Gould and Ratner, a distinguished mid-sized law firm headquartered in Chicago, has fundamentally transformed its talent acquisition processes through the strategic implementation of Workable, an advanced applicant tracking system (ATS). This strategic shift has enabled the firm to overcome the inherent complexities of legal recruitment, streamline operations, and support ambitious expansion plans, all while maintaining a lean, single-person talent acquisition department. The deployment of Workable has not only delivered tangible efficiencies, including a recovery of five hours per week for its solo recruiter, but has also fostered enhanced candidate relationships, extended pipeline longevity, and facilitated seamless multi-city growth, as evidenced by the successful scaling of its Denver office without additional recruiting infrastructure.
Gould & Ratner: A Profile in Legal Excellence and Growth
Established as a prominent legal entity, Gould and Ratner operates from its primary hub in Chicago, employing approximately 115 professionals, including a robust team of around 60 attorneys. The firm’s legal expertise spans critical practice areas such as real estate, corporate law, and litigation, serving a diverse clientele. In a testament to its dynamic growth trajectory, Gould and Ratner embarked on a significant expansion approximately 18 months ago, establishing a new office in Denver. This strategic move saw the Denver presence rapidly grow from a single employee to a team of seven, marking a crucial step in the firm’s broader market penetration strategy.
Overseeing the intricate landscape of talent acquisition for both the Chicago and rapidly expanding Denver offices is Dan Minjock, the firm’s Director of Talent Acquisition. Operating as a department of one, Minjock is responsible for managing approximately 20 hires annually, with the overwhelming majority of these positions being high-stakes attorney roles. This structure underscores the critical need for highly efficient and robust systems to support such a demanding mandate.
The Unique Demands of Legal Talent Acquisition
Recruiting in the legal sector, particularly for attorney positions, presents a distinct set of challenges that diverge significantly from general corporate hiring. Attorney roles, whether for associates or partners, demand an exceptionally high caliber of candidate, precise expertise in specific practice areas, and often align with particular stages in a candidate’s professional trajectory. The confluence of these factors means that finding the right legal talent can be an extended process, frequently spanning well over a year. This protracted timeline necessitates a recruitment system capable of meticulous organization, persistent candidate engagement, and the preservation of institutional memory regarding past interactions.
Before the integration of a purpose-built system, Gould and Ratner faced considerable hurdles in managing these long-running, intricate searches. The absence of a centralized platform meant that documenting every candidate interaction, preserving detailed interview notes across multiple rounds, and efficiently surfacing promising candidates from previous searches was a monumental task. In a scenario where a solo recruiter like Dan Minjock was simultaneously managing numerous active searches—each potentially involving up to five interview rounds spread across three separate days—the margin for error or disorganization was virtually nonexistent. Promising candidates, encountered in one context, could inadvertently slip through the cracks, representing a significant loss of potential talent and investment. The competitive nature of legal talent acquisition further amplifies these challenges, as firms vie for a limited pool of highly specialized professionals.
The Strategic Introduction of Workable
Dan Minjock joined Gould and Ratner two years ago, coinciding with the firm’s initial adoption of Workable. His arrival marked a pivotal moment, as the firm sought a solution that could address the escalating demands of its talent acquisition needs. Minjock’s immediate priority was to implement a system capable of navigating the inherent complexities of legal recruiting without imposing an undue burden on the firm’s senior attorneys, who would be integral collaborators in the hiring process. The platform needed to be powerful yet intuitively designed, accommodating both the intricate workflows of a solo recruiter and the limited time availability of busy legal professionals.
Workable proved to be the ideal solution, successfully addressing both critical requirements. Its visual pipeline functionality provided the essential organizational framework necessary for managing long-horizon searches, ensuring that no promising candidate was lost to disorganization. The seamless integration with LinkedIn Recruiter eliminated a substantial volume of manual administrative tasks, a significant time-saver for a one-person department. Furthermore, the platform’s user-friendly interface proved to be a game-changer, transforming potential resistance from practice chairs into enthusiastic adoption. This ease of use was paramount, as any steep learning curve would have been a prohibitive factor for senior attorneys.
