Legal Authority Is the Most Effective Way to Get Your Next Legal Position.
Legal Authority puts you in control of your job search and gives you unrestricted access to all the opportunities that you specify you are interested in. Our services include:
Free Resume Critique: We will provide you with suggestions to improve the impact and effectiveness of your resume.
Free Market Evaluation: We will provide a market evaluation to give you an assessment of your overall marketability.
Free Consultation: Our Employment Advocates will set up an appointment with you to identify areas of the country and types of employers you might be interested in.
"The most common means of obtaining a job was a letter or other "self-initiated contact" with the employer..."
- NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LAW PLACEMENT
Founder's Biography
Biography of Andrew Harrison Barnes
Andrew Harrison Barnes was born on February 7, 1970 in Detroit, Michigan. The founder and CEO of Legal Authority, Harrison is known for his contribution to the legal employment market. Harrison and his companies have successfully helped thousands of legal professionals bolster their careers.
Harrison Barnes studied at the University of Chicago, where he was one of the top students in his graduating class. During his undergraduate tenure he even co-taught a college-level class. At the University of Chicago he earned a bachelor's degree in political studies.
Harrison went on to graduate from the University of Virginia Law School. At Virginia he was an editor of the Virginia Law Review and was the managing editor of the Journal of Law and Politics. Harrison has also taught professional responsibility at Whittier Law School.
A passionate believer in community service, Harrison always wanted to help people who were struggling with their careers. When he found Legal Authority in September 2002, he was able to reach out to the remotest employment opportunity in any industry and link it to the best possible employee for that job.
Harrison has designed Legal Authority in such a way that it has the capacity to hold more hiring department contacts than any other in the world—more than 750,000 legal employers. Legal Authority is continuously updated and includes virtually every law firm, corporation, city, county, judge, public interest organization, prosecutor, public defender, law school, association, embassy, representative, congressman, or other organization in the United States that employs legal professionals.
Legal Authority's parent company, EmploymentScape, today has several hundred employees in 14 offices throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe, owing mostly to the clear vision, sharp foresight, and extensive experience of Harrison Barnes. With more than 100 job-search websites comprising EmploymentScape, it is one of the largest career service companies in the world.
A mentor, counselor, motivator, trainer, and writer, Harrison has been featured in the bestselling book by Chet Holmes, The Ultimate Sales Machine. He has also been featured in a chapter in the book The Art and Science of Legal Recruiting published by Aspatore, Inc., the leading publisher on C-level executives.
A Strenuous Career Start
Harrison's early career days were extremely taxing. Perhaps it was his early experiences which urged Harrison to help people with their careers. His college days were no different from most other students'—not knowing what he wanted to do with his life.
Harrison had little money in his pocket, and after a couple of unsatisfying attempts at other ventures, he finally decided to start a business building and repairing peoples' driveways and parking lots by the spreading of asphalt sealant.
With help from two employees Harrison would fill up five-gallon pails from barrels on his trailers and walk the sealant over to an area of the asphalt he wanted to repair. He would then spread it around on the asphalt with a squeegee or a large brush. This was an extremely difficult job; the sealant would often get onto his skin and burn him. In removing the sealant, it would take off layers of his skin. Harrison used gasoline and steel wool-like material to remove the sealant. This was awfully painful.
Undeterred by this excruciating process, Harrison continued his venture and helped people (even some who could not pay) in building their driveways. At the end of the day he was satisfied, was appreciated by his clients, and was motivated to move to the next job.
Work Is His Life Blood
Harrison would often work seven days a week. Harrison worked hard and expected his employees to work hard as well. In fact, some of his employees would quit the job from exhaustion after only a few days. There were people who lasted at this, however. Harrison strived to do everything which got him work, and always got another job.
Harrison respected the people he was working for. Incredibly serious about his work, he always loved what he did. His efforts soon paid off; his business prospered and he was in a position to buy better and better equipment for it.
Harrison says, "Having work is a privilege and the most important thing one can have."
It was this belief that fuelled his success at Legal Authority. According to Harrison, work deserves to be cherished and held in the highest possible esteem. Work is something that is your lifeblood; without work, everything stops.
