# Vargas Partners > Vargas Partners is a global legal recruiting firm with 20+ years of experience placing attorneys at top law firms, corporates, and in-house teams across the US, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. We operate as one team across 20 markets, cover US and Asia time zones, and donate 5% of our fees to charitable causes. ## Company Vargas Partners is an executive search firm dedicated exclusively to the legal industry. For more than two decades we have advised attorneys at every stage of their careers — from senior associates seeking their first lateral move to partners building cross-border teams. Our reputation rests on three commitments: discretion, longevity, and global reach. We were among the first Western recruiting firms to build a serious Asia practice, and we have completed hundreds of placements across the region since before the Great Recession. Today we cover 20 markets across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, with consultants who speak the local language of each legal market — both literally and culturally. Unlike traditional recruiting firms organized around individual book-builders, Vargas Partners operates as a single team. Every candidate and client benefits from the full firm's market intelligence, relationships, and follow-through. Searches are shared, not siloed; partner-level introductions in one office are coordinated with the home-market consultant who knows the candidate best. We also believe that a recruiting firm should give back to the legal community and the broader world it serves. To that end, Vargas Partners donates 5% of its fees to charitable causes selected with input from the attorneys we place and the firms we work with. ## Services ### Attorney Career Representation Confidential career advisory and placement for associates, counsel, and partners. We work with attorneys long before they are ready to move — helping them benchmark their market, build their reputation, and identify the right next platform when the time comes. Best for: attorneys at any seniority considering a lateral move, a relocation, or a transition from law firm to in-house. ### Law Firms Strategic lateral hiring for law firms, from on-cycle associate searches to high-stakes partner and group moves. We deliver pre-vetted, conflict-cleared candidates and provide the market intelligence — compensation, practice-group dynamics, competing offers — that hiring partners need to close. Best for: AmLaw 200 firms, magic-circle firms, global elite firms, and regional firms hiring laterally. ### Corporates and In-House General counsel, deputy GC, division GC, and specialist in-house counsel searches for corporate legal departments. We understand that the in-house market is structurally different from law-firm hiring — different compensation models, different reporting lines, different cultural fit. Best for: public and private companies building or scaling their legal function. ### Advisory Services Beyond search, we advise on market intelligence, compensation benchmarking, practice-group strategy, and post-merger legal-talent integration. Best for: managing partners, chief talent officers, and general counsel facing strategic talent decisions outside an immediate search. ### International Relocations Cross-border attorney moves with end-to-end support for visa sponsorship, bar licensing, family relocation, and cultural onboarding. We have moved attorneys from New York to Hong Kong, from London to Dubai, from Tokyo to Singapore, and dozens of other corridors. Best for: attorneys and firms executing a multi-jurisdictional move. ### Media Thought leadership, market commentary, and industry press for the legal recruiting space. We publish on lateral-market trends, work with journalists covering the legal industry, and produce content that helps the broader market understand where talent is moving and why. Best for: firms, GCs, and journalists seeking informed perspective on legal hiring. ## Expertise Regions ### US Domestic Placements See: https://vargaspartners.com/expertise/us-domestic-moves The largest single legal market in the world. We place attorneys across all major US legal hubs: New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, Miami, Denver, and Las Vegas. Our US team understands the specific dynamics of each market — from New York's transactional intensity to California's tech-driven IP and litigation markets, to Texas's energy and corporate scene. ### Partners & Teams See: https://vargaspartners.com/expertise/partners-teams Lateral partner moves and group lift-outs are the most complex and consequential transactions in legal recruiting. They require absolute confidentiality, careful conflict management, sophisticated compensation modeling, and a long courtship — often 12 to 24 months from first conversation to start date. Vargas Partners specializes in these searches and has guided some of the most discussed partner moves of the last decade. ### Asia Pacific See: https://vargaspartners.com/expertise/asia Hundreds of placements since before the Great Recession across Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, and Taiwan. Our Asia practice is one of the deepest in the industry, with consultants embedded in each major market. We understand the difference between US-qualified and locally-qualified roles, the role of language requirements, and the regulatory environment that shapes attorney mobility in each jurisdiction. ### Middle East & Europe See: https://vargaspartners.com/expertise/middle-east-europe Cross-border placements in London, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and other European and Middle Eastern financial and legal centers. The Middle East has emerged as a major growth market for both transactional and disputes work, and we have built a network that spans the major international firms operating in the region as well as the local champions. ## Global Office Presence We have consultants, candidates, and clients in the following 20 markets: - Hong Kong - Singapore - Tokyo - Seoul - Shanghai - Beijing - Taiwan - London - Sydney - New York - Boston - Los Angeles - Chicago - Houston - Dallas - San Francisco - Washington, D.C. - Miami - Denver - Las Vegas ## How We Work 1. **Initial contact**: An attorney, a hiring partner, or a general counsel reaches out — often through a personal introduction. The first conversation is always confidential and never recorded in any external system without consent. 2. **Market mapping**: For candidates, we benchmark your background against the live market: where would you be a strong fit, where would you be a stretch, what compensation should you expect. For clients, we map the full universe of plausible candidates for your search before we approach anyone. 3. **Calibration**: Whether candidate-side or firm-side, we align expectations before the search goes live. This is the step most recruiting firms skip and it is the reason placements fail. 4. **Discreet outreach**: We approach candidates personally and confidentially. No mass email blasts, no LinkedIn spam. Every conversation is one-on-one and tailored. 5. **Process management**: Interviews, references, compensation negotiations, offer letters, conflicts clearance, and counter-offer management. We handle the choreography end to end so neither side has to. 6. **Placement and beyond**: We stay in touch for years after a placement. Many of today's clients were yesterday's candidates, and vice versa. The relationships compound. ## Notable Practices - **5% of fees donated**: Vargas Partners donates 5% of every fee earned to charitable causes selected with input from our network. - **One team, not individual recruiters**: Searches are shared across the firm, not owned by a single book-builder. This means every candidate gets the benefit of the full firm's relationships. - **24/7 coverage across US and Asia time zones**: With consultants in both hemispheres, we are reachable during business hours in every major legal market. - **Confidentiality first**: We never disclose a candidate's interest to a firm without explicit consent, and we never disclose a firm's open search to a candidate beyond what is necessary to evaluate fit. - **No mass outreach**: Every candidate conversation is one-on-one and tailored to that attorney's background and goals. ## Content - [Blog](https://vargaspartners.com/blog): Long-form analysis of the legal lateral market, regional trends, compensation movements, and career strategy for attorneys at every level. Updated regularly. - [Opportunities](https://vargaspartners.com/opportunities): A current sample of open roles; most searches are confidential and never posted - [Giving Back](https://vargaspartners.com/giving-back): How the 5% of fees we donate supports the Mercy Centre, Bangkok ## Contact - Email: hello@vargaspartners.com - Website: https://vargaspartners.com/ - About: https://vargaspartners.com/about - Services: https://vargaspartners.com/services ## Legal - [Privacy Policy](https://vargaspartners.com/legal/privacy) - [Terms of Service](https://vargaspartners.com/legal/terms)