Do they every get anyone jobs

Is this recruiting company successful at getting applicants jobs. They post legal job openings daily, but when you send in your resume, you get a generic response that there's too many inquiries and not enough recruiters to help you. What's the deal with that?

You will never get a job from them. I am not sure why they post job daily!

Got the same 3 page form letter tearing down my chances at ever finding a legitimate position and touting their high standards (sort of nauseatingly self-indulgent praise rally), followed up the next day by an equally transparent suggestion that I join Legal Authority and LawCrossing. Not sure if there's any legitimacy at all to this organization but perhaps it's time to turn the spotlight in their direction.

Unbelievable isn't it? I got the same response. The annoying part is having to go see all of their bogus ads on the internet.

Definitely worthless. If they are not a scam, they are a front for something. "Harrison" is the best joke.

I thought it was just me. I got the same response.

I have found this company wonderful to work with over the past few years. I was assigned a recruiter (actually two) within a few hours of sending in my resume. I did initially receive the email stating that they were reviewing my resume...but they connected shortly thereafter. They allowed me to call at all hours, talked about my professional goals, and have maintained contact after my move.

I am very surprised by all these comments to the contrary.

"Gary" works for BCG. This place is definitely a scam bait-and-switch designed to prey upon people when they are at their weakest.

I was just curious about one of their great "jobs," so I sent a resume. After getting a form response saying I was over-qualified and a solicitation for LegalAuthority and Lawcrossing, I did a quick Google and realized BCG Attorney Search was a scam.

So, just to check, I sent in "resume" that consisted solely of, "If you reply to this with a form response saying I'm overqualified, I'll make a complaint to the FTC."

I got the same form response back saying I was over-qualified. FTC, here I come.

Hey "Some Guy" that is so prepared to complain to the FTC that he can't bother to identify himself by name,

I don't work for BCG. They legitimately helped me. A lot of it could depend on the local office you're dealing with--I dealt with Atlanta and they were great...but I can't speak for other offices.

Next time don't be such a ********* and assume I'm some "plant"...I've just got a different impression of this company than most of the folks on here. But if we're going to make assumptions, I'll assume you're not a litigator since you amorphously cite a "Google" as the entire basis for calling them a scam. Litigators typically cite actual evidence. Or perhaps you're not as overqualified as you claim.

Many of the jobs that are advertised are impossible to get; the recruiting firms just advertise them to meet Department of Labor (DOL) requirements for hiring a foreign professional. The position must first be advertised in the US to find a local candidate before importing someone. But they never intend to give anyone local a real chance, as the person they are really hiring is connected via existing personal or professional relationships.

It's essentially fraud that goes unpunished because of influence. The large firms are constantly hiring from abroad, and they have these recruitment firms do the advertising for them. Now that's illegal immigration!

BCG is a joke and I wish they'd stop filling up all the legal job search databases with their worthless postings. It makes me physically ill every time I see one. On the other hand, I have found Law Crossing, one of the pay sites they pimp, to be rather helpful.

I had the WORST experience with legal authority and would be happy to share my letters and documentation with anyone who is contemplating using that service. I ended up filing complaints with the BBB and the CA AG and challenged the charge through my credit card. To top it all off, they keep sending me bills (I've gotten THREE) after they have been paid in full. I'd love to spread the word.

I got the same letters from "Harrison" and the suggestion that I try Legal Authority and Law Crossing.
I am nor convinced that this is not a legitimate agency.

Displaced legal professional, I agree that BCG and Lawcrossing must be related. I've never had any other legal recruiter email me about lawcrossing, which of course makes me suspicious. If what you say is true, then the advertising about lawcrossing is totally bs too since they claim they are finding jobs that you otherwise won't be able to find.

I have to say though, that BCG's responses that reject people are tailored to an extent. Recently they said they couldn't help me because I had experience as a solo and somehow big firm would never want to hire a solo (yet they post jobs for attorneys with a book for business, and I haven't been a solo the whole time either). In the past they rejected me because I didn't have enough experience. I agree it's a waste of everyone's time for them to be posting all these jobs and basically not contact anyone aside from spamming them. Other recruiters typically will meet with you whether they have a fit for you at the moment. At least that is my experience.