Harrison Barnes, Attorney
After he earned a law degree, Harrison worked as clerk for United States District Judge Robert H. Cleland. He then joined New York City-based law firm of Dewey Ballantine as associate, and also worked for the Los Angeles-based law firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver and Hedges.
Harrison worked for a broad range of clients including the US government and several South American governments in a number of cases involving a variety of issues including breach of contract, personal injury, Internet law, trademark infringement, intellectual property, tax, and employment matters.
Harrison's time as a lawyer gave him insight into the legal career of attorneys and proved a great help later in his career when he created Legal Authority and other companies to assist other legal professionals in finding jobs.
Harrison's Theory on Surviving a Job: Increase Efficiency Continuously
Every business targets maximizing profits in a process of continuous improvement with incurring the least possible costs. According to Harrison this means that an employer is always looking for ways to eliminate an employee to reduce the unwanted cost of that employee's wages.
Harrison says, "Every job is a threat to the company and its profits, and companies are always looking for ways to do away with the same."
"So the best way to survive is to increase your efficiency continuously." According to Harrison, you always need to be on the side of efficiency and increasing the output of the company at the lowest possible cost. If you stand in the way of efficiency, you will be seen as an enemy of the company and its growth.
Harrison has applied this belief to his companies, including Legal Authority, which all continuously strive to increase their efficiency by increasing the number of jobs posted on the sites and improving the quality of service.
Harrison's Million-Dollar Idea Gave Birth to Legal Authority
At the time Harrison started an Internet business in 1999, computer programmers were like gods to companies. Demanding bulky six-figure salaries, these guys jumped between companies. Everybody believed that the next in-thing was software and the Internet and thus needed programmers to help set them up. Programmers were in high demand and acted like they could do whatever they wanted.
As a start-up, Harrison's company had to almost beg programmers to work. At times Harrison had to pay programmers as much as $100 an hour to do the work, and to his amazement the programmers would stop working after four or five hours because they thought the work was boring. Appalled by this, Harrison started searching for a solution and soon built an office in India.
He noticed that in India people were enthusiastic about doing work and were willing to give their best; this worked for Harrison. Then came one of the most tormenting times for the US economy—the dot-com bubble burst and there was simply no work for programmers. It had all dried up.
In the US, programmers were desperately seeking jobs and applications flooded Harrison's office. However, Harrison had already found a large team of programmers at his company in India.
According to Harrison, "If your employers can get your job done more cheaply elsewhere, then they will. The cheaper they can produce a product or service, the more they will sell the same. The more the product or service is sold, the more the company will grow and expand."
This was when Harrison noticed that an increasing number of people were spending their time, energy, and money in searching for jobs in every possible way. He hit upon the million-dollar idea. The best thing his company could do at that time was to help these people find their jobs. Harrison did just that.
Employment Research Institute Comes into Existence
It was the year 2000 when Harrison founded Juriscape (today known as Employment Research Institute), an umbrella company under which he planned to launch all his ventures.
Being an attorney himself, Harrison knew exactly what top attorneys wanted at every stage of their career. He initiated BCG Attorney Search, a company that places the best associates and partners in top-tier law firms.
The great success of BCG Attorney Search catapulted Employment Research Institute to the forefront of the US legal recruitment industry.
Harrison noticed that the dot-com bubble burst had left not only top lawyers searching for jobs but even mid-level and starting attorneys scrambling for survival. He felt the need to assist all legal professionals and not just top lawyers.
The Ritzy Launch of Legal Authority
In September 2002 Harrison's dream became a reality when he launched Legal Authority. This company utilizes innovative and targeted direct-mailing strategies to assist attorneys and law students apply for and find jobs across the United States.
Through years of research, Harrison has developed a database that lists hiring contacts of 750,000 legal employers. At Legal Authority job seekers can drastically increase their chances of getting hired by directly contacting potential employers.
A typical Legal Authority process works as follows: Legal Authority employment advocates work with legal professionals to find the precise practice areas and the geographic locations of the firms they wish to include in a targeted mailing. Next, the company's certified legal resume writers craft an expert resume and cover letter for the client.
Legal Authority then prints all the resumes, cover letters, and envelopes—pre-addressed to the hiring contacts—and sends a complete package to the job seeker, who just needs to sign the cover letters, stamp the envelopes, and mail.
