Associate Director of IP Legal Talent
Cooley is seeking an Associate Director of IP Legal Talent to join the Legal Talent team.
Position summary: The Associate Director of IP Legal Talent is responsible for overseeing the legal recruiting and associate development function for the Intellectual Property Litigation and Patent Prosecution & Counseling practice groups, to include the recruitment of patent agents, law students and lateral attorneys, as well as the integration, development and retention of all non-partner attorneys and patent professionals. Specific duties include, but are not limited to, the following:
Position responsibilities:
Recruiting and onboarding:
- Manage the full life-cycle recruitment process for law students, lateral associates and patent professionals
- Develop and implement recruiting searches and strategies in coordination with the Director of Attorney Recruitment, practice group leaders and other key stakeholders
- Respond to all inquiries from applicants or search firms on a timely, professional and accurate basis
- Oversee candidate tracking, interview scheduling, travel/accommodation coordination and the collection and assessment of evaluations
- Manage attorney offer process, including offer recommendation memos and approval, offer letter language and terms, due diligence, attorney bar admission status, and compliance with risk management policies and procedures
- Ensure the accurate and timely tracking and payment of expenses related to the recruitment process
- Prepare and maintain candidate pipeline reports to track applicant status and outreach efforts
- Serve as Cooley’s representative at events related to on-campus recruiting, law school outreach, clerkship recruitment and diversity initiatives, as needed
- Develop and maintain strong and productive relationships with law school career placement professionals and lateral search firms
- During the annual summer program, oversee assignments and evaluations for IP Litigation and Patent summer associates, participate in mid-summer and end-of-summer reviews
- Coordinate aspects of new attorney and patent agent arrival, orientation and initial onboarding
- Coordinate the local office integration and/or mentor program for first year IP Litigation and Patent associates, patent professionals and other lateral hires
- Maintain regular communication with new hires to ensure they are integrating well and receiving the resources they need
Associate development and retention:
- Conduct periodic check-ins to gauge satisfaction, engagement and productivity
- Serve as a resource to both practice group leaders and associates with respect to addressing work allocation, productivity, performance, and morale-related issues and concerns
- Conduct focus groups as needed and report findings to department leadership
- Oversee requests regarding inter-office transfers, including relocation
- Responsible for overseeing patent law school tuition program and compliance with patent bar policy
- Support the associate and patent professional compensation and review process
- Work with practice group leaders and broader talent team to ensure quality reviews are prepared and delivered in a timely fashion
- Meet regularly with relevant partners and broader talent team to identify high performing individuals, as well as individuals associates who may need more support through additional training or mentoring
- Collaborate with Legal Education, Professional Development and Associate Development team members regarding skills/development training programs and professional development initiatives
Other duties:
- Ensure accurate and current data entry in the applicant tracking database and Worksite, prepare and audit reports to ensure accuracy of data
- Prepare, administer, and audit monthly variance analyses of practice group talent budget
- Establish and maintain strong and constructive relationships with other firm departments, including Professional Development, Attorney Licensing & Compliance, Legal Education, Diversity Equity & Inclusion, Human Resources, Marketing and Information Services
- Participate in local attorney recruiting professional association(s), as appropriate
- Attend training, education and development programs to enhance performance, professional development and advancement
- Provide lateral partner recruiting support to Director of Lateral Recruitment and Strategic Growth on an office/practice group specific basis, as needed
- Develop and maintain practice area specific information for recruiting materials and website
- Provide day-to-day supervision of direct report(s), ensure they are fully trained in all aspects of their responsibilities, provide guidance and support at the highest level
- Ensure compliance with assigned work hours for direct reports, and monitor for compliance with all firm and department policies. Manage staffing coverage, review and process time logs/time off requests
- Support business professional development and continued educational opportunities
- In collaboration with immediate supervisor and HR, participate in hiring, performance appraisals, counseling, termination and other employee lifecycle events
- All other duties as assigned or required
Skills and experience:
Required:
- After orientation at Cooley LLP, exhibit proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite, iManage and other firm applications
- Ability to work extended and/or weekend hours, as required
- Ability to travel, as required
- 8+ years’ directly applicable legal talent and/or associate development experience with 4+ years’ management experience, (some at senior manager level, within a professional services firm, preferably a law firm)
- Bachelor's Degree
Preferred:
- Experience working with a patent practice in a law firm
- Previous experience with HR/recruiting software
- Previous experience managing a budget
- Supervisory experience
Competencies:
- Entrepreneurial by nature
- Excellent attention to detail
- Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with ability to facilitate and solve problems
- Ability to organize, prioritize and coordinate multiple activities often under tight timelines
- Ability to drive projects to completion and achieve goals
- Strong judgment
- Team-player with collaborative spirit
- Unwavering ability to handle and maintain confidentiality regarding firm information, projects, client data (if applicable)
- High level of professionalism at all times
- Demonstrated ability to lead through influence and develop talent [if applicable]
- Proactive, analytical mindset
- Effective presentation skills
Cooley offers a competitive compensation and excellent benefits package and is committed to fair and equitable employment practices.
EOE.
The expected annual pay range for this position with a full-time schedule is $200,000 - $240,000. Please note that final offer amount will be dependent on geographic location, applicable experience and skillset of the candidate.
We offer a full range of elective benefits including medical, health savings account (with applicable medical plan), dental, vision, health and/or dependent care flexible spending accounts, pre-tax commuter benefits, life insurance, AD&D, long-term care coverage, backup care for children and/or adults and other parental support benefits. In addition to elective benefit options, benefited employees receive firm-paid life insurance, AD&D, LTD, short term medical benefits as well as 25 days of Paid Time Off (“PTO”) and 10 paid holidays each year. We provide generous parental leave and fertility benefits. New employees will attend a detailed benefit orientation to learn more about our many benefits and resources.
