Senior Planning Associate Placement for a Top 20 International Law Firm in Scotland

This was not a conventional search. The challenges here were as much about advocacy and judgment as they were about market coverage.

A candidate who had already been rejected. When a candidate has applied directly and not been progressed, most recruiters will move on. Re-presenting them to the same firm risks the relationship and requires a strong, well-reasoned case to have any chance of landing. Jules had to be completely confident in his assessment before making that call.

A market with almost no depth. Senior planning lawyers in Scotland are exceptionally rare. The talent pool is so limited that the firm had already been searching for a considerable period without securing the right candidate. Finding anyone with the right background required looking well beyond the immediate geography and conventional active-candidate channels.

Making the case without a fee guarantee. Approaching a client to reconsider a candidate they had already passed on carries a real commercial risk for a recruiter. There was a genuine possibility that the client would agree the candidate was right for the role and proceed directly, without engaging JMC Legal in a formal capacity. Jules was aware of this risk and was comfortable with it.

Presenting a career story, not just a CV. The candidate's experience was strong, but clearly had not landed effectively on paper. The challenge was not just getting them back in front of the client, but reframing how their background was understood and presenting it in a way that would resonate with what this particular firm was looking for.

Jules's approach was direct, honest and grounded in a genuine understanding of both the candidate and the client.

A detailed candidate brief

Jules spent significant time with the candidate understanding their experience, their technical grounding in planning law and their longer-term ambitions. This was not a surface-level conversation, the goal was to understand their career in enough depth to present it compellingly, not just accurately.

A bespoke cover letter

Rather than resubmitting the existing application, Jules wrote a detailed cover letter that reframed the candidate's experience in the context of what the client needed. This is not a standard part of a recruitment process, it reflected the level of investment Jules was prepared to make when he believed a candidate deserved the opportunity.

An honest conversation with the client

Jules called the client directly and made a clear, transparent case. He was upfront that the candidate had already applied directly and explained why he felt the original assessment had not fully reflected what the candidate could offer and asked the firm to take another look. That conversation was only possible because of the trust built through a long-standing working relationship with the firm.

Negotiating the full package

Once the firm agreed to interview and subsequently made an offer, Jules worked to ensure the candidate's package reflected the strength of their position. This included negotiating a sign-on bonus, an outcome that would not have been on the table through a direct application.

The client interviewed the candidate and made an offer within days. The candidate accepted, started within a couple of months and has now been in the role for over two years.

Rejected, then placed. A candidate who had been turned down at the direct application stage received an offer from the same firm within days of JMC Legal making the case on their behalf.

A sign-on bonus secured. Through active negotiation, Jules secured a sign-on bonus as part of the package, adding commercial value that the candidate would not have been in a position to negotiate independently.

Two years on, promoted. The candidate has been in the role for over two years and has been promoted. The placement was not just a good outcome at the time. It was the right long-term move for both the individual and the firm.

A shallow market served. In one of the most underserved corners of the Scottish legal market, a firm that had been searching without success found the right person through a process that relied on genuine market knowledge, careful advocacy and the willingness to go beyond a standard search.

This case study is not primarily about a difficult market or a complex brief. It is about what happens when a recruiter genuinely backs a candidate, takes the time to understand them properly and is willing to put their own reputation on the line to make the right case to the right people. That is what working with JMC Legal looks like in practice.