There was a hugely popular game show in the 1950s, 60s and 70s called Dialing for Dollars. The object of the show involved the host randomly selecting a phone number from a fishbowl, then dialing the lucky contestant to play along with members of the audience. The show was based on random luck of the draw. Other than knowing the name of the contestant, the host had very little knowledge of the contestant he was calling. But that was all part of the fun and excitement in playing the game. While I'm not sure if that successful game show would attract the big audiences today as it did back then, however, you could unknowingly become a participant in a similar reality game today. The truth is that most search firms develop their candidate pool by using this same "dialing for dollars" model. The search firms train their tele-marketers to randomly scroll law firm websites and randomly contact dozens upon dozens of lawyers every day, hoping that one will choose to pick up their phone and be sucked into the game. The concept is simple. Make enough calls and you’ll find some partner candidate, somewhere, who will eventually throw their name into the fishbowl. Now what they do with that candidate involves a different game. The telemarketer now plays the “Spin the Wheel” game with law firms, contacting firms and marketing their new partner candidate as a lure to play along. If you listen closely, maybe you can hear the laugh track from the audience, encouraging you to play too! Clients represented by JAG want a proven, sophisticated and trusted approach. JAG clients as well as the candidates we represent are made aware of the potential dangers of accepting calls from telemarketers such as this, and they are well-equipped to recognize them. We would enjoy speaking confidentially and sharing more about one of the most efficient models that not only works well for the clients we represent but is also in the best interest of the candidate. If your firm is interested in learning how to avoid the game show antics of most search firms, contact our team at teamjag@jaglaw.com.