by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Florida’s growing demand for attorneys and paralegals has led Jacksonville-based Special Counsel, a legal staffing firm, to open new offices in Miami and Tampa.
The new offices will give Special Counsel, a unit of MPS Group, Inc., a presence in 30 market areas across the country. The firm’s president, John Marshall, said Florida’s legal job market is steadily expanding.
“The market is relatively consistent in Florida. The firms aren’t as dependent on finance as markets like New York and Washington D.C.,” said Marshall. “Miami, Jacksonville and Orlando are not money centers. The need for attorneys and paralegals is focused more around real estate and commercial law.”
The expansion is largely based on simple demographics. Tampa and Miami are two of the fastest growing communities in the country. Factor in a State economy that is outpacing national growth and the decision was a no-brainer, said Marshall.
But Marshall looks for more than just a population explosion when deciding where to expand. A growing economy usually translates to a healthy legal market, he said.
Jacksonville’s market, for instance, demands more legal hires than its population numbers would suggest.
“Usually a market Jacksonville’s size, you see a high demand for paralegals, but not for attorneys. Jacksonville has typically had a high demand for attorneys,” said Marshall. He attributes the unusual demand to Jacksonville’s economy and the strength of its commercial and real estate sectors.
Marshall expects an easy transition south. Special Counsel already works with 90 percent of the nation’s largest lawfirms, including most of Florida’s big firms. The new offices should benefit from those working relationships already established in the firm’s Jacksonville and Ft. Lauderdale offices, said Marshall.
In Miami, Special Counsel could be moving into one of the county’s hottest markets for part-time legal staff. In addition to direct hiring, Special Counsel provides temporary staff hired on a contract basis. Marshall said large firms typically exhibit the greatest need for such hires and the greatest comfort level with taking on temporary workers.
“Miami’s a little further along in terms of the markets that use temporary paralegals,” he said.
A crucial component in firms’ decisions to add temporary staff is trust. The firms must know they’re bringing in people that can work seamlessly with existing staff, said Marshall.
Most of Special Counsel’s contract workers boast impressive resumes, but the firm devotes an entire department to making sure those resumes list actual experience.
“We want to know, Do they have the skills they say they do in the areas they say they have them?” said Marshall. “Our commitment in that area, as far as checking their qualifications and our in-branch interview, is actually unique as far as the firms that do what we do.”