Law Firms and Recruiting Videos

Kashmir Hill, one of my favorite bloggers, blogged yesterday about recruitment videos. Kashmir's blog can be found here: http://abovethelaw.com/2008/10/adventures_in_lawyer_advertisi_2.php

In the blog, Kashmir refers to Chicago firm Freeborn and Peters. Their career site promises associates the opportunity to "thrive in an open, supportive, collegial culture." A series of recruitment videos have firm attorneys and partners in starring roles and are a testament to the firm's unorthodox culture. Check them out here-- they are long, but worth it.

Kashmir's favorite video is "Attorney Lunch," featuring attorneys snoozing, taking shots of coffee, and whistling while they march, as well as an evil partner who misdirects said attorneys to an e-discovery seminar instead of a "weekly gathering of attorneys with free food and drink." We are left wondering though why Freeborn attorneys have such paralegalish days: making photocopies and re-stacking boxes of document production.

Another video, "Bags," ends with the exhortation: "Work Hard. Play Hard." Kashmir's tipster had this to say about using videos like this as a recruiting tool: "I'm still not entirely sure what I think of them as a recruiting tool. On the one hand, they're completely hilarious, especially for a law firm, and I thought it made the firm look like a fun place to work. On the other hand, I could see how a lot of people would think the videos portrayed the associates as unprofessional (doodling and bored while on the phone with someone, looking unprepared while taking a deposition, etc.). So I think it completely depends on how you think they struck the balance between good humor and professionalism. I'm sort of amazed that the firm put the videos up on its website at all, but ultimately I think it was a good thing they buried the videos on the associate recruiting page where potential clients most likely wouldn't look!"


Be sure to check out these videos. They're funny, but are they an effective recruiting tool for new talent and what will be the overall impact on the firm itself? Let me know what you think.

And thanks for this blog, Kashmir!