Transforming the Recruiting Landscape: Key Outcomes and Metrics
The implementation of Workable at Gould and Ratner has yielded a comprehensive array of benefits, fundamentally reshaping how the firm identifies, engages, and secures top legal talent. The "Quick Results" table provided a snapshot of these achievements, which can be elaborated upon to reveal the depth of Workable’s impact.
Enhancing Pipeline Longevity and Candidate Nurturing:
Legal recruiting, unlike many other sectors, often operates on a principle of patience and long-term relationship building. A highly specialized candidate for an environmental law role, for instance, might be the perfect fit for the firm’s needs but might not be available for another year, or might not yet be ready to make a career move. Workable has equipped Gould and Ratner with the tools to effectively manage these long-term engagements. The platform makes it possible to keep such candidates actively in the pipeline, meticulously document every interaction, and strategically re-engage when the timing aligns perfectly.
Dan Minjock cites a compelling example: a candidate who was successfully tracked and nurtured within the Workable pipeline for over a year was ultimately hired. This crucial hire, which might have been lost in a less organized system, was only made possible due to the firm’s ability to maintain detailed, organized notes throughout the extended recruitment cycle. Minjock emphasized this philosophy, stating, "We don’t ever wanna miss a great person. And I think Workable makes sure that we don’t." This capability extends beyond single hires; the robust documentation allowed another candidate to be seamlessly transitioned from one open search to a new, more suitable role, demonstrating Workable’s flexibility in adapting to evolving firm needs. The ability to recall historical data is critical, as Minjock noted, "There’s no way the lawyers could remember what they interviewed the guy about a year ago if we didn’t document it." This institutional memory built into the system ensures that valuable candidate insights are never lost.
Streamlining Stakeholder Collaboration:
At Gould and Ratner, each distinct practice area is helmed by a practice chair—a senior attorney deeply invested in the caliber and suitability of individuals joining their team. For any recruiting platform to be successful, it must foster consistent engagement from these influential stakeholders. This demands an interface that is genuinely intuitive, leaving no room for a steep learning curve in the demanding, fast-paced environment of a law firm.
Workable has excelled in this regard. All four of the firm’s practice chairs now independently utilize the platform to review candidate profiles, submit their evaluations, and track candidates through various pipeline stages. This collaborative process occurs without friction or complaint, a testament to Workable’s user-centric design. The platform’s visual organization of the process flow, clearly delineating stages such as first-round and second-round interviews, provides every collaborator with the necessary visibility and understanding of the hiring journey. Minjock’s concise summary of the adoption experience perfectly encapsulates its success: "So easy a lawyer can do it." This high level of adoption not only enhances efficiency but also ensures that hiring decisions are well-informed and benefit from the collective expertise of the senior leadership.
Enabling Seamless Multi-City Expansion:
The firm’s ambitious expansion into Denver presented a significant operational challenge that Workable effectively mitigated. While the Denver office scaled rapidly from one to seven employees, Dan Minjock’s recruiting infrastructure required no additional scaling. Workable’s functionality allowed the firm to open roles in new markets by simply specifying the location—Chicago only, Denver only, or both. The platform then seamlessly managed the downstream complexities, including the generation of separate LinkedIn job posts for each market, adhering to LinkedIn’s structural requirements.
What could have easily become a substantial operational hurdle, demanding new tools, additional headcount, or significant process overhauls, was instead absorbed into existing workflows with remarkable ease. The Denver expansion proceeded without disruption, demonstrating Workable’s capacity to support strategic growth initiatives without necessitating a corresponding increase in talent acquisition resources. This capability is particularly valuable for mid-sized firms looking to expand their geographical footprint efficiently.
Reclaiming Valuable Time for Strategic Engagement:
For a solo recruiter managing highly specialized and often hard-to-fill roles, time diverted to manual administrative tasks represents a direct loss of opportunity for crucial candidate engagement. Workable’s integration with LinkedIn Recruiter stands out as one of Dan Minjock’s most indispensable features. He notes its consistent reliability, functioning flawlessly every single time. This integration, combined with the platform’s ability to simultaneously post job openings to multiple boards, collectively recovers an estimated five hours per week that would otherwise be consumed by administrative overhead.
