A Very Special Karen's Corner: The Launch of Risepoint Search Partners

We are thrilled to announce the launch of Karen's new legal recruiting company!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Karen’s Corner content with a really special announcement: Karen has launched her own company! We are so thrilled to announce the opening of Risepoint Search Partners, a boutique legal recruiting firm based in Washington, D.C.

If you just came for the standard SCOTUS content, Steve will be back with more of that on Monday. But if you’d like to learn more about Risepoint and what led Karen to launch her own shop, please read on!

1. What does the name “Risepoint” mean?

Risepoint is a made-up word that symbolizes the process that many people undertake when looking for their next legal job. Based on my own past experience making career changes, I know that there are folks who won’t even start looking for a change because the entire process just feels too overwhelming. You’re looking up at the mountain you need to climb and thinking: “I will never get to the top, so why even try?” And that’s where we come in.  We partner with our candidates every step of the way so that when you get to the top—to your Risepoint—you can look back and say “huh, that wasn’t so bad.”

2. When did I decide that I wanted to launch my own company?

The very first time that I put pen to paper on launching my own company was November 1, 2022. I titled the document “Project Align”—a concept for how I picture the best recruiters: aligning their candidate’s and client’s needs seamlessly. I had been a recruiter for less than a year at that point, but I knew that one day I would go out on my own. I spent the last 18 months thinking really carefully about the kind of shop I wanted to create, the people with whom I wanted to do it, and the work on which I wanted to focus.

3. So who am I doing this with?

I’m Risepoint’s sole owner, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to work with other people! For now, I’m launching it with one of my closest and wisest friends, Katy Robinette.

Katy and my relationship began the way all good relationships do: online in the spring of 2020, when the world shut down. We both joined a Facebook group called Peloton Law Moms, and it was basically exactly as it sounds—a lawyer-mom group for people who ride Peloton bikes. It became a social outlet for a group of ambitious lawyer moms who were all of a sudden at home. People quickly became real-life friends. There was an offshoot for a type of Peloton ride called PowerZone, and that’s when we really started talking. We realized that we were both on the same team and had much of the same approaches to all of the various topics that were raised in the group. So, we started DMing.

Katy was on board from the jump back in November 2022. She’s been the biggest cheerleader for Risepoint—and is going to make an absolutely fantastic recruiter. She’s a seasoned attorney with an enormous network. She's a Berkeley law graduate who clerked for Judge Gregory on the Fourth Circuit. After her clerkship, she worked at some of the best shops in D.C. (including DOJ, the FTC, and the boutique Massey & Gail). She is currently a lawyer at the D.C. Attorney General's Office, where she will remain part-time as she pivots into recruiting.

4. What is so fulfilling about being a legal recruiter, anyway?

To me, at least, legal recruiting has allowed me to marry two of my passions: the law and connecting people. I love being an advisor to lawyers who feel like they can’t quite navigate a complicated job search on their own—and I get to be a market expert when someone is making a really important decision in their life, a decision to which I like to think I can bring unique perspective given my own experience in practice.

I sometimes post to LinkedIn screenshots of text exchanges I’ve had with candidates (with their permission). These are real messages that I regularly receive—all of which reflect, in some shape or form, that I helped to change their lives. It’s impossible to fully capture in words how special it feels to hear that. In 13 years of practice as a lawyer, I never once received anything remotely close to that from a client! And I give the credit to the candidates—they really are the ones doing the hard work, but the truth is that a good recruiter can help to fundamentally alter the trajectory of a candidate’s career.

How many people get to say that they're personally involved in changing the trajectory of someone's life? That is such an unbelievably gratifying thing to get to do. Just a few weeks ago, I had a candidate who was at a middle-market firm where he was really not living up to his full potential. Just this week, he started somewhere where he is making over 50% more in salary, while doing exactly what he wants to be doing. And I've had a number of candidates in similar situations—where folks end up either making significantly more, or at firms where they are far more valued or have changed practice areas or geographic regions completely, or both. We spend so much time at work that these upgrades can make a big change in candidates’ lives—and I love being able to play even a small part in bringing those changes about.

5. With whom do I work?

I work primarily with two groups of people: the clients (i.e., law firms) of all shapes and sizes—from three-person boutiques to AmLaw 10 firms—and the candidates (i.e., the folks who are interested in switching jobs).

On the candidate front, 95% of what I do is for lawyers who are looking to move from one law firm to another. I am a real believer that not all firms are created equal, and my work has borne that out time and time again. I don’t do much in-house recruiting (although we do have a very cool in-house job coming out tomorrow in Austin that we are leading). So if you’re a law firm lawyer, especially in D.C. or Texas, I am always happy to offer my assessment of whether it makes sense for us to work together.

6. How can you support Risepoint?

If you’ve read this far: Thank you! There are a couple ways you can support us. First, please go to our website and check us out. Second, please follow us on X and Instagram (@risepointsearch) and on LinkedIn. Third, reach out! I am always happy to have a conversation with any client about whether we are a good fit to recruit for you, or to give thoughts to any lawyer about their career path. You can reach me at karen@risepointsearch.com and Katy at katy@risepointsearch.com. Finally, we love referrals. If you have a friend who wants to make a move, or even to talk about maybe making a move, we hope that you will think of us.

Thanks, as always, for all your support. I’ll be back next month with my regular Karen’s Corner (moving edition!!!!), and Steve will be back Monday with Court-related musings.