Recruit & Grow · For fee-share law firms
On the fee-share model, your firm only grows when your consultants bill. Smart Match Legal recruits consultant solicitors with genuine client relationships, then supports new and existing consultants with business development built on a network of 19,000+ professionals.
Why it matters
A fee-share firm earns from what its consultants bill. Yet most recruitment stops on the day a consultant joins, and most marketing promotes the firm rather than the individual lawyer clients actually instruct.
Restrictive covenants, a new platform and rebuilding referrer relationships all slow the first year, which is exactly when you most need them to bill.
Many rely on a few long-standing clients and referrers. When those slow down, so do their billings, and so does the firm's income.
Most consultants know they should be more visible and keep in touch with referrers. Few have the hours to do it consistently alongside fee-earning work.
What you get
Consultant solicitors sourced directly and screened for genuine, portable client relationships, not just PQE or a polished CV.
Business development for new and existing consultants, done for them and approved by them.
Introductions to the referrers your consultants want to reach, from a network built over 15 years in financial and professional services.
How it works
A short call to agree target clients and referrers. LinkedIn profile rewritten and approved.
Posts written in their voice for approval. Referral partner map built and first outreach prepared.
Relevant introductions from our network, and follow-ups prepared so no conversation goes cold.
What's working, which referrers are engaging, and what to focus on next quarter.
The firm receives a short monthly summary of activity for each consultant. Consultants approve everything before it goes out, and no automation is ever used on their accounts. Every consultant also receives our LinkedIn playbook for consultant solicitors.
Terms
Recruitment fees are agreed individually to suit how your firm works and the roles you're hiring for. We'll set them out clearly on a call, before any search begins.
Covers up to five consultants, new or existing, with additional consultants at £500 a month each. Three-month minimum, then rolling monthly. Start with a small group and expand as results come through.
Questions firms ask
Yes. Business development support works for your existing consultants on its own. Many firms start there and add recruitment later.
No. Central marketing promotes the firm. We focus on each consultant's own profile, content and referrer relationships, within your brand and social media guidelines.
Content is written with SRA publicity standards in mind, and every post and message is approved by the consultant before it goes out. Introductions are to businesses and professionals only, never unsolicited approaches to members of the public. Your firm's compliance team can review anything at any time.
No. We prepare profiles, posts and messages for consultants to publish and send themselves, so they stay in control of their own accounts.
By approaching solicitors directly and asking the right questions early: who instructs them, where their work comes from, and what could realistically move with them. Candidates who can't answer those questions aren't put forward.
Nick Starbuck personally, with 15 years in business development across financial and professional services and a classified network of 19,000+ professionals.
A confidential, no-obligation conversation about where your firm wants to grow and whether Recruit & Grow fits.
Book a callOr email nick@smartmatchnetwork.com