Harrison Barnes says, "By using the world's most sophisticated database of legal employers, we have enhanced the lives of millions of attorneys by penetrating markets on their behalf to get them the exposure."
Harrison firmly believes that through self-initiated contacts, job seekers can have 85 percent better chance of getting hired. In fact, even the National Association of Law Placement says that most attorneys get positions by approaching employers who do not solicit their resume.
What Makes Harrison's Companies Distinct?
It was Harrison's unique idea which made more people get jobs quickly and effectively. Harrison's companies, including Legal Authority, do not charge the employers to post their jobs (like most other job sites do); they aggressively contact and investigate thousands of employers each day to learn of new positions.
Job seekers become members of Harrison's companies and gain access to the huge number of open positions that are constantly updated at research facilities across the company's many international offices.
Harrison's Expansion into the Legal Sector
Having made a mark in the legal recruiting industry, Harrison realized the need for comprehensive information about national and international legal job openings. He wanted to initiate a company which had everything a legal professional would want.
In July 2003, Harrison launched LawCrossing. The site soon started attracting thousands of law students, lawyers, and legal staff who would visit the website every day to browse for jobs and exciting law-related career news and articles.
LawCrossing received an excellent response from the legal community. Now Harrison decided to help those students who could not afford the hefty fees imposed by law schools. He wanted to assist law students with consolidating their law school debt. In January 2005, Harrison launched his first financial company: Law School Loans.
During the next five months he was busy with the creation of JD2B, which came into existence on May 2005. The growing demand for legal information online prompted Harrison to start this website. JD2B is a fun-filled and interactive website; it presents news, blogs, resources, and several other features for law school applicants, law students, and recent law school graduates.
Feeling the need for a specialized resume company for attorneys, in November 2005, Harrison inaugurated Attorney Resume. A highly specialized company, Attorney Resume has professional resume writers who construct resumes and cover letters for attorneys and law students based on client inputs.
The growing job-search needs of the staff working at law firms were catered to in January 2006 when Harrison launched Law Firm Staff. From associates and assistant attorneys to paralegals, law clerks, and summer associates, Law Firm Staff helps every level of employees in a law firm with searching for their perfect job.
Harrison launched Judged in March 2006. This site became a must-see website for those who wished to venture behind the scenes of top law firms and law schools across the United States to see what is really taking place. An interesting and interactive website, Judged is today a favorite of thousands of legal professionals.
Harrison Ventures outside the Legal Industry
The years after 2005 have been the best for Employment Research Institute. When Harrison and the management of EmploymentScape saw how much they were able to financially help law students their thoughts soon turned towards helping all students—not just future attorneys—in other ways.
In 2006 Harrison launched another financial major: EdFed. An educational financing company, EdFed offers a variety of loan consolidation services to all students, not just law students. This was Harrison's first venture where he helped people outside of the legal community.
Exploring a very broad market Harrison launched two more services: SellingCrossing and Graduate School Loans.
A sales job board, SellingCrossing contains the most diverse collection of active sales jobs in the sales world. SellingCrossing is a uniquely searchable and regularly updated platform offering great sales information to job seekers in the United States.
Graduate School Loans is a company that caters to loan requirements of graduates. The company offers loans and consolidation options featuring extremely competitive rates.
2007: Year of Mega Expansion for Harrison Barnes
The first quarter of 2007 saw the launched of Hound. The building of this company took two years of ardent research. Hound is a website that pulls job listings from company sites throughout the world providing its members the best opportunities to find and apply to jobs long before they are advertised to the full market.
Not wanting to neglect the huge medical industry, Harrison started Medical School Loans. This company helps medical students and doctors by offering them customized financial services such as student loans for medical education, consolidation, etc.
Having been successful at every venture, Harrison expanded his resume- and cover letter-writing services to all professionals in all career industries with the launch of ResumeApple (now known as Preferred Resumes).
Managing a number of job boards, Harrison now looked to consolidate them under one single banner. In 2007, Harrison launched EmploymentCrossing, a single platform for a groundbreaking and expansive group of industry-specific job boards. Under EmploymentCrossing, Harrison soon launched more than thirty individual job boards:
Today EmploymentCrossing has more than 100 companies under its banner covering almost every area and every possible job opportunity in the market. Its parent company, Employment Research Institute, has several hundred employees in 14 offices throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe.