Their response did indicate to me that they failed to read my cover letter because it would've been clear to them I'm not even licensed in Michigan yet and am looking for temporary or clerk type work in the interim. They didn't even attempt to address that.

Maybe that is true in New York, but it seems to me most large firms have American attorneys that either graduated from a top tier school, clerked at the firm during law school while at a local law school, or were hired due to their success prior to being there. I am sure when said posting are posted that they have people in mind, but I highly doubt they're all foreigners. How does that make any sense?

It's an Immigration / DOL scam in New York, New York said: Many of the jobs that are advertised are impossible to get; the recruiting firms just advertise them to meet Department of Labor (DOL) requirements for hiring a foreign professional. The position must first be advertised in the US to find a local candidate before importing someone. But they never intend to give anyone local a real chance, as the person they are really hiring is connected via existing personal or professional relationships.

It's essentially fraud that goes unpunished because of influence. The large firms are constantly hiring from abroad, and they have these recruitment firms do the advertising for them. Now that's illegal immigration!

Lesley in Mount Pleasant, Michigan: "Their response did indicate to me that they failed to read my cover letter because it would've been clear to them I'm not even licensed in Michigan yet and am looking for temporary or clerk type work in the interim...."

Frankly, I don't think cover letters are ever read!

Good luck with your job search.

Legal Authority is a scam operation. I had the worst consumer-experience of my life with them. They signed me up, then ignored my calls and emails for 2 weeks. I was in shock. Legal Authority’s business model is designed to profit from its own delay. If Legal Authority stalls long enough (two weeks in my case), the customer will eventually secure employment on his own devices, whereupon Legal Authority will be in the rare position to collect payment for services never provided due to its own delay. After i bugged them a dozen times, they finally edited my cover letter; it looks like a hack job with run-on sentences, unclear antecedent, etc. Beginning sentences with dangling modifiers, the writing style is also extremely awkward and unprofessional. (sic)

When I expressed my dissatisfaction, Legal Authority admitted to the complained-of delays and admitted their cover letter contained a run-on sentence and numerous (11 by my count) basic errors. Yet, they refused to refund, compromise or negotiate. So I am being billed for $700+ for NOTHING. Infuriating. I am contacting the BBB. Please stay away from Legal Authority!

visit the blog - legalauthorityscam.blogspot.com/

Good posts, katar. Have you contacted the California A-G or District Attorney with a fraud complaint?

contacting the A-G or DA is a grand idea, and this will be my next phase.

if i don't get a proper response to my "Letter #2" (printed in full at legalauthorityscam.blogspot.com/), i will also file a civil suit.

a scam operation that preys upon attorneys, of all possible demographic markets, must have some sort of latent suicidal death wish.

You could sue under at least a couple of theories. In Colorado you could allege fraud, consumer protection violations, maybe bad faith, and outrageous conduct. I don't know California law but I'd bet the applicable provisions are similar.

Your letters are very well written. Good luck with your efforts. Scamming jobseekers has become big business. It's 'bout time someone dealt with these scumbag bottom-feeders.

trust me, i am all over it.

new update at the blog: legalauthorityscam.blogspot.com/

Great letter/brief! But don't be surprised if they don't answer and you must call the DA and/or A-G.

How about the U.S. Attorney? Use of e-mail for some of your transactions with these con artists could be wire fraud or some interstate commerce violation. In any event, you probably can prove fraud and bad faith. I still like outrageous conduct as well.

Oh, and breach, of course!

Once again, good luck with fixing these scammers.

THANK YOU!!! I was starting to have low feelings of self-esteem with the rejections I keep getting from this firm. How can sham recruiters keep posting on legitimate(?) cites?

Glad to know I'm not just "unworthy" and that this is a firm that never actually recruites.

The reason why you people are getting rejected is because you don't meet the BCG qualifications. BCG only helps individuals from top 14 law schools who were top third in their class. Alternatively, they also look at people who have already worked at big law firms and want to transfer. Mainly they only work with these people because everytime they place someone of that caliber, they get $30-45k in commission.

It appears that their real goal is to get people to sign up for their pay site, "which has the same job listings." Maybe they do help a relative few people directly, but it certainly appears their goal is to make you pay for their info.

