KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT & INNOVATION ATTORNEY RECRUITING
A NEW KIND OF ATTORNEY ROLE. IT TAKES A DIFFERENT KIND OF SEARCH.
Law firms are creating a category of role that doesn't fit the traditional attorney search. Knowledge management counsel, innovation attorneys, legal solutions architects, directors of practice innovation. These are JD preferred positions, filled by people who understand legal work well enough to reshape how it gets done. Sourcing for them takes a search practice that understands both sides of that equation.
At Onward Recruiting’s Legal Innovation Practice, that's exactly what we bring.
We are proud members of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC) and hold ourselves to their Code of Ethics in every engagement.
OUR APPROACH
Knowledge management and innovation attorney searches require a recruiter who understands both the practice of law and the discipline of building something new inside it. These roles sit at the intersection of legal judgment, technology adoption, and firm culture. Here is how we approach them.
1. Understanding the role beneath the role. A "knowledge management attorney" title can mean anything from a precedent librarian to a strategic advisor shaping how an entire practice group works. Before we source a single candidate, we learn how the role was created, who it reports to, and what success actually looks like inside your firm.
2. Reaching the candidates who aren't looking. The strongest KM and innovation attorneys are almost never on the open market. Many are practicing attorneys who haven't yet realized this path exists for them, or KM professionals embedded in firms doing work they find meaningful enough not to leave casually. Our attorney search network, built over three decades inside Onward Recruiting, reaches people a technology only recruiter never sees.
3. Evaluating fit on both dimensions. Legal judgment is table stakes for these roles. What separates a placement that works from one that doesn't is whether this person can translate legal expertise into process, technology, and change that practicing attorneys will actually adopt. We assess for both, and we move with the urgency these searches require.
WHO WE PLACE
Knowledge Management Attorneys and Counsel: professionals who manage precedent, know-how, and legal content systems, and who shape how attorneys find and reuse institutional knowledge
Innovation Attorneys and Legal Solutions Architects: JD holders who design and implement new ways of delivering legal work, from workflow redesign to technology adoption
Directors and Heads of Knowledge Management: senior leaders who set KM strategy and build the function from the ground up
Practice Innovation Leads: professionals working directly with attorneys on process, precedent, and technology adoption within specific practice groups
THE TEAM BEHIND THESE SEARCHES
Knowledge management and innovation attorney searches sit at a rare intersection, and so does the team that runs them.
Lacie Marshall brings over 25 years of legal recruiting experience, including senior talent leadership roles inside law firms. She understands how these roles get created, how they're evaluated by firm leadership, and what it takes for a JD holder to succeed outside a traditional practice track.
James Shenton brings over 20 years of executive search experience with a 95%+ client repeat rate and a 31-day average time to placement. His methodology, research-led and built for senior and hard-to-find talent, is applied to every search we run together.
Legal industry depth. Executive search discipline. On the same search.
WHY ONWARD
We understand law firms from the inside. Our team has worked within law firm environments and knows how knowledge management and innovation functions actually get built.
An attorney network most innovation recruiters don't have. Onward Legal Innovation operates alongside Onward Recruiting's established attorney search practice, giving us direct access to candidates and market intelligence a technology only recruiter simply can't reach.
Honest counsel throughout. We will tell you when a candidate pool is thinner than expected, when a role needs to be repositioned, or when compensation is out of step with the market. Download our guide to building a modern KM and innovation function to understand what these searches actually require.
Recent Searches & Successes
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Director of Business Development
INVESTMENT FUNDS PRACTICE | NEW YORK | GLOBAL AMLAW FIRM
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Associate Director of Business Development
CORPORATE FINANCE PRACTICE | NEW YORK | AMLAW 10 FIRM
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Associate Director of Business Development
SECURITIES AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION | NEW YORK | GLOBAL AMLAW FIRM
Frequently Asked Questions
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We recruit across the full range of law firm marketing and BD functions: Chief Marketing Officers and Marketing Directors, Business Development Directors and Managers, Pitch and Proposal Managers, Practice Group Marketing Managers, Client Development and Relationship Management professionals, Events and Travel Managers, and BD Analysts, Coordinators, and Communications professionals. We work across firm sizes, from AmLaw 10 firms to boutique practices.
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Law firm marketing and BD roles sit at a unique intersection of firm politics, partner relationships, and commercial performance. The skills that make someone effective in a corporate marketing environment don't automatically transfer. Candidates need to understand how to earn partner buy-in without formal authority, navigate practice group dynamics, and operate inside a culture where the relationship between marketing function and revenue generation is often indirect. Assessing that fit requires a recruiter who understands law firms from the inside.
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Practice-group specialization is one of the most common requirements in these searches, and we build it into how we evaluate candidates from the start. A Director of Business Development in corporate finance at an AmLaw 10 firm is a fundamentally different hire from one supporting a litigation practice at a regional firm. We learn your firm's structure and growth priorities before we source a single candidate.
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Yes. While our methodology is built for senior and hard-to-find searches, we recruit across the full spectrum — from CMOs to BD Coordinators and Communications professionals. The rigor of our intake process and candidate evaluation applies regardless of level.
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The strongest marketing and BD professionals at law firms are rarely actively looking, which means reaching them takes time and a deliberate approach. We give you a realistic timeline at the start of every engagement and keep you informed throughout. What we avoid is presenting candidates quickly at the expense of presenting the right candidates.
FOR FIRMS
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It depends on the role and the firm. Senior BD roles that require close partner interaction and an understanding of legal market dynamics typically favor candidates with law firm experience. Some marketing and communications roles, and firms with a more progressive approach to talent, are more open to candidates transitioning from professional services or adjacent backgrounds. We'll give you an honest read on where you fit before recommending you for any search.
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Often yes, and professional services backgrounds translate reasonably well to law firm environments — particularly for roles that emphasize pitch and proposal work, client development, or strategic marketing. The key factors are whether you understand partnership dynamics and whether you've operated in an environment where influence without authority is the norm. We can assess that honestly once we understand your background.
FOR CANDIDATES
Work With Us
Whether you're looking to hire or looking to make a move, it starts with a conversation. Tell us what you're working toward and we'll tell you what's possible.