The Worst Staffing Agency In Colorado

I have been doing temporary legal secretary/assistant work for Legal Solutions on and off for over 20 years in between jobs. I have found Legal Solutions to be professional, ethical and solid. I have worked with a number of their counselors over the years and had problems with only one, a lady named Randie who is no longer there. Legal Solutions got me my last two positions; one lasted five years and the last one only lasted a year because the law firm closed. I highly recommend them and am currently on a temp assignment through them. I'm hoping they will find me another full-time position.

Amanda in Nashville, Tennessee said: A friend of mine told me about a staffing agency in Colorado called Legal Solutions, Inc. The owner of the agency is a pathological liar and she cheats her employees out of their wages for her own financial gain. What a horrible person!

Add accountemps as another agency that is not good to work with. Specifically, Drew or Kristin!

I am SO GLAD I ran across this post out of nowhere in my search for legitimate legal secretary and paralegal positions! I had a very bad feeling about this company, red flags galore. I, too, received the flattering email that my skills and experience were very great and that they would have a lot of positions I may be well-suited for. Yet, I could find no evidence of them having or operating a website. The email address did not correspond with a legitimate website. Furthermore, the signature block of the recruiter also was advertising some sort of direct sales she was trying to do. When I asked her twice how long I could expect our meeting to take, I received no response whatsoever. Thank you for saving me lots of time, as the appointment was scheduled for tomorrow right smack in the middle of my workday.

I completely agree about this place. I went in for a meeting, was told by the owner that I simply was in the wrong career (I had at the time 5 years of paralegal experience and an associates degree) and she told me that I was "unemployable in the legal community." I found a job on my own and then six months later I got a random email from her stating "that she found my name during a database search and wanted to know if I was interested in employment opporunities." You are kidding me, right?? I thought I wasn't employable??

I met with Legal Solutions last week. I was a bit skeptical because I've interviewed with five other legal placement agencies in the last month -- and none of them have any openings (even though they were advertising for open positions). Legal Solutions is the only one that has actually sent me out -- on not one -- but TWO interviews. The first interview at one of their client law firms didn't go so well -- not the agency's fault! I already have an offer from the second interview Legal Solutions sent me on. The salary isn't quite what I was hoping for, but I'm accepting the job because of this turbulent market. I think they're great and I would recommend any legal secretary to definitely register with them. Ask for Pat or Dianne.

I've registered with Ford Personnel, The Advocates, Denver Bar, and one other agency can't remember the name -- and recently with Legal Solutions. I recently moved here from New Orleans. Not one of the above agencies helped me with my resume. But Legal Solutions took the time to go thru my resume, job by job, and helped me bring forth my strongest attributes. They didn't even charge me to do this. They told me I needed at least two years of legal experience (Colorado) for the job they were advertising for. Their ad also said that. Even though I wasn't qualified for the position, they still took time to help me. No other agency did that for me!

The only reason I registered with Legal Solutions was because my friend, Myra, who is also from New Orleans, told me to register with Legal Solutions. Myra had nothing but the highest praises for Legal Solutions. Even though Myra was here for almost a year and is very qualified, she couldn't get a job. She said Legal Solutions tried the hardest for her, sent her on a couple of job interviews (she didn't get) but also placed her in some temp jobs. When Myra returned to New Orleans, she got a job right away. I think it's the Denver market. When I came here, I couldn't remember the name Legal Solutions so I applied with the other agencies -- and then Myra called me and reminded me about Legal Solutions. I'm so happy I applied with them.

Legal Solutions also told me to try some of the non-legal agencies who have entry-level legal jobs. I applied with Kelley and haven't heard anything back yet. They were nice, though.

How long have you been looking for a job?

For some reason, my last comment didn't show up here. I remembered the other agency I registered with. It was special Counsel and the girl's name was Sherri (I think that was her name). Anyway, she said they had lots of jobs when I first went in -- but they didn't send me on any interviews. Sherri kept calling me honey and sweetie and all those obnoxious names. In a matter of five minutes, I think I was called honey or sweetie 50 times, and then she ushered me out saying she would call me when something came in. the interview lasted all of five minutes. I've never heard back from her.

Thanks for the website. I will try it.

Pat at Legal Solutions placed me in a position with a non-legal firm four years ago. I'm still at that firm, but vacationing in California at the moment. I get four weeks vacation a year. When I first applied with Legal Solutions, they told me they weren't sure if they could place me because I didn't have legal experience. But a couple days after I met with them, I got a call from Pat. She wanted me to interview with my current firm -- so I went in for an interview and got the job. Before I interviewed, they did a mock interview with me and also helped me re-vamp my resume. They were very instrumental in my ability to get this job. I will forever be grateful. I'm a big fan of Legal Solutions and have recommended them to many people.

