Q&A with Steve Meier - Dober Partners
Fifteen Years On: Steve Meier on the Evolution and Future of Brussels Legal Recruitment, and why he's joined forces with Dober Partners - Executive Search & Advisory.
Q: Fifteen years is a long time in recruitment. Looking back to our last conversation, what has changed most fundamentally about the Brussels legal recruitment market?
SM: Besides finding that everyone I work with has suddenly become younger than I am, you mean? Just kidding.
I find that the most fundamental change has been an increasing reliance on technology in the hiring process. That is not necessarily a bad thing. It can be very helpful in identifying potential talent for a firm's needs, but technology can only do so much. There is no real replacement for human involvement in the recruitment of more senior lawyers. As I say that, I appreciate that it could be seen as self-serving, but the fact is that technology, however useful it can be, cannot yet identify subtle hints about, for example, personality or "fit". A candidate may be right for one firm, but less so for another. Hiring lawyers, especially as they progress in their careers, is a significant expense for any firm, so getting the hiring decisions right is essential, especially as Brussels offices tend to be smaller, with personalities having a more pronounced impact on working environments. That is where human involvement will continue to be important to the process.
I have noticed in recent years that Brussels lawyers are receiving a growing number of approaches from headhunters based elsewhere, most often in London, for whom Brussels is just one market among several. Some visit from time to time and some present themselves as more local than they actually are, but since Brexit the two markets have drifted further apart, and an approach made without a real feel for market subtleties tends to be received as an intrusion rather than a service. Lawyers notice, and so do the firms they work for.
I came here in 1984. Brussels is my home and the legal market I know intimately, having "grown up" here professionally speaking. Moreover, we are licensed to recruit in Brussels, and we are known and trusted, having operated here for decades. Would you jump into an unlicensed taxi, trusting it to deliver you safely and efficiently to your destination? I think the analogy applies to these headhunters: do you really want to put your career in the hands of someone who may not know the lay of the land as well as someone actually on the ground here, someone who will try to put you in just any job rather than the best option for you and your goals?
Q: You previously described Brussels as a relatively stable legal market, with firms being particularly selective about whom they hired. Is that still your experience — and what has changed in the balance between employers and candidates?
SM: I still find Brussels to be a so-called "buyer's market" where there are more young lawyers chasing after comparatively fewer positions; that being so, firms can afford to be very selective when hiring.
One particularly interesting development I have seen over the past few years is the number of younger lawyers who have no real interest in pursuing partnership. Some employers find this puzzling, but these young lawyers are not slackers or under-performers. Rather, they see the sometimes-incessant demands made on partners and have decided that they do not want that for themselves. They want to do interesting and challenging work, but they want it meted out in ways that provide a fair work-life balance. In other words, they want to work to live, not live to work.
Q: The Brussels legal market has seen major developments in areas such as competition law, digital regulation, AI, sustainability, sanctions and trade. Which areas of legal practice do you expect to generate the greatest recruitment demand over the next five years?
SM: Given current events, including the sparring over tariffs and such, there has been something of an uptick in interest in trade. Whether this new-found attention to trade will continue beyond the next election cycle remains to be seen. I would not want to hazard a guess.
I do think that we will see more crossover between competition and regulatory, specifically in tech. We have already seen this sort of crossover in the competition and pharmaceutical, so there is every reason to think that this trend will continue. There has also been a significant bump in the volume of merger work, but absent a crystal ball I cannot say how long it will continue. That said, the recent arrival of more large international firms would seem to herald some degree of permanence.
Q: How has the profile of the lawyer that international firms want to hire changed — particularly when it comes to European regulatory expertise, commercial awareness, languages and experience outside traditional private practice?
SM: The profile sought by international firms continues to be quite simple: "the best of the best" -- academically gifted, multilingual and, increasingly, possessing some degree of "business sense" that can be developed and honed because, let's face it, the profession is becoming increasingly commercial.
The question of previous experience is a tough one. There should be some, such as experience gained during the time between graduation and final bar admission; however, too much can become problematic. Much as you can have too much education, you can have too much experience that, if not relevant to the requirements of the Brussels market, can prove to be an impediment to finding a satisfactory place there.
I still consider that lawyers wanting to practice in Brussels need to start their careers here, either during or immediately following qualification. They can get several years of amazing, cutting-edge experience and then move elsewhere (whether back home or to somewhere with more sun or wherever) and find a warm welcome there; however, the converse almost never applies. The more senior the lawyer, the more unlikely a move to Brussels will be. I realize that there may be the occasional exception where an experienced lawyer carries with him or her a very specific skill set that a Brussels firm needs, but those situations are few and far between. The general rule of "start here, move later" still applies – in my estimation -- in 99% of the cases.
One development that I personally find unfortunate is that some firms are becoming less tolerant of candidates with non-traditional backgrounds, even at early stages of their careers. A rich and well-lived life is seldom linear, yet many firms look for linear. I think that that can lead to missing out on some potentially remarkable candidates because some of us are later bloomers than others. Some lawyers want to explore and experiment with different things before settling into their permanent careers. It does not make them lesser lawyers, but some firms seem to consider them lesser candidates.
Q: Recruitment itself has changed dramatically since we last spoke, with online networks, remote working, AI and increasingly sophisticated search technology. What, in your view, can technology improve in legal recruitment — and what still requires the judgement and relationships of a specialist recruiter?
SM: I consider that there are four stages to pass through on the road to becoming a well-rounded and successful lawyer. The process takes place over several years of professional development:
- You begin with foundational knowledge, the intellectual framework you acquired during your legal studies;
- Then you begin your legal career where you start to develop your "hard skills", those technical and analytical capabilities that demonstrate professional capability and credibility;
- Next, you start to add certain "soft skills" such as managing and mentoring younger lawyers and developing interpersonal skills that can determine whether your legal advice is heard, trusted and acted upon; and
- Finally, you add cognitive skills, the "higher-order thinking" that includes such things as judgment, strategic thinking, legal–business translation, opportunity recognition, risk assessment and the like.
While there is some limited overlap between and among certain of the stages, I think that this outline provides a good summary of professional career development.
The technological advances we are seeing in recruitment can readily accomplish routine analytical work, but this is typically true only through the hard-skills stage, where knowledge and technical competence can be easily identified by machine; thereafter, when the required skills become more intuitive and cognitive, the experience and judgment of a professional recruiter can prove instrumental in the hiring process.
Q: You have now joined Dober Partners as Principal of its Legal Recruitment Practice. Why was this the right moment to make that move, and what does joining Dober Partners allow you to do that you could not do — or could not do as easily — on your own?
SM: I am fortunate to have had a long and fulfilling career in legal recruitment, and the time has come to pass the baton to the next generation, to share what I have learned. With that in mind, the decision to join up with Dober Partners was easy because we have in common the same values and approach to recruitment, with discretion, judgment and market knowledge being key elements. A good reputation, hard won but easily lost, is also vitally important. Finally, as I have already mentioned, a dedicated Brussels-based recruitment service for the legal community is very important. In all these regards, Dober and I are of the same mind.
Together we offer a dedicated legal search and advisory practice with the depth behind it to last beyond any one person. That is the legacy that interests me, and I hope that I still have a lot to contribute to it.
