By Nik Korba
When Michelle Foster launched the Foster Group in 2014, it was immediately apparent that the legal recruiting firm offered something missing in the industry.
“There was a lot of excitement when we first launched,” recalls Drew Foster, Managing Director at The Foster Group. “It was like drinking from a fire hose regarding the stream of clients and candidates who wanted to work with us. In those early years, we often felt like there weren’t enough hours in the day to get to all of the searches we wanted to help people with.”
The key factor that attracted clients to The Foster Group was their career-counseling approach to legal recruiting. While many firms handled searches transactionally, Michelle and her team knew that being relational led to better results. Day in and day out over the past 10 years, they have stuck to that approach — getting to know clients and candidates profoundly, allowing them to play a pivotal role in building better legal careers.
“We continue to attract clients and candidates seeking a different approach to legal search,” Drew says. “They want to feel they have a real partner involved in the search with them, someone who will help them find a position that is best for their career and not just give them a list of job opportunities.”
One corporate partner who provided a testimonial of their experience described Michelle and her team as “trusted advisors during my search process, guiding me and coaching me at every step of the way to find the right law firm for me and my practice.” A testimonial from a real estate partner echoes the same feelings, describing The Foster Group’s work as “supportive and encouraging during a sometimes trying and transitional stage in my career.”
“From the beginning, we have been committed to building relationships along the way,” says Michelle Foster, Managing Partner at The Foster Group. “We believe there is value in knowing people regardless of whether or not they need help right away. As a result, we have been able again and again to use the great relationships we have with candidates to provide great placements for clients.”
Serving Clients and Candidates With a Collaborative Culture
To help all of her clients get the concierge experience she had envisioned, Michelle focused on building a culture for The Foster Group that valued deep relationships. Rather than focusing on quantity — encouraging recruiters to move quickly from one client to the next — she encouraged quality connections that fostered true collaboration and supported attorney career development.
“The culture that we’ve built here has been paramount for driving the success we’ve experienced,” Drew shares. “We’ve created a collaborative and collegial place where we all share the vision and work together. That shared mentality resonates with the candidates and clients we work with, which has led to us having many significant and repeat clients on the law firm side with whom we work year in and year out.”
Michelle also feels that the success The Foster Group has experienced has been earned by a team of law firm recruitment specialists who work together, support their clients, and seek out opportunities that will help their growth. “We believe in our vision,” she says, “and we’ve seen it work for over a decade. That gives us the confidence that we will succeed for our clients if we show up each day and work hard for them.”
Prioritizing Personalized Service With a Human Touch
Since Michelle launched The Foster Group, the business world has changed dramatically. In recruiting and many industries, companies have handed their customers to automated processes that remove the human element. However, as the shift has played out, many consumers have decided they prefer a more human process that provides personalized service.
At The Foster Group, personalization has always been a priority. Michelle and her team have never wavered in their commitment to serving clients with a human touch.
“We know we need to know our clients and our candidates to be effective on their behalf,” Drew says. “That requires a personalized approach. An algorithm may be able to help someone find a job that matches their skill set, but it won’t advocate for them. Our goal is to help attorneys find positions that align with their unique vision and propel their careers forward, improving their lives. That’s what our career counseling approach is all about.”
As the Foster Group begins its second decade, it remains as committed as ever to giving clients and candidates a concierge experience focused on understanding and achieving their unique recruiting goals.
“You transform your career by making the right moves,” Michelle says. “We’re here to help with that transformation by bringing top-tier clients and candidates together.”
Published by Joseph T.