I've been the administrator for my current law firm for 9 1/2 years. We are in the top ten pertaining to size. Previous to this position, I worked at Popham Haik, which no longer offices in Denver. Legal Solutions, then known as Executemps, has handled our staffing needs since approx. 1989. I have found them to be the best. When I first met Pat, she actually came into our offices and worked as our paralegal. From that time on, we were sold on her company. We have individuals in our firm who were placed by Legal Solutions (Executemps at that time) that are still with us today. We use Legal Solutions exclusively for our placements and are more than satisfied. I give them an A Plus rating. Further, in the last two years, we have also retained Legal Solutions to staff our attorney positions. In fact, they are currently conducting a search for us. Have you ever met Pat? If not, you need to. I consider her to be the best staffing professional in the industry.

Golly, you have not had good luck with agencies, have you? Has an agency ever placed you in a position or have you gotten your jobs on your own?
I finally did get a call from from a counselor at Kelly Services but the job was only a temp job for a day and a half. when I called them back, they had already filled it. I sure wish I had more legal eperience. I'm unsure how to go about getting more legal experience, esp. Colorado legal experience. Legal Solutions just offered me a receptionist job in a small downtown law firm, but the law firm doesn't pay parking and I couldn't justify driving downtown, paying for parking, etc. It just didn't pay enough. I'm on unemployment and will be okay for a couple more months until I can find somehting that pays more. Oh -- I almost forgot. When I registered there, I didn't have to sign any forms like the one you described. I filled out an on-line application and that was it.

I only have a second but wanted to ask if you've ever heard of Rossi Legal. Pat at legal solutions recommended I also apply with them because they have more temp opportunities. Legal Solutions has been really helpful to me. Also, they noticed one more thing on my resume they hadn't noticed before and they even fixed it for me. I won't be back on-line until later . . .

cheryl in Aurora, Colorado said: Add accountemps as another agency that is not good to work with. Specifically, Drew or Kristin!

I am so glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. They hooked me up with Cochlear. I thought it was a great temp-to-hire position. Drew and Kristin were so interested in me while placing me, but as soon as I started working there and realized what an awful fit Cochlear was for me, they wouldn't return emails or phone calls. Then when Cochlear termed my contract because they were "restructuring" their AR department, Kristin barely left a 10 second message on my home number while I was already on my way to work and then they acted like it was my fault and I didn't hear back from them ever again. Just unprofessional.

Do not ever apply with Aerotek Denver. They are wholly unethical. I applied for a position with them and went to an interview at the company they sent me to. The company called me that very day and said they wanted to hire me temp-to-permanent through Aerotek. That same week I completed all the paperwork including 7-year criminal background check, medical exam, and drug test. Aerotek got my clean drug test results and passed medical exam info. very quickly. Aerotek repeatedly gave me the same start date and notified me I needed to quit my current job. I quit my job on the Friday before the next Monday when I was told I was starting my new job.
But Aerotek never completed my background check! It took them 2 1/2 weeks to complete my background check, which, of course, came back clean. I talked to their Operations Manager, and other Aerotek personnel, many times before they got the check done. The day I was told the background check was complete, Aerotek said the job was no longer available! They never gave me my job that was guaranteed through verbal and written contracts! Now I am unemployed and ineligible for unemployment benefits since I quit my job to start the job Aerotek repeatedly promisd me, but never gave me.
Aerotek is the worst and most unethical employment agency in Colorado.

Special Counsel has to be the worst staffing agency in Denver -- and Ford Personnel is a close second. I've been registered with Cherry at SC for over two years. When I first met her, she spent all of ten minutes with me -- but her agenda seemed to be that she didn't want me to register with any other agency. She said mean things about Ford Personnel, Rossi Staffing, Advocates, Legal Solutions and Denver Bar and one other but can't read my writing. (I wrote them down as she was talking). I couldn't believe the things that were coming out of her mouth. After registering with her, I went to Ford Personnel even though she told me not to. My experience there was not good, but at least they didn't badmouth the other agencies, although they specifically said they didn't want me registering with any other agencies. Neither agency has ever called me for work. I decided to stay away from all staffing agencies. It was a really bad experience. I got a legal secretarial job at a medium sized litigation firm in downtown Denver ON MY OWN. I'm happy and certainly didn't need any agency to get me this job.

