Building a specialist in-house legal team at pace

Background

JMAN Group is a data-driven consultancy supporting organisations with analytics-led decision-making. As the business grew, there was a need to establish and scale a dedicated in-house legal function.

Sara Mackie, General Counsel, was tasked with building the legal team from the ground up: defining new roles, identifying the right skillsets and hiring lawyers capable of supporting a fast-evolving business.

The challenge

Building a legal function from scratch required defining new roles while ensuring each hire could operate effectively in a fast-moving business. The brief was complex:

• Evolving requirements
  Roles were not fixed, requiring an adaptable approach as priorities developed
• Blended skillsets
  Hires needed to combine generalist capability with specialist expertise in areas such as privacy and IP/IT
• Competitive market
  Target candidates were in high demand, making speed critical
• Specialist support needed
  Legal hiring required expertise beyond the scope of the internal talent team

The challenge was to translate an emerging legal function into clearly defined roles and secure the right talent quickly.

The solution

Taylor Root worked closely with Sara to shape the hiring strategy as it evolved, helping define roles that were not yet fully formed while keeping pace with a fast-moving business.

As requirements shifted, the approach remained agile, with a focus on quickly identifying and engaging relevant candidates. By leveraging up-to-date knowledge of the market and existing candidate relationships, Taylor Root was able to introduce strong, well-matched profiles at speed, enabling Sara to secure the right talent without compromising on quality or fit.

The outcome

Taylor Root successfully supported multiple hires into the legal team.

• A highly relevant candidate was identified immediately following initial role discussions
• Interview processes were accelerated to secure in-demand talent
• From first interview to acceptance, one key hire was completed in under a week

The result was a legal function built with the right blend of versatility and expertise, aligned to JMAN Group’s growth and operational needs.

Client testimonial

“I wanted to work with a recruiter who could be agile and respond to my requirements as I knew they would evolve throughout the hiring process.”

“They were quite unique roles, and I needed help defining the requirements and finding people who could combine generalist capability with specific expertise.”

“From first interview to start date took less than a week.”

Sara Mackie, General Counsel, JMAN group