looking to change jobs. I have known Valerie and her partners for many years through NALSC (National Association of Legal Search Consultants) and think they are among the best of California recruiters.
Randy is extremely well connected, will scour the market to find any and all possible opportunities, and has the highest ethical standards. She is extremely responsive, and always keeps you in the loop and well informed. She is simply the only legal recruiter you will ever need, and the only one I completely trust. I wholeheartedly recommend her without any reservations whatsoever.
No longer do lawyers join a law firm and remain through retirement. Because career change is so common, and so vital for lawyers to move up the career ladder, a book like this [The Right Moves: Job Search and Career Development Strategies for Lawyers] is particularly useful.
As a legal recruiter, the author gives authoritative and critical advice about how attorneys can update resumes, prepare for interviews, network effectively and the like. She even offers practical tips, like what not to wear during an interview via videoconference.
I particularly appreciated how the author discusses globalization’s impact on the legal business: the expansion of US law firms overseas, outsourcing and offshoring. These are very important trends, and US-based attorneys need to understand them in order to formulate a responsive personal career plan, i.e. making themselves so marketable that they will be highly desirable employees regardless.
I’m going to recommend this book tomorrow when I lead a teleclass on career change for lawyers in a global economy. See Amazon review here.
I have known Randy for over 20 years. I was her competitor for ten years and developed the highest respect for her which continues to this day. There is no shortage of legal recruiters in the world and what separates the best, like Randy, from the rest, is these 3 things: experience, integrity and relationships with employers borne of the first two. I have referred my friends to her and I have referred my alumni to her. I can make no higher recommendation than that.
After purchasing and reviewing “The Right Moves“, I found it to be completely engaging and informative. It is, among other things, intelligent, well organized, readable, comprehensive, multi-dimensional — providing information for entry level to senior partners. It is made of the “right stuff” and is the “right move” for an attorney seeking a position.
This encyclopedia is also a substantial resource and asset for an employer when examining the merits of a prospective candidate. For all those reasons, it is certainly the “right move” to purchase and possess a copy of this publication as a reference source in every attorney’s office and law firm’s library. See Amazon review here.
Randy is an exceptional, high-integrity legal recruiter with deep contacts in and knowledge of the attorney job market. I used Randy for a couple of job searches and she was without fail responsive, committed, transparent and supremely helpful. Unlike lots of recruiters, she puts your career ahead of self-interest and is dedicated to helping her clients find the right career fit — not just the first job that comes along. I would not hesitate to use Randy again when I take my next career step. She’s terrific.
This book [The Right Moves: Job Search and Career Development Strategies for Lawyers] was great right out of law school. I was pretty lost at what to do and this book had all the right answers. It gave me some really sound strategies at how to go about actually getting a job. See Amazon review here.
I met Randy Beckwith in 2002, when I returned to Southern California looking for a firm job. It goes without saying that Randy knows the L.A. market well and is overall an excellent legal recruiter. What I believe absolutely distinguishes her from many of her peers, however, is her forthrightness and integrity. She will give you her honest, and informed opinion, and is not in it simply to place you and make a commission. As a result, Randy is the only legal recruiter I have met over the course of my career that I trust, and the only one I refer to my friends and colleagues.
Valerie was instrumental in helping me obtain employment following my military career. She is truly dedicated to helping service members, taking time out of her busy schedule to meet with me and to discuss my resume. Thanks to her feedback, I was able to win an interview with the Mayor’s Office based solely on my resume. She knows what she’s talking about, but more importantly she is a sincere and positive person who makes a difference.
I’ve always been impressed by how knowledgeable Valerie is. Very few people understand the Los Angeles legal market as well as Valerie does.