Lead with the actual work
Begin with matters, internal or external clients, authority, reporting relationship and first-year outcomes. A title is a label; the job description should let a candidate and recruiter understand what the person will actually own.
Separate requirements from preferences
List essential practice, licensing, industry, language, technology and work-location requirements separately from desirable experience. This helps the hiring team make deliberate tradeoffs rather than shift the brief after outreach begins.
Describe the environment accurately
State office or hybrid expectations, workload, systems, team support, travel and interview steps that have been decided. Do not make promises the operating team has not approved.
Keep the hiring decision with the employer
BEGHR helps employers prepare permanent-hire searches. The employer decides whom to hire and directly employs the successful person. Scope, fees, candidate ownership, timing and any replacement terms are established in the written engagement before a search begins.
A legal job description, section by section
Use the same order every time so partners, general counsel and the recruiter read the brief the same way. Each item below is a short paragraph or a list, not a slogan.
- Role summary: the practice or business area, the matters or portfolio the hire will own, and who they report to.
- Responsibilities: drafting, negotiation, litigation stages, advice, supervision, client contact, listed in order of time spent.
- Required qualifications: admission in Texas where the role requires it, years in the practice, specific experience the work cannot be done without.
- Preferred experience: industry exposure, second admission, languages, systems, each marked as useful rather than essential.
- Work location and model: the office address (Austin, Round Rock, Cedar Park or elsewhere), days onsite, travel.
- Compensation: the approved range and the bonus or billable structure, or the statement that the range is confirmed on the discovery call.
- Process: interview rounds, who interviews, the decision timeline and the start-date expectation.
How the description changes by role
An associate description leads with the matter mix, the share of time on core work, drafting and deposition or deal responsibility, billable expectations and the path to counsel or partner. An in-house counsel description leads with the business units supported, the contract and regulatory mix, litigation management, decision authority and the executive the role reports to. A paralegal description leads with matter types, filing and discovery responsibilities, software, document volume and the attorneys supported. The class year, the title and the firm name describe none of that.
Four mistakes that shrink the candidate pool
A title with no description of the work, so strong candidates cannot tell whether the role is a step up. A requirements list that mixes essentials with preferences, so qualified people rule themselves out. A hidden work location or attendance pattern that surfaces at the first interview. A billable or productivity target that is never stated and becomes a surprise at offer. Law school enrollment is down roughly 30% since 2010, so the best candidates are employed and comparing; a vague description loses them before outreach starts.
What BEGHR does with the description
The description becomes the brief that every shortlisted candidate is measured against. On the discovery call BEGHR confirms the work, the location, the compensation range and the interview panel, then sources employed candidates directly and returns 3 to 5 screened candidates with written fit summaries. If the description changes during the search, the recruiter re-calibrates at the weekly review. BEGHR’s published placement timeframe is 23 to 35 days; a complete description is the single biggest factor in staying inside it.