Legal recruiter earns £2m payday from top partner move

A legal recruitment firm says it earned a £2 million fee from a corporate real estate placement last year, offering a rare public glimpse into the lucrative economics behind the market for senior legal talent.

London-based H&P Executive Search headhunted what The Telegraph described as "one of the most renowned property solicitors" and placed him into an eight-figure role. Neither the lawyers nor the law firm involved in the placement were named, although H&P confirmed to Non-Billable the move involved a team of partners .

The firm's fee was £2 million, with the recruiter who led the deal receiving £600,000 in commission, according to the newspaper. Corporate real estate has become a hot area of the London lateral market as the worlds of private capital and traditional real estate increasingly overlap.

Partner lateral activity in London continues to be near record highs so far this year. According to data from recruitment consultancy Edwards Gibson, 319 partner-level moves were recorded between January and June.

The £2 million figure is an exceptional outlier even by H&P's own numbers: its average recruitment fee is around £70,000, typically representing between 25% and 30% of a successful candidate's salary.

Founded in 2019 by chief executive Jack Hayes, when he was just a few years out of university, H&P specialises in senior legal recruitment, focused largely at team moves and partner placements. Its footprint covers the UK, Germany, Benelux and the US.

The firm's website lists Addleshaw Goddard, Latham, Linklaters and Weil among its clients.

Making millions

The business has made more than £8.5 million in profit over the past 12 months, according to The Telegraph.

Unlike many recruitment agencies that work on a contingency basis and are only paid when they successfully place a candidate, H&P says it is able to sign many clients to retainers, giving it fee income while searches are underway.

The rewards extend to individual recruiters. H&P's top biller generated nearly £2.3 million last year, while the firm celebrates six-figure commissions with Hayes presenting top performers with oversized novelty cheques of the kind more commonly seen at charity fundraisers.

H&P also offers quarterly all-expenses-paid trips to its leading recruiters, with previous trips including Cancun and the French Alps and a Bahamas trip on offer this year.

The firm is also expanding into the US and recently opened its first US office in Miami, with further offices in the works.