A Harrison Barnes is listed in the CALBar.org site as an LA attorney who owns oth BCG and Legal Authority. He is hte of both companies. He refers you to the second company which "allows you to use their services" if you pay them Send him a note at his real address.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Andrew Harrison Barnes - #196199

e-mail hbarnes@juriscape.com
Sectie
Status History

Effective Date Status Change
Present Active
7/2/1998 Admitted to The State Bar of California

I tried to type CEO but didn't make it. He probably owns the third company as well.

Good information, Joann. Try googling "A. Harrison Barnes." I came up with this BCG site that provides an address. www.bcgsearch.com/employee.php?emp_id=13

He also has an employment advice blog which isn't bad, except some of it is stuff everyone knows or should know.

I also found a report about his outfit. Indeed's software won't let me post the link, but it can be found via googling. It'll come up as "Rip-off Report."

The complete " report" is at this website: www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ and yes, the guy I spoke with claimed to be in Pasedena but sure had a strong Indian accent. I'm not objecting to using out of country marketing but it's nice to be honest about it.

If their service is so good, why do they need at least 5 different sites just for lawyers, let alone the sites they put together for many other different professions? I have found they have now begun a new tactic where instead of posting ads on the local legal publication under BCG Attorney Search, they now post it under Company Confidential, so I can no longer be certain it's one of their fraudulent (in my opinion) ads or from some entity that would actually be worth pursuing.

Watch out for ads posted by Vanara as well. It is just another arm of juriscape. I can't imagine why they need another head hunting organization when they have BCG - perhaps they have to hide from their reputation.

No matter how you slice the pie, folks, BCG under its various guises is bogus and a POS.

Why can't you just apply directly to firms?

Displaced Legal Professional in Denver, Colorado said: No matter how you slice the pie, folks, BCG under its various guises is bogus and a POS.

Why can't you just apply directly to firms?

You could if you knew who the firms were. The "beauty" of the headhunters' system (and BCG is not the only culprit of this) is that they don't usually reveal who is looking for the help. Not sure if it's because the positions generally do not exist in the first place or the headhunters are just protecting their fee.

By the way, I believe all of the following companies are related to Harrison Barnes: Legal Authority (sometimes LegalAuthority on sites), BCG Attorney Search, Vanara, Hound, FirstLawJob. I wouldn't be surprised if there are a few others out there that I'm currently overlooking.

dazed101 in Los Angeles, California said: The reason why you people are getting rejected is because you don't meet the BCG qualifications. BCG only helps individuals from top 14 law schools who were top third in their class. Alternatively, they also look at people who have already worked at big law firms and want to transfer. Mainly they only work with these people because everytime they place someone of that caliber, they get $30-45k in commission.

So its still a scam because it should say so in the advertisment. A lot of law firms etc advertise and say "must be from a top tier law school," so if that was the only case they would just say that.

This scam goes a lot deeper than that.

EJS in West Chester, Pennsylvania said: You could [apply to firms] if you knew who the firms were. The "beauty" of the headhunters' system (and BCG is not the only culprit of this) is that they don't usually reveal who is looking for the help. Not sure if it's because the positions generally do not exist in the first place or the headhunters are just protecting their fee.

Just identify law firms at which you'd like to work. Find out the name, correct spelling and title of the legal recruiter at each firm. Verify the mailing address, and mail to each recruiter a well drafted letter of interest and your resume customized for each firm.

It doesn't matter if the firms are recruiting new associates or not. Just apply to them directly. You'll hear from them if you have potential. Yes, it's far more work that dealing with headhunters, but who said a job search doesn't involve work.

I have had experiences with all 3 companies, with mixed results. Here they are (though I'll have to break them up into separate posts due to limit restraints, which sucks):

BCG--I completely agree that BCG is either a total scam or so concerned with only those who can get into biglaw that they are a waste of time for anyone else. I don't recall exactly what I got back, but basically they suggested I wasn't good enough for any of their clients and I should try Legal Authority. I absolutely abhor this company!!!

BCG posts the same "job" over and over and over. It's just a troll to get you to bite on his other companies. Once I figured out what the scam was with this company I started really watching their posts and they're the same "job". Save your time and money. It's not, as far as I can see, even a legitimate legal recruiting firm. It's a funnel for the other businesses.