These five hours are not merely "saved"; they are strategically reallocated. They allow Minjock to dedicate more time to high-touch candidate relationships, proactive sourcing, strategic market research, and internal consulting—activities that directly contribute to securing top talent and enhancing the firm’s competitive edge. This shift from reactive administration to proactive engagement is a cornerstone of Workable’s value proposition for solo TA professionals.
Fortifying Employer Brand and Compliance:
Beyond operational efficiencies, Workable has also delivered meaningful benefits in terms of employer branding and compliance. The platform’s comprehensive documentation record has provided crucial protection in situations involving compliance claims. On occasions when external agencies have attempted to claim placement fees for candidates already within Gould and Ratner’s pipeline, the firm has been able to swiftly and unequivocally demonstrate the prior relationship through Workable’s detailed interaction history. This robust "paper trail" is not a result of extra effort; it is an inherent byproduct of using the platform as intended, offering a layer of legal and financial protection.
On the candidate experience front, Workable’s automated communication features have garnered an unanticipated positive response. Automated rejection emails, for instance, routinely prompt candidates to express gratitude to the firm for keeping them informed, even when they are not advancing in the process. This level of transparency and professionalism, often lacking in recruitment processes, significantly enhances the firm’s employer brand. Furthermore, the Workable-built careers page goes live within seconds of a role being published, presenting a polished, professional, and intuitive experience that reinforces the firm’s positive reputation from the very first candidate touchpoint. This seamless and professional experience is vital in attracting and retaining high-caliber legal professionals in a competitive market.
A Deeper Dive into Operational Impact
The cumulative effect of Workable’s features has transformed Gould and Ratner’s talent acquisition from a reactive, administratively heavy function into a proactive, strategically aligned operation. The firm’s ability to sustain long-term candidate relationships and maintain an evergreen talent pipeline is a significant competitive advantage in the specialized legal sector, where top talent is scarce and highly sought after. This "institutional memory" ensures that the firm capitalizes on every potential hiring opportunity, even those that mature over extended periods.
Furthermore, the high adoption rate among senior attorneys is a critical success factor. It signifies that Workable has effectively bridged the gap between recruiting technology and the demanding schedules of legal professionals, ensuring that critical input and collaboration are never hindered by technical complexity. This collaborative environment fosters more informed hiring decisions and strengthens the internal partnership between talent acquisition and practice leadership.
The seamless support for multi-city expansion illustrates Workable’s scalability and adaptability. For a mid-sized firm, the ability to grow geographically without incurring proportional increases in administrative overhead or needing to invest in entirely new recruiting infrastructure is a profound strategic advantage, allowing resources to be channeled into core business activities.
The Return on Investment: A Strategic Advantage
For a firm of Gould and Ratner’s specific size, operational complexity, and growth aspirations, Workable transcends the definition of a mere productivity tool. It has become the foundational operational backbone that renders a sophisticated, one-person recruiting function not only viable but highly effective. A single talent acquisition professional, Dan Minjock, is now empowered to manage every hire across two distinct cities, multiple specialized practice areas, and intricate searches that can extend well beyond a year. This level of efficiency and strategic reach would be virtually impossible without a platform designed to keep every candidate organized, every stakeholder aligned, and every promising relationship meticulously maintained and within easy reach.
The measurable benefits, from significant time savings to enhanced candidate experience and robust compliance support, underscore the profound return on investment. As Dan Minjock succinctly puts it, "For the relative low investment of what it costs, it’s very high value for us." This statement encapsulates the core message: Workable provides disproportionately high value, enabling Gould and Ratner to compete effectively for top legal talent, support its strategic growth, and maintain its reputation for excellence, all through optimized and intelligent talent acquisition practices.
Conclusion
Gould and Ratner’s experience with Workable stands as a compelling case study for how mid-sized law firms can leverage technology to navigate the intricate and highly competitive landscape of legal talent acquisition. By providing an intuitive, comprehensive, and scalable platform, Workable has not only resolved previous challenges related to disorganization and inefficiency but has also empowered the firm’s solo talent acquisition professional to drive strategic growth, enhance stakeholder collaboration, and elevate the overall candidate experience. This successful integration underscores the critical role of advanced ATS solutions in modern legal recruitment, positioning firms like Gould and Ratner for sustained success in an ever-evolving talent market.
