Chicago, IL
Legal recruiters in Chicago
The Chicago legal market
- Legal-sector jobs
- 46,205
- 4th largest legal market of 73 tracked
- 7.2x the median metro
- Legal employers
- 5,836
- 4th most legal employers of 73 metros tracked
- 5.7x the median metro
- Average annual wage (weekly x 52)
- $243,048
- 7th highest of 73 metros tracked
- 49% above the median metro
Source: BLS QCEW county files, private ownership, Q4 2024 vs Q4 2025. NAICS 5411, all legal-services employment, not attorneys alone.
Practice areas covered here
Firms with an office in the Chicago area
National(18 states)
Chicago, IL · +25 more
- Litigation
- Corporate & M&A
- Tax, Trusts & Estates
Places paralegals & legal staff
Multi-state(3 states)Generalist
Chicago, IL · +2 more
- Litigation
- Corporate & M&A
- Tax, Trusts & Estates
- Labor & Employment
- +1 more
Places associates, partners & groups, in-house counsel, paralegals & legal staff
Multi-state(2 states)
Chicago, IL · +1 more
- Litigation
- Corporate & M&A
- Tax, Trusts & Estates
- Finance & Restructuring
Places associates, in-house counsel
Multi-state(2 states)Generalist
Chicago, IL · +1 more
- Litigation
- Intellectual Property
- Real Estate
- Tax, Trusts & Estates
- +4 more
Places associates, in-house counsel, paralegals & legal staff
Single officeGeneralist
Chicago, IL
- Litigation
- Corporate & M&A
- Intellectual Property
- Real Estate
- +2 more
Places associates, partners & groups, in-house counsel
National(17 states)Specialist
Chicago, IL · +20 more
- Litigation
- Labor & Employment
Places in-house counsel
National(14 states)Specialist
Chicago, IL · +18 more
- Litigation
- Intellectual Property
Places partners & groups, in-house counsel
Single office
Chicago, IL
- Litigation
- Corporate & M&A
- Real Estate
Places associates, in-house counsel
Multi-state(4 states)Specialist
Chicago, IL · +3 more
- Intellectual Property
Places paralegals & legal staff
Multi-state(2 states)
Chicago, IL · +1 more
- Corporate & M&A
- Labor & Employment
- Regulatory
Places in-house counsel
Single officeSpecialist
Chicago, IL
- Corporate & M&A
- Labor & Employment
Places associates, in-house counsel
Single office
Chicago, IL
Places associates, partners & groups, in-house counsel
National(15 states)
Griffith, IN · Schaumburg, IL · +23 more
Places paralegals & legal staff
National(10 states)Specialist
Chicago, IL · +24 more
- Litigation
Places paralegals & legal staff
Single officeSpecialist
Chicago, IL
- Labor & Employment
Places partners & groups, in-house counsel
- EL
Single officeSpecialist
Chicago, IL
- Finance & Restructuring
Places in-house counsel
Single officeSpecialist
Chicago, IL
- Litigation
- Labor & Employment
Places in-house counsel
Single office
Chicago, IL
Places partners & groups, in-house counsel, paralegals & legal staff
Single officeSpecialist
Countryside, IL
- Intellectual Property
Places in-house counsel
- MW
Search types are what each firm says on its own site: retained search, contingency search, contract & temporary.
The Chicago legal market in numbers
The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro area had 46,205 legal-sector jobs in Q4 2025. That is the 4th largest legal market of the 73 metros this directory tracks, and 7.2x the median metro, which had 6,428. It had 5,836 legal employers (establishments), the 4th most of 73 and 5.7x the median metro. That is 126.3 legal employers for every 1,000 legal-sector jobs, against 156.0 in the median metro. The average annual wage in the legal sector (the average weekly wage times 52) was $243,048, the 7th highest of 73 metros and 49% above the median metro, which paid $162,708. Compared with Q4 2024, legal-sector jobs rose 2.3% and the average weekly wage rose 2.8%.
30 firms in this directory list an office in the Chicago area, the 3rd most of the 37 metros with a page here.
Source: BLS QCEW county files, private ownership, Q4 2024 vs Q4 2025, taken September 15, 2026. NAICS 5411, all legal-services employment, not attorneys alone.
Who is listed here
The groups below count what each of the 30 legal recruiting firms with an office in the Chicago area states on its own website, and name the firms in each group in the same order as the list on this page.
By footprint
16 of the 30 have only one listed office, in the Chicago area, and 6 are national firms (offices in five or more states) with an office here. The other 8 are multi-state.
