Location:
Atlanta, GA
Industry:
Professional Services
Position Title:
Business Development Director
Client Testimonial
“Mark turned into a great partner for us. He communicates well, follows through and I always feel like he understands what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Challenge:
A large law firm wanted to grow its presence with major employers and business organizations throughout Atlanta.
The role required a licensed attorney who understood legal issues well enough to speak credibly with executives and business leaders and who was interested in moving away from traditional legal practice into business development.
The position centered on building visibility and trust across Atlanta’s business community. That included leading educational workshops, sponsoring events, partnering with trade and professional associations, and helping prospective clients understand legal issues affecting their organizations.
The profile was simply hard to find. The candidate needed the legal credentials, communication skills, and genuine interest in building relationships rather than practicing law full time.
Solution:
We approached the search as a high-volume market mapping exercise.
We targeted licensed attorneys across Atlanta who had demonstrated strong client-facing skills, community involvement, association participation, speaking experience, or interest in the commercial side of a legal practice.
The search also focused on candidates who were comfortable representing a firm publicly and developing relationships over time. Large legal engagements were often influenced by trust, visibility, and subject-matter credibility long before a formal need arose.
We worked through a broad candidate pool to identify attorneys who were genuinely interested in making that career shift and had the presence to become a visible representative of the firm in Atlanta’s business community.
Outcome
- ▸ We interviewed well over 30 candidates before narrowing the field to attorneys who had the right combination of legal credibility, business development ability, and genuine interest in moving away from traditional legal practice.
- ▸ The client ultimately made two offers. One candidate accepted and joined the firm to focus on developing relationships across Atlanta’s business community through educational events, association partnerships, sponsorships, and other long-term business development efforts.