Special Counsel has to be the worst staffing agency in Denver -- and Ford Personnel is a close second. I've been registered with Cherry at SC for over two years. When I first met her, she spent all of ten minutes with me -- but her agenda seemed to be that she didn't want me to register with any other agency. She said mean things about Ford Personnel, Rossi Staffing, Advocates, Legal Solutions and Denver Bar and one other but can't read my writing. (I wrote them down as she was talking). I couldn't believe the things that were coming out of her mouth. After registering with her, I went to Ford Personnel even though she told me not to. My experience there was not good, but at least they didn't badmouth the other agencies, although they specifically said they didn't want me registering with any other agencies. Neither agency has ever called me for work. I decided to stay away from all staffing agencies. It was a really bad experience. I got a legal secretarial job at a medium sized litigation firm in downtown Denver ON MY OWN. I'm happy and certainly didn't need any agency to get me this job.

Don't register with Special Counsel. I signed up with them over a year ago and never recieved a job or call from them. And they dont return my calls either cuz I've called them many times. Same with Kelly Services. I don't like agencies! They're only in it for the money. They dont care about us workers.

I just came across this forum and would like to add MY negative experiences with agencies here. One agency, The Advocates, actually rewrote my resume and added that I had personal injury experience with a former employer, which was an outright lie. They did that because the interview they were about to send me on was with a personal injury firm. When I got to the interview with the managing partner, he remarked "I see you have had personal injury experience." I was shocked and said that no, I didn't have any and I asked to see my resume. The Advocates had rewritten my entire resume onto their letterhead. There were misspellings, grammar mistakes, and they added personal injury experience to my most recent position. I was mortified and told the managing partner that was not my version of the resume. I think the guy at The Advocates who did that is gone now, but I was sure upset. I also had not great experiences with Ginny Ford. She did send me on several interviews but she never followed up with the employer to get their reaction to me. I always had to write to her and inquire about their impression of me. I have gotten so fed up with the Denver legal jobs market that I am leaving Colorado, even though I love it here, I've been out of work for two years and that's long enough. Time for a change and a job.

Tunafish in Broomfield, Colorado said: I just came across this forum and would like to add MY negative experiences with agencies here. One agency, The Advocates, actually rewrote my resume and added that I had personal injury experience with a former employer, which was an outright lie. They did that because the interview they were about to send me on was with a personal injury firm. When I got to the interview with the managing partner, he remarked "I see you have had personal injury experience." I was shocked and said that no, I didn't have any and I asked to see my resume. The Advocates had rewritten my entire resume onto their letterhead. There were misspellings, grammar mistakes, and they added personal injury experience to my most recent position. I was mortified and told the managing partner that was not my version of the resume. I think the guy at The Advocates who did that is gone now, but I was sure upset. I also had not great experiences with Ginny Ford. She did send me on several interviews but she never followed up with the employer to get their reaction to me. I always had to write to her and inquire about their impression of me. I have gotten so fed up with the Denver legal jobs market that I am leaving Colorado, even though I love it here, I've been out of work for two years and that's long enough. Time for a change and a job.

That same thing happened to me with Special Counsel. They re-did my resume and didn't let me approve it before they sent it to their client. I didn't even recognize my own resume when I went in for hte interview. They put on my resumee' that I type 85 words per minute. Mind you, I have never worked as a legal secrtery and can barely squeak out 40 wpm. I was embarrased and didn't know what to do. I didn't get the job because they dind't believe my other experience after that. Actually, I didn't get the job because I wasn't qualified for hte job in the firs tplace. I never shojuld have been submitted.

I don't blame you for leaving Denver. The legal job market here is very strange. I think it is full of many rude, uptight, inflexible employers. They are not family-friendly at all. Heaven forbid that you don't look right or have family obligations. Although, it seems like the big downtown firms are better at hiring a more diverse workforce and setting aside their prejudices. It was this way back in the early 1990s, and it's still the same today. I had a much easier time finding legal work in other cities out west. The law firms there were much more laid-back and family-friendly. I have been looking for work for over two years here in Denver. Sent out hundreds of resumes and signed up with about 10 agencies. Only had about 2-4 interviews and no job offers during that time. It is just beginning to pick up again. I've had about 10-15 interviews in the past couple months alone. Hopefully the right thing will come along, but it's still seems very competitive. Anyway, none of the agencies has been very helpful to me. Lots of empty promises. Most of them have struck me as unprofessional and uncaring. As for GF, I think she needs to listen more. She interrupts you and basically tells you where to work and for how much. She doesn't seem to really care what you want. But, so far, she does have work available, unlike most of the agencies. Hope this info helps - I know it's tough out there!