- Single office, 16 firms: Astor Professional Search, LLC, Atticus Recruiting Inc., Evers Legal Search, McCormack Schreiber Legal Search Inc., Chicago Legal Search, Ltd., Legalpeople, Burns Legal Recruiting, EpsteinSchwartz Legal Search Inc., Loop Legal Search, Mendelsohn Legal, Inc., Mulholland Legal Recruiting Inc., AbstoneLalley, Inc., Gunther Group LLC, Tech Law Recruiting, Inc., Todd Legal Search Inc., Madison West Legal Search
- Multi-state (offices in two to four states), 8 firms: MB Attorney Search, Kinney Recruiting, Inc, Permanent Placements LLC, Hire Counsel Morrisville, Axiom Law (San Francisco), Ikon Search, Quaero Group, Hirewell
- National (offices in five or more states), 6 firms: Scion Staffing, Latitude, Major Lindsey & Africa, Snelling Staffing of Baton Rouge, Yorkson Legal, Marsden Legal Search
Their offices in the Chicago area are in 4 cities. By the number of firms with an office there: Chicago, IL (28), Countryside, IL (1), Griffith, IN (1) and Schaumburg, IL (1).
By search model
12 of the 30 firms say on their own site what kind of search they run. 1 names both retained and contingency search, 2 name retained search and 9 name contract and temporary work only. 2 of the firms with a permanent search model also name contract or temporary work. 18 do not say.
- Retained and contingency, 1 firm: Scion Staffing
- Retained, 2 firms: Ikon Search, Quaero Group
- Contract and temp, 9 firms: Kinney Recruiting, Inc, Permanent Placements LLC, Latitude, Hire Counsel Morrisville, McCormack Schreiber Legal Search Inc., Snelling Staffing of Baton Rouge, Yorkson Legal, Chicago Legal Search, Ltd., Legalpeople
By level placed
By the levels they say they place: associates (9), partners and groups (8), in-house counsel (21) and paralegals and legal staff (9). A firm can name several. 4 name none.
Practice areas covered
The firms state 9 practice areas between them. The most stated are Litigation (11 of 30, 37%), Corporate & M&A (8 of 30, 27%) and Labor & Employment (8 of 30, 27%). 12 name no practice area.
| Practice area | Firms | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Litigation | 11 | 37% |
| Corporate & M&A | 8 | 27% |
| Labor & Employment | 8 | 27% |
| Intellectual Property | 5 | 17% |
| Tax, Trusts & Estates | 4 | 13% |
| Finance & Restructuring | 3 | 10% |
| Health Care & Life Sciences | 3 | 10% |
| Real Estate | 3 | 10% |
| Regulatory | 3 | 10% |
7 of the 30 firms state a founding year, from 1987 to 2021. No listing here has been claimed by its firm yet.
Largest listed firms by footprint
The 5 listed firms in the Chicago area with the most offices nationally, counting each city once and only firms with more than one office. Ties are broken A to Z by name.
- 1.Scion Staffing26 offices, 18 states
- 2.Snelling Staffing of Baton Rouge25 offices, 15 states
- 3.Yorkson Legal25 offices, 10 states
- 4.Latitude21 offices, 17 states
- 5.Major Lindsey & Africa19 offices, 14 states
Practicing law in Illinois
- Admitting authority
- Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar source
- Uniform Bar Exam
- Yes source
- Admission on motion
- Yes source
Checked against the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
Nearby markets
Every firm with an office anywhere in Illinois is on the Illinois page.
Questions about Chicago legal recruiters
- How many legal recruiters have an office in Chicago?
- 30 firms in this directory list an office in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI metro area, as of their last check.
- How many Chicago legal recruiters have only one office?
- Of the 30 listed firms, 6 are national, 8 are multi-state and 16 have only one listed office, in Chicago. Offices are counted nationally: a regional firm has two or more offices in one state, a multi-state firm has offices in two to four states, and a national firm has offices in five or more.
- How many Chicago legal recruiters run retained searches?
- 3 of the 30 listed firms say on their own site that they run retained searches, 1 of them alongside contingency search. 9 name contract and temporary work only. 18 do not say. Most legal recruiting is done on contingency, where the hiring firm pays only when it hires.
- Which practice areas have the most coverage in Chicago?
- By the number of listed firms that state them: Litigation (11 firms), Corporate & M&A (8 firms), Labor & Employment (8 firms) and Intellectual Property (5 firms). The other 5 practice areas stated here are Tax, Trusts & Estates (4), Finance & Restructuring (3), Health Care & Life Sciences (3), Real Estate (3) and Regulatory (3).
- Do Chicago legal recruiters place in-house counsel?
- 21 of the 30 listed firms say they place in-house counsel. By the other levels they name: associates (9), partners and groups (8) and paralegals and legal staff (9). 4 name no level.
- Which markets near Chicago have their own page?
- Milwaukee, WI (5 firms), Indianapolis, IN (4 firms) and St. Louis, MO (4 firms).
- How is this list ordered?
- By a published rule: listings claimed by their firm come first, then listings with more complete profiles, then A to Z by name. No firm is placed by hand, including Voll Recruiting, which operates this site.
- When was this list last checked?
- Every listing here was last checked against the firm's own website on October 1, 2026. The market figures are from BLS QCEW county files, private ownership, Q4 2024 vs Q4 2025, taken on September 15, 2026. The bar admission facts were checked against the National Conference of Bar Examiners on October 4, 2026.