Legal recruiter Major Lindsey acquires freelance lawyer startup

(Reuters) – Legal recruiting firm Major, Lindsey & Africa said Thursday it has acquired Hire an Esquire, a staffing startup that uses technology to match lawyers and paralegals with primarily freelance jobs.

Hanover, Maryland-based Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA) said it will integrate Hire an Esquire’s online platform into its own interim staffing business line. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MLA’s flexible staffing business currently uses a “very human-driven approach,” said partner Kirsten Keegan Vasquez, MLA’s vice president of law firm recruiting and interim legal talent.

Philadelphia-based Hire an Esquire analyzes lawyer and legal professional candidates and assigns a “fit score” based on hard and soft skills to match them with law firms and legal departments.

Keegan Vasquez said this approach will provide “another data point” for staffing decisions. “We think that’s critically important as data and tech-driven models become more popular in the legal industry,” she said.

Hire an Esquire’s existing marketplace platform also allows legal employers to directly communicate with candidates, according to its website.

Keegan Vasquez said MLA believes the technology can augment its more traditional services, allowing clients and candidates to explore job opportunities “when they have time to, not just when our recruiter is available.”

A handful of other companies also offer online marketplaces for law firms and corporate legal departments to find freelance lawyers or outside counsel.

MLA is owned by talent solutions company Allegis Group. Its interim staffing business makes up about 25% of the company’s bottom line, Keegan Vasquez said.

The legal search giant will bring on Hire an Esquire’s nine employees. The company was founded in 2011 and previously raised capital from investors including Dentons’ legal tech accelerator arm. Keegan Vasquez said the business will be branded as MLA’s Hire an Esquire for now.

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