President’s Letter

Happy New Year to everyone in the NALSC Community!

This past year, 2025, was a banner year for NALSC, with our organization adding new search firm and law firm members at a record pace. Our sponsor ranks grew, as well, with several existing sponsors increasing their commitment to NALSC, which enabled us to further enrich our offerings to our members to the benefit of the legal community at large. Our committees have been actively working on strategic initiatives, many of which you will read about in this newsletter. We presented monthly online programs to supplement our live events—the Annual Conference in the Spring and the Fall Symposium, plus a regional event in Boston—in addition to producing numerous new episodes of our podcast, “Recruiter Stories.” (Check them out here: https://www.nalsc.org/podcasts/)

2025 Fall Symposium

We experimented a bit with this past Fall Symposium by locating it in Denver rather than the usual East Coast venues of New York or Washington, DC, and it was a rousing success! It was the largest NALSC event ever! Participation in the Fall Symposium almost doubled in the past three years, from approximately 150 attendees in 2022 to nearly 300 this year. In addition to the beautiful location (including the stunning mountain and city views from the Denver offices of Polsinelli, who generously hosted our kick-off reception), the thought-provoking content of the Symposium itself drew rave reviews. Continuing our Fall tour of the country, the 2026 Fall Symposium, in Austin, Texas, is in the planning stages.

2026 Annual Conference

Coming up next is the 2026 NALSC Annual Conference set for Thursday, February 26th, to Saturday, February 28th, at the Westin New Orleans. As always, the agenda is based on feedback and requests from the NALSC community. This is what we have on tap:

Brain Care Basics for Legal Recruiters
Did I Catch You at a Bad Time?”: A Fun, Interactive & In-Depth Look at Cold-Calling Techniques and Recruiting Outreach
Closing the Generational Communications Gap
Top Mistakes to Avoid in Legal Resumes and Best Practices for Presenting Candidates
AI in Recruiting: How Bots Help You Do More with Less
Navigating Candidate Roadblocks
Tricky L&E Situations
Tech Tools Brainstorming Session (for search firms only)
Selling Your Firm to Recruiters and Candidates (for law firms only)
Where Do We Go From Here? How Technology is Taking Over the Legal Profession and Other Predictions

The always popular roundtables currently include Building a Team Culture to Increase Your Bottom Line, Partner Recruiting for Beginners, Non-Traditional Ways to Get the Deal Over The Line, The Business of Law in 2026, Formula-Based and Other Partner Compensation Models, Candidate Integration,and Working Around Obstacles During In-House Recruiting, plus more Brain Care Tools for Recruiters.

We’re especially excited about our keynote session with legal columnist David Lat’s Inside Scoop on the Legal Market, Current Events, and the Future of Legal Recruiting. David will share his unique industry insider intel and perspectives gained from more than 25 years of working in the legal industry. Also, based in part on his two years in the trenches as a legal search consultant, David will reveal what he was surprised legal recruiters didn’t know about the practice of law and why it matters for their success.

Of course there will be plenty of time to network with your colleagues and visit with our sponsors during coffee breaks and lunch, our Thursday evening cocktail reception and hospitality suite with a New Orleans jazz band and tarot card readings, the Friday afternoon champagne toast, and the Friday night gala reception and dinner co-hosted by NALSC and Adams & Reese at The Jaxson on The River. Stay tuned for information on fun pre- and post-conference activities, as well.

Given the overwhelming popularity of NALSC conferences and symposia, this conference and room block sold out well ahead of time, but you still can contact headquarters at info@nalsc.org to get on the waiting list.

Regional Event

The first regional event of 2026 will be held at the Los Angeles offices of Michelman & Robinson on January 28th, and is open to all search firm members of the NALSC Community across the country. The firm’s Chair and co-founder, Sanford Michelman, will lead a lively discussion on how search firms and their clients can best work together for successful lateral recruiting, followed by a cocktail networking reception.

Law firm members, to explore hosting a regional event in any of your offices across the country, please contact our headquarters at info@nalsc.org.

Board Election

Elections for positions on the NALSC Board of Directors are in process now.The ballots were emailed to search firm members on January 5th and must be returned by January 26th. Results will be announced and emailed shortly thereafter. The new Board members will be installed at the business meeting at the Annual Conference on Friday morning, February 27, 2026, in New Orleans. Please vote and return your ballots!

Sadly, we will be losing at least three current members of our Board. Natalie Thorsen Harris is terming off, and Vice President of Long Range Planning Jordan Abshire and Board Secretary Ethel Badawi have chosen not to run for second terms due to other commitments. Each of these Board members have contributed significantly to the growth and progress of our organization. We sincerely thank them for their time, efforts, and creativity. We will miss working with them in this capacity, but look forward to their continued participation as active and valued members of the NALSC Community.

Many More Thanks

We couldn’t do all we do at NALSC without the tireless efforts of our Headquarters staff, Executive Director Stephanie Ankus, and consultants Alice Perez and Valerie Fontaine. ‘Nuff said!

Kudos, also, to the NALSC Newsletter Committee, chaired by Jennifer Gillman, along with the excellent contributions of Jordan Abshire, Kevin Bacon, and Natalie Thorsen Harris, aided by Valerie Fontaine. Their time and dedication in putting together our high-quality, informative semi-annual Newsletters is second to none. NALSC’s Newsletters are exceptional and extremely well-received and can be accessed through the NALSC website at https://www.nalsc.org/newsletters/.

And last, but certainly not least, special thanks go to our entire membership who continue to make NALSC the special organization that it is today. It’s my privilege and honor to work alongside many of the search firms and law firms that comprise the NALSC community, all of whom play an essential role in NALSC’s growth and success.