Lateral Recruiting Assistant

wsgr; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid schedule

Confidential information handling

Job summary

Wilson Sonsini is seeking a Recruiting Assistant to support the lateral attorney recruiting team and onboarding process. You will handle data entry, documentation, and tracking to ensure new hires start on time and candidates have a positive experience.

The role emphasizes collaboration with onboarding coordinators, recruiters, IT, and partners, with a hybrid work schedule. A bachelor’s degree and strong organizational skills are preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred and strong academic record.
• Prior administrative, coordination, or recruiting experience in a law firm or professional services environment is valued.
• Exceptional attention to detail with the ability to manage high volumes of data accurately.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to track multiple candidates and deadlines.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work independently, manage priorities, and handle confidential information with discretion.

Responsibilities

• Review resumes and calculate GPAs with high accuracy and perform heavy data entry for applicant tracking.
• Maintain candidate database ensuring records are accurate and up to date.
• Coordinate pre-hire conflicts checks and track status for each candidate in the pipeline.
• Send ethical walls lists to partners and perform supplemental conflicts checks before start dates.
• Coordinate background checks, gather verification data, and summarize reports for review.
• Manage lateral link assignments and communicate with hiring partners about options.
• Assist with onboarding documentation and communications, including orientation schedules and equipment orders.
• Track onboarding progress and flag items at risk of delay for action.
• Answer questions about Workday onboarding and firm processes; send reminders before start dates.
• Support recruiting events logistics and materials for Patent Agent hiring.
• Maintain candidate tracking systems and assist reporting for the recruiting team.

Skills

Attention to detail

Data entry

Communication skills

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred

Tools

Workday

HireRight

Job description

Wilson Sonsini is the premier legal advisor to technology, life sciences, and other growth enterprises worldwide. We represent companies at every stage of development, from entrepreneurial start-ups to multibillion-dollar global corporations, as well as the venture firms, private equity firms, and investment banks that finance and advise them. The firm has approximately 1,100 attorneys in 17 offices: 13 in the U.S., two in China, and two in Europe. Our broad spectrum of practices and entrepreneurial spirit allow exceptional opportunities for professional achievement and career growth.

The firm is seeking a Recruiting Assistant to join our dynamic Lateral Recruiting Team. The Recruiting Assistant will provide critical support to our Onboarding Coordinator and our lateral attorney recruiting teams, handling the detailed, high-volume work that keeps our onboarding and integration process running smoothly. This role requires exceptional attention to detail; the Recruiting Assistant will be responsible for data entry, documentation, and tracking where accuracy directly affects a new hire's ability to start on time and a candidate's experience with the firm.

Our ideal candidate is able to work collaboratively within a team but also handle individual responsibilities and adapt to rapidly changing priorities. This is an excellent opportunity for a candidate looking for growth potential in legal recruiting. The Recruiting Assistant will work closely with the Onboarding Coordinator, the Recruiting Coordinator, recruiters, IT, and our conflicts team, and will maintain strong relationships with hiring partners and lateral links to support seamless onboarding experience for new attorneys.

This position is available as a hybrid work schedule.

Responsibilities

• Reviewing resumes and calculating GPAs with a high degree of accuracy, and performing heavy data entry related to applicant tracking.
• Maintaining the candidate database as resumes are received and decisions are made, ensuring all records are accurate, complete, and up to date.
• Coordinating completion of pre-hire conflicts checks: gathering conflicts information from candidates, submitting it to the conflicts team for review, and carefully tracking status for every candidate in the pipeline.
• Sending lists of ethical walls to hiring partners to confirm a candidate may join with those walls in place, and performing a supplemental conflicts check approximately two weeks before each candidate's start date to catch any new matters.
• Coordinating background checks: providing candidates with the background form, inputting information into HireRight, following up directly with candidates if employment or education cannot be verified, and summarizing background reports for recruiter and GCO review to ensure candidates are cleared before their start date.
• Managing Lateral Link assignments: emailing hiring partners for suggestions, confirming availability with suggested lateral links, and sending program and new hire information.
• Assisting with onboarding documentation collection and communications, including new phone orders, orientation schedules, and general information about joining the firm.
• Tracking onboarding progress against key checkpoints and flagging any items at risk of falling behind schedule.
• Answering new hire questions about Workday onboarding and general firm processes, and sending hiring partners and lateral links timely reminders ahead of each new hire's start date.
• Supporting recruiting events, including logistics, invitations, and materials, for Patent Agent hiring.
• Maintaining candidate tracking systems and supporting reporting for the recruiting team.
• Documenting commonly occurring new hire questions and issues to help the team proactively address them for future hires.
• Ensuring compliance with all processes and maintaining a high level of confidentiality with sensitive candidate and new hire information.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred.
• Prior administrative, coordination, or recruiting experience in a law firm or professional services environment is a plus.
• Exceptional attention to detail, with a demonstrated ability to manage high volumes of data entry and documentation without errors.
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to track multiple candidates and deadlines simultaneously across different stages of the hiring process.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills.
• The ability to set priorities, work independently, and handle a variety of duties effectively under time constraints.
• An understanding of unconscious bias and its effect on recruiting and hiring.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to work well with different levels of firm personnel and external candidates.
• The ability to handle confidential and sensitive information with the appropriate discretion.
• A proactive, detail-first mindset: comfortable double-checking work, catching discrepancies, and following through on outstanding items without pro