Peter Smith

position: Executive Director, On Call Counsel, 46 year old company providing direct hire, contract attorney and temp-to-perm placement for all legal staffing needs. mission statement: (a) Professional legal recruiter for direct hire and contract placements serving all California markets. Absolute professionalism, efficiency, thorough market knowledge, and strong working relationships with all premier law firms is not the apex of the ideal recruiting practice, but rather the ground floor of the same, upon which all quality candidates must insist. (b) Keen insight into the practice of law as a unique career path, mastery and passion for professional development for attorneys, profound understanding of the challenges facing legal professionals, and a powerful sense of advocacy for candidates. This an advocacy expressed in not only in a powerful kinetic and voice presence, but also as a writer. (c) The primary skill set brought to bear on a legal search is the ability and savvy to understand, package, and express a candidate's skills, temperament, and professional aspirations. background: Former litigator and trial lawyer with Nixon Peabody, formerly Lillick & Charles, a 100-year-old San Francisco firm. As a litigator, exhibited a high aptitude for oral advocacy. Successfully defended business entities large and small in both high-stakes civil litigation and government compliance. Second to courtroom advocacy, a passion for showing clients how to understand the legal system, what to expect, and how best to succeed. practice: Educate, advise, direct. Ensure candidates are placed, but more importantly, placed with a firm with the expertise, clientele, and culture that will bring out their best efforts. Happiness and fulfillment in the law are attainable if candidates are able to apply, with some guidance, strategic thinking and self-knowledge. personal: In addition to considerable legal experience and insight into the world's premier legal markets, a wealth of life experience. Principal in two successful prior business ventures, served as an Arabic linguist and strategic analyst, traveled extensively in Central and South America (picking up very passable Spanish and an uncannily native accent along the way), and now helps raise three children with his wife, Sheryl. Pete is proud of his bilingual household; all his adopted children were born in Guatemala. conclusion: Most important from a candidate's perspective, my consistent application of relentless drive, analytical abilities, and considerable human insight to help each candidate discover and hone his or her personal and career goals and to finding each candidate the best possible position. This approach to a legal search is sufficiently unique to merit reading the following further explanation. education: Juris Doctor, University of San Francisco. Bachelor of Science, International Business Administration, San José State University. Diplomas with Honors, Modern Standard Arabic and Syrian Dialect, the Defense Language Institute.