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Municipal Agency Needs to Fill High-profile Position Quickly – Calls on Robert Half Legal

Client Profile Industry: Municipal government for city of 200,000+
Department Size: 1,200 employees
Municipal Growth Rate: Approximately tripled in 20 years

Business Situation
The client is the governing department for a North American city that has experienced rapid residential and industrial growth since being incorporated in 1991. The client employs 1,200 people that operate the city's municipal services; these positions include the mayor, city manager and a variety of commissioners. Recently, the city's Commissioner of Legal Services retired. This highly visible position required a senior level legal professional to manage a variety of tasks, including all legal matters, real estate transactions, by-laws, human resources, clerks and enforcement services. Because the client did not have access to a network of qualified legal professionals, they called on Robert Half Legal to handle the search and provide highly skilled candidates in a relatively short time span.

Project Scope
Due to the client's heavy workload and the need to fill the position as quickly as possible, they looked to Robert Half Legal to spearhead the effort to find a suitable candidate. The Robert Half Legal Recruiting Manager discussed the requirements for the position, first over the phone, and, later, in person with the mayor and other high-level staff members. After getting a clear picture of the client's needs and the candidate's required skill sets, the Recruiting Manager took advantage of the extensive Robert Half Legal database of thousands of industry professionals to identify possible candidates. These were boiled down to a short list of qualified individuals, who were evaluated and interviewed by Robert Half Legal before the client met with them. The list of candidates was presented to the client, and interviews were conducted in the city offices. Because of her strong background as a lawyer, the Robert Half Legal Recruiting Manager continued to be involved during the interview process and helped to develop interview questions and provided useful post-interview assessments of each candidate. This "beyond the call of duty" effort was very helpful in keeping the project on track. A candidate was selected and a successful offer was made.

Client's Return on Investment
The client had not previously worked with a hiring agency, but knew of the high standards maintained by the Robert Half Legal Recruiting Manager, and immediately thought of her when the need arose. The client stressed that the extensive legal background of the Robert Half Legal Recruiting Manager was invaluable in understanding the search parameters and being able to provide access to senior level people they otherwise wouldn't have been able to reach. The client believes that engaging with Robert Half Legal saved time, provided a very good hiring process, and, overall, gave them "good value for the money." They felt that "Robert Half Legal is professional, thorough, and provides good follow-up, even after the placement has been completed." The candidate that was placed was a highly skilled individual who has fit into the new position perfectly. Due to Robert Half Legal's overall strength in the legal community – and the Recruiting Manager's experience and ability to access the right candidates – the client said that they would definitely use Robert Half Legal again. Additionally, they would recommend Robert Half Legal to their colleagues as the best resource for finding senior-level legal talent.