CASE STUDY
As an experienced privacy counsel, the attorney had specialized in providing advice and counsel to technology organizations for 15+ years. His areas of expertise include data protection, risk and compliance. He also supported sales and marketing teams with complex commercial and technology agreements throughout North and Central America, Asia and Europe. He was open to interim roles knowing he could access high-quality opportunities with impressive organizations outside of his local market as he had done so previously.
Due to financial constraints, the attorney knew layoffs were likely on the horizon at his current firm. This led to anxiety and concern regarding a gap in employment and financial stability. Other factors were also prompting his search include (1) no longer feeling challenged in his current role, (2) global privacy title with lower-level, redundant responsibilities and (3) the desire to become general counsel. Although he was managing a large volume of contracts and agreements, he handled immediately as received and essentially had his afternoons free to seek out opportunities to learn new skills.
At the news of a potential reduction in force (RIF), the attorney recalled the expertise of Major, Lindsey & Africa and reconnected with the firm. Understanding the attorney’s career needs had changed, the Interim Legal Talent recruiter worked with him to curate his resume to attract sophisticated opportunities. Also understanding the technology industry, the recruiter began to advocate for him to be considered at a well-known technology organization seeking to hire an Interim Privacy Counsel. Shortly upon reviewing his resume, the company moved swiftly, with interviewing and onboarding occurring within two weeks. To date, he has been placed with this particular client twice, similarly handling global privacy matters as well as expanding into some product counsel work—which has ultimately enhanced his resume!
Through our foresight and understanding of his skill and career aspirations, our Interim Legal Talent recruiter was able to match the attorney with a hiring manager he had worked with on past engagements. The timeliness of this introduction also allowed him to efficiently pivot from his role at the firm and avoid pending layoffs to land a substantive role that allowed him to gain valuable experience that would increase his marketability for future roles.
Since partnering with us to leverage interim opportunities, the attorney has been able to access and attract remote opportunities that allow him to offer legal subject-matter expertise and work cross-functionally with a variety of teams on challenging projects, including privacy program development, technology product counseling, regulatory compliance, risk management. He has also supervised outside counsel—all of which has strengthened his resume for future leadership opportunities.