Legal Recruiting Lateral Coordinator

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; New York (NY); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP in New York seeks a Legal Recruiting Lateral Coordinator to support the lateral partner hiring process. You will coordinate interview schedules, manage candidate communications, and handle recruiting logistics, ensuring a smooth and timely process for partners and candidates.

The role requires 1–3 years in legal recruiting, excellent organizational and communication skills, and a commitment to confidentiality.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 1–3 years in legal recruiting within a large law firm preferred.
• Strong organizational and project management skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.
• Discretion with confidential information.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate interview schedules for lateral partner candidates.
• Manage candidate communications and recruiting logistics.
• Organize resumes, biographies and materials for sponsoring partners.
• Keep interview teams informed of progress and next steps.
• Coordinate meeting logistics with Conference Services.
• Maintain Candidate Tracker Tools and related reports.
• Coordinate communications with legal search firms.
• Arrange candidate meals and hospitality logistics as appropriate.
• Support other team members and recruiting initiatives.
• Maintain confidentiality and professionalism throughout the process.

Skills

Organizational skills

Project management

Communication skills

Attention to detail

Relationship building

Customer service mindset

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office Suite

Excel

Outlook

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Job description

LEGAL RECRUITING LATERAL COORDINATOR

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a premier law firm with market-leading practices, a global perspective and strong New York roots. Our clients look to us to bring a distinctively high degree of quality, intensity and creativity to resolve legal challenges effectively and cost efficiently. We believe in hiring talented and dedicated individuals as members of our administrative community. We draw on the strength of our culture and structure to deliver the best of our firm to our lawyers and clients through true collaboration. The firm is seeking a full-time Legal Recruiting Lateral Coordinator to join our Legal Recruiting Department. This position reports to the Chief Legal Recruiting Officer.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Work on multiple aspects of lateral partner hiring, including interview coordination, candidate communications, and recruiting logistics.
• Coordinate interview schedules for lateral partner candidates.
• Collect, organize, and distribute candidate resumes, biographies, business plans, and other relevant materials to sponsoring partners and interview teams.
• Keep sponsoring partners informed of interview progress, candidate status, and upcoming steps throughout the recruitment process.
• Coordinate meeting logistics with Conference Services to ensure a seamless interview experience.
• Maintain the firm's Candidate Tracker Tools and prepare related reports to support recruiting activity and leadership updates.
• Coordinate interview scheduling and ongoing communications with legal search firms.
• Arrange candidate meals, restaurant reservations, and other hospitality logistics as appropriate.
• Provide support for other members of the lateral partner interview scheduling team as needed.
• Maintain the confidentiality of sensitive candidate and business information while ensuring the highest level of professionalism throughout the recruiting process.
• Support additional student, associate, and lateral partner recruiting initiatives and special projects as assigned.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Minimum of 1-3 years of experience in legal recruiting within a large law firm or a related professional services environment preferred.
• Strong organizational and project management skills with the ability to prioritize multiple concurrent assignments and meet deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Exceptional attention to detail and commitment to accuracy.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and Outlook; experience with applicant tracking systems, recruiting databases, or CRM platforms preferred.
• Ability to build strong working relationships with attorneys, search firms, candidates, law schools, vendors, and business services professionals.
• Demonstrated discretion in handling highly confidential and sensitive information.
• Customer service-oriented mindset with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience creating and coordinating complex interview schedules.
• Experience supporting legal work assignments, staffing, evaluations, and summer associate programming.
• Experience planning recruiting, offeree, and summer associate events.
• Knowledge of viRecruit or a comparable applicant tracking system.
• Lateral associate or partner hiring experience.