I agree with everything you wrote and it is even worse for me because I moved here from out of state and there are so many unemployed legal people with Colorado experience that I don't stand a chance. The employment agencies here are the absolute worst. Good luck to you.

Well, GF might have work, but she doesn't follow up with you at all... Not impressed thus far.

Best temp agency I've found so far in Denver is Hire Connections. They are very courteous and professional to me, follow up, etc.

Are any of you attorneys looking for jobs? I'm returning to CO to take care of an ill parent and my husband and I are both attorneys looking to work in CO... I understand all your points on working with agencies and have had a pretty rough experience with NYC agencies.. Is there any advice you can give me? We're looking to get permanent jobs, but will work contract jobs to make do in the interim if that's even possible.. Thanks in advance for any help / insight!

Thanks! Those are great tips! I've already started looking through Martindale but it's slow going. The CO Bar Association link is great! Thank you!

Let me just toss some comments into this mix of reviews, complaints, comments, etc. Ginny Ford, was able to line up interviews right away but she said the rudest comment to me. I had come to the interview in a blazer and pants (very professional) and she said, maybe you go away with that with other agencies, but at my agency you are to wear a dress on all interviews - as if that would matter right now. Special Counsel is terrible. Everything they wrote about Sherri is true. She promised me several interviews and when I refused to go on a temp to hire job, she stopped calling me. When I called a couple of years later, she refused to take my calls or answer me. Roberts Half Legal, same ordeal. When I would go onto websites to submit for a paralegal job, I was told by one of the recruiters to stop answering the ads because I was clogging their system. The Advocates has a very STRANGE approach to getting you interviews. I went out on an interview that had me scratching my head. VERY STRANGE LAW FIRM that was clearly not a fit for me. To be honest, I landed a great job and I landed it on my own. Before legal employment agencies could steer you in the right direction because they knew the ins and outs of the law firms in Denver. Now, not so much. After the economy tanked, law firms didn't want to pay a head hunter fee. They didn't want to pay the finder's fee. A couple of other really bad employment agencies - Kennedy and Associates and Law Q. You've been warned!

I agree with everything you said about Ginny Ford. She is definitely the worst and I cannot believe she stays in business. She is rude and insincere, although she never commented to me about having to wear a dress. I haven't worn a dress in a decade and always wear pantsuits on interviews. Jo Kennedy was pretty bad, too. After I decided to decline a job offer, she never contacted me again, although before that she was very nice. It is my belief that ALL the placement agencies in this down are unprofessional and just plain suck and I am glad to be getting out of here.

To all paralegals/legal assistants/legal secretary looking for jobs. Hang in there. Although somewhat discouraging last year when I was looking...if you are patient, jobs are out there for sure! I landed a great job last year on my own after going through the painful process of interviewing with just about every head hunter that I thought I could land a job with. It took a couple of months, but the job offers did come into way. I'm working at a great firm now and so can you. It might be redundant, but try your best to look on your own and stay up on job position openings. I've gotten two calls this year already from head hunters looking to fill job positions so I know at least there are job out there for you.

Beware The Advocates in Denver Colorado. I had the worst experience here. They made the job out to be a temp to hire but when I got their they wanted me to do manual labor moving filing cabinets around. I was filthy and once the labor was done they let me go with zero notice. I still do not know whether this bad experience was intentional or not (my coworker sure thought it was intentional and accused The Advocates of lying). I would not go so far as to say the agency purposefully deceived me but I would advise any young graduate to stay far away from this agency. This “temp to hire” had no desire to hire!
Thank you

Special Counsel is a terrible agency. They constantly post jobs and when I response they say its been filled already. But I see them post the same job a few days later. They are terrible. Also, with Robert Half, there's always someone new there so you never know who you'll get. I am done going through temp agency.

Mandy OBrien said: I met with Legal Solutions last week. I was a bit skeptical because I've interviewed with five other legal placement agencies in the last month -- and none of them have any openings (even though they were advertising for open positions). Legal Solutions is the only one that has actually sent me out -- on not one -- but TWO interviews. The first interview at one of their client law firms didn't go so well -- not the agency's fault! I already have an offer from the second interview Legal Solutions sent me on. The salary isn't quite what I was hoping for, but I'm accepting the job because of this turbulent market. I think they're great and I would recommend any legal secretary to definitely register with them. Ask for Pat or Dianne.

** I agree. Pat R. is the BEST person that I've ever worked for at this company! I can state that first hand because she did put me out on a few jobs and unfortunately, the company suffered from the economic turndown that most small firms suffer from and there was no longer any work. Pat really is the best person to work for.