Recruiter Stories
How Wicker Hamilton extends its specialist legal recruitment practice with Paraform
John Kim•Co-founder @ ParaformRecruiter Stories
John Kim•Co-founder @ Paraform
Founded in 2019, Wicker Hamilton is an established legal recruitment consultancy working across the UK and US. Its partnership with Paraform adds another route to active client mandates, complementing the firm’s existing relationships and drawing on the specialist expertise and candidate network it has built over years in the market.
“The biggest benefit is how solid the mandates are from the clients. These aren’t roles that are just being floated. They have a strong need, and that makes it worth our time to really resource the search.”
Matthew Pecoraro co-founded Wicker Hamilton with Emeka Jemade after working in legal, compliance and risk roles within the world of investment banking.
The founders initially planned to deliver outsourced projects for banks and law firms. When the pandemic paused project work, clients approached them about future recruitment needs. Demand for real estate lawyers created an immediate opportunity, and Wicker Hamilton developed its legal recruitment practice from there.
Today, the firm recruits across commercial litigation, tax, corporate M&A, funds and in-house positions. It brings established relationships with AmLaw and international law firms, its own CRM and specialist tools for mapping attorneys by practice area and experience.
That foundation shapes how the firm approaches new mandates: understanding the practice, assessing the candidate’s experience and managing the relationship through to placement.
Paraform complements Wicker Hamilton’s direct business by introducing active searches beyond its core client relationships. This gives the firm another way to apply its expertise across boutique law firms, legal technology businesses, AI-native firms and in-house legal teams.
With the client mandate already established, Wicker Hamilton can devote more of its time to candidate assessment and delivery.
“As opposed to doing the full 360, we can focus more on the 180 of recruitment. You’ve already gone out and thoroughly brought on the client. It’s just a case of us going, ‘Okay, do we have candidates?’”
For Matthew, this is an additional channel within an established recruitment practice, with Paraform supporting access to opportunities and Wicker Hamilton bringing the market knowledge and relationships needed to deliver.
“Paraform is like a perfect business development platform that plugs into what we do.”
Matthew also uses Paraform’s matching agent to identify relevant opportunities for candidates already in Wicker Hamilton’s network. Blinded profiles allow hiring managers to express interest based on professional experience before a formal introduction, with the recruiter remaining involved throughout.
The platform’s AI features can also highlight potential questions or gaps when comparing a candidate’s resume with a role. Wicker Hamilton uses those insights alongside its own assessment, drawing on direct conversations with candidates and hiring managers to put their experience in context.
“If the AI flags a concern, I can go to the client and say, ‘Can we just address these concerns?’ Then I can justify why I’m still submitting them if I think it makes sense.”
For Wicker Hamilton, the value lies in combining technology with specialist judgement. The tools support the search, while the recruiter assesses suitability and helps the hiring manager understand the candidate’s strengths.
Within its first two months on Paraform, Wicker Hamilton made three placements. The firm has dedicated recruiters working on platform mandates alongside its wider business.
Matthew regularly speaks with Paraform’s team supporting legal recruitment to discuss candidates, roles and where Wicker Hamilton’s expertise can be most useful. That ongoing communication helps the two teams work together on relevant searches.
“What’s great about it as well is that the team at Paraform are really nice to work with. We sort of work as a bit of an extension of each other.”
Matthew explored several recruiting platforms before choosing where to focus Wicker Hamilton’s efforts. Paraform stood out for the strength of its client mandates, its investment in AI and the support provided by its team.
“What you guys are doing is head and shoulders better than everybody else.”
The partnership gives Wicker Hamilton an additional route to suitable mandates, supported by technology and regular collaboration. Its established legal recruitment expertise remains central to how those opportunities become successful placements.
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