A Zealous Trainer, Motivator, and Orator
Harrison Barnes, the CEO of the largest employment company in America, makes time for a limited number of speaking, coaching, and workshop engagements. Harrison works on rapidly transforming people into proactive job seekers who know exactly what it takes to get a job and reach their full potential.
His career coaching encompasses resume revision, a life assessment, and testing to determine an individual's natural strengths. Harrison works on all individual, corporate, and organizational engagements.
A superb orator and motivator, Harrison shares his career experiences and his thoughts through his very interesting blog.
Harrison's Favorite Discipline
Also his secret to keeping fit, Kundalini yoga is Harrison's favorite discipline. Harrison says that Kundalini yoga is not just about relaxing, but it forces one's mind and body to their absolute limits and beyond. He says that when you push your mind, you also push your body and when you go through the various exercises you transform into a completely different person.
According to Harrison the practice helps you go past what you thought you were capable of. An example of a Kundalini exercise might involve holding your arms outstretched and flapping them up and down six inches. Such an exercise can easily be done for a minute or so, but when you keep doing it for say, seven minutes, it becomes extremely difficult. Your arms and your shoulders start hurting tremendously. Amazingly, at some point, however, the pain stops. Harrison says that you need to condition your mind to give it your all.
He says, "Trying your hardest is about coming up against your limits and pushing through and doing this time and again."
Harrison says that when you break through the pain you are able to live your life on the other side. Kundalini yoga is effective because it can teach people how to give life their all.
A Guide to a Successful Career as a Paralegal or Legal Staff Member
LawCrossing's Guide To Alternative Careers
LawCrossing's Career Advice Revealed Part I
LawCrossing's Career Advice Revealed Part II
LawCrossing's Spotlight on Academic Attorneys
LawCrossing's Spotlight on Minority Attorneys
The LawCrossing Difference
The 2008 Judged Salary Survey
California Corporate Counsel
New York Corporate Counsel
Perfect Legal Job Search Book
Free Resume Critique and Free Market Evaluation
Just fill out our Sign Up Form and we will contact you to set up an appointment to talk to you about your job search. We will interview you in depth over the phone to understand what type of legal employment you are seeking. If you would like, ask us for a resume critique, and we will provide you with suggestions to improve the impact and effectiveness of your resume. In addition, we will provide a market evaluation and give you an assessment of your overall marketability. This critique and market evaluation are absolutely free, and there is no obligation to continue. We are committed to helping you find a job, whether you decide to use our full services or not.
Legal Authority has helped thousands of attorneys and law students find new opportunities and new careers throughout the country. While we can't speak for each and every one of our clients, the growing list of customer testimonials is a proven track record of our success!
The reason is simple. Legal Authority is a convenient, inexpensive and reliable way to help jobseekers apply directly to almost any legal employer in the country. With a database that can not be offered by any other job boards, classified sections of legal newspapers, legal recruiters, on-campus interviewing programs, or job fairs, Legal Authority is able to give its clients the exposure they need to get hired. And it requires very little effort. Legal Authority does all the grunt work for you, from customized cover letters and envelopes to professionally crafted resumes. All you do is sign, seal and deliver. We've been told by our clients that the hardest part of the process was deciding between job offers!
It's hard to guarantee the level of success that you will have in your job search, however, if it's any indication of how people have felt about our service, our growth has come almost entirely from word of mouth in the legal profession. Legal Authority's satisfied and happily employed clients have continuously referred us to their colleagues, friends and family. We hope you let Legal Authority work for you in your career journey.
Sign up for a "Free, No Obligation Resume Critique" and "Free Market Evaluation". Let us tell you how much potential you have!
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Testimonials
What Our Clients Are Saying
Amazing. I was on medical leave, but still got 10 interviews and I'm still getting calls three weeks later. Legal Authority rocks! - Tony L.
THANKS so much! You guys did a great job and I can't wait to send my cover letter and resume out. Thanks again! - L.K., Jackson Beach,
I was worried that, after paying a grand, I wouldn't get results from mailing 654 letters. Well check this out: I put them all in the mail on Tuesday (9/2), had a call back that Thursday (9/4), an int... - Aaron
