Guide · For law firms and companies
How much do legal recruiters charge?
Legal recruiters charge the hiring law firm or company a percentage of the hire's first-year compensation; our retained search fee is 25 to 30 percent. The candidate never pays.
How much do legal recruiters charge?
A percentage of the hire's first-year compensation, paid by the employer. Our retained fee is 25 to 30 percent; move the rate to see what it means on a $455,000 base.
A retained search at 30% on a $455,000 base — the top of our fee range. Our fee × cited base ↗
The base is a cited public figure ($455,000); the percentage is our retained fee range (25–30%). The result is arithmetic, not a quote — the engagement letter fixes the number that applies. Every figure is cited below.
Who pays a legal recruiter?
The hiring law firm or company pays the fee. Candidates never pay a legal recruiter, and the fee is not taken out of the lawyer's pay.
How a search runs from the client's side is in working with a legal recruiter.
How are legal recruitment fees calculated?
Fee = an agreed percentage × the hire's first-year compensation. The percentage rises with seniority and scarcity; the letter names which compensation counts.
The two numbers to pin down are the rate and the base. On our retained searches the rate is 25–30% of first-year total compensation. The base can be salary alone, salary plus guaranteed or target bonus, or total compensation; each choice changes the invoice. A recruiter who quotes a percentage without naming the base has not quoted a fee.
What does a legal recruiter cost for an associate or partner hire?
The same percentage applied to the lawyer's first-year compensation: on a $455,000 senior-associate base, 25 to 30 percent is $113,750 to $136,500.
- $455,000
- Senior (8th-year) associate base used as the worked anchor — the 2026 market scale, before bonus.
- Biglaw Investor / firm salary memos, 2026
- 25–30%
- Our retained search fee as a share of first-year total compensation.
- Sartori & Partners engagement terms, 2026
| Fee rate | On a $455,000 base |
|---|---|
| 25% | ≈ $113,750 |
| 30% | ≈ $136,500 |
For a lateral partner the base is whatever first-year compensation the letter names, and the larger costs sit around the fee: capital contribution, onboarding and the risk of a failed move. Those are in the law firm lateral hiring budget.
What does a recruiter cost for a general counsel or in-house hire?
The percentage applies to the hire's total first-year compensation, base plus bonus, so the fee moves with company stage and seat.
On our 2026 general counsel bands, a 25–30% fee is about $72,000 to $390,000 for most US companies, from a Series B first general counsel to a mid-cap listed general counsel. The stage-by-stage table, a worked example and the timeline are in how much a general counsel search costs; pay itself is in general counsel pay at the largest US-listed companies.
Retained vs contingency: how do legal recruiters get paid?
A retained recruiter is paid a retainer at engagement and the balance on agreed dates; a contingency recruiter is paid only if the client hires a candidate they introduced.
Retained suits senior, sensitive or hard-to-fill mandates; contingency suits more replaceable, time-sensitive roles. Both models are compared in the retained vs contingency guide, and how to pick a firm is in how to choose a legal search firm.
| Attribute | Retained |
|---|---|
| When you pay | A retainer at engagement, then the balance on the letter's dates. |
| Exclusivity | Exclusive to one firm for the mandate. |
| Suits | Senior, sensitive or hard-to-fill roles. |
| What it buys | Whole-market coverage, passive candidates, a confidential process. |
| Attribute | Contingency |
|---|---|
| When you pay | Only on a successful hire — no hire, no fee. |
| Exclusivity | Often non-exclusive; several firms may work the role. |
| Suits | More replaceable, time-sensitive roles. |
| What it buys | Speed and no up-front commitment, with narrower depth. |
Why does a specialist legal search cost more?
Because fewer lawyers can do the job: the fee pays for finding them. A generalist hire draws on a deep pool; a true niche collapses the field to a long tail.
Our market map covers 1,480,000+ lawyers across 27 practice groups and 150+ specialties. A generalist litigation or corporate hire draws on the deepest pools; a compliance and regulatory specialist search draws on a long tail. Fewer qualified, available, conflict-clear candidates means more of the work is genuine search rather than selection — reaching people who are not applying anywhere, which a job posting or database export does not do.
What should a recruiter's engagement letter include?
The rate, the compensation it applies to, the payment dates, a replacement window, candidate ownership and confidentiality — in writing before any work begins.
What does Sartori & Partners charge?
We work retained only: 25 to 30 percent of the hire's total first-year compensation, with 30 percent of the fee paid at engagement and kept if the search is cancelled.
Replacement, off-limits and interim credit are set out in our in-house search terms: fee, guarantee and off-limits.
Sources & method.
The worked fee example is arithmetic on a cited base, not a quotation. Every public figure traces to a live source below; the market map figures are our own.
Sources
2 references- Biglaw Investor — Biglaw Salary Scale + Bonuses (1968–2026) biglawinvestor.com ↗
- Sartori & Partners research programme ↗
Actual fees, percentages, schedules and any caps are agreed in writing per engagement. Compensation figures are publicly reported market scales current as of October 2026 and vary by firm, market, class year and bonus. The market map (1,480,000+ lawyers) is a May–June 2026 snapshot.
Questions about legal recruiter fees
How much do legal recruiters charge?
Legal recruiters charge the hiring firm or company a percentage of the hire's first-year compensation. Our retained search fee is 25 to 30 percent of total first-year compensation. The exact rate, and what counts as compensation, is fixed in the engagement letter.
Who pays the legal recruiter, the firm or the candidate?
The hiring law firm or company pays the fee. Candidates never pay a legal recruiter, and the fee is not deducted from the lawyer's pay.
What is a typical placement fee for hiring an attorney through a recruiter?
A percentage of the attorney's first-year compensation, set in the letter. On a $455,000 senior-associate base, 25 to 30 percent is $113,750 to $136,500. Bonus counted in the letter raises the base the percentage applies to.
How do legal recruiters get paid? Is it a commission?
The hiring firm pays the placement fee to the recruiting firm, either as a retainer plus balance (retained) or only on a hire (contingency). How a recruiting firm then pays its own recruiters is internal to that firm and does not change what the client pays.
What is the difference between retained and contingency fees?
A retained search is exclusive and starts with a retainer paid at engagement; a contingency search is paid only if a hire is made. Retained suits senior, sensitive or hard-to-fill roles. See the retained vs contingency guide.
What causes recruitment introduction fee disputes?
Most disputes turn on who introduced a candidate first and how long that introduction counts. A letter that names the fee basis, the candidate ownership period and the payment dates prevents them.
Are there guarantees if a hire does not work out?
Replacement windows are set in the engagement letter. Ours are 12 months on general counsel, chief legal officer and chief compliance officer searches and 6 months on other in-house searches; the full terms are on our in-house search terms.
For law firms and companies
Clear terms, agreed before we start.
Tell us about the role and we will set out the fee, the retainer and the guarantee in writing before anyone is called.