Lipson Lloyd Jones

What Lipson Lloyd Jones does

Lipson Lloyd-Jones is a UK-based specialist legal recruitment consultancy operating since 1987 from its headquarters at 107 Cheapside in the City of London and a regional office in Manchester. The firm places lawyers across three core verticals: private practice law firms (Magic Circle, Silver Circle, City, regional, and boutique practices), in-house legal departments (banks, financial services, energy, manufacturing, technology, and regulatory institutions), and Professional Support Lawyer (PSL) roles, the latter being the firm's first dedicated PSL team in the UK, established in 1999. A fourth service line covers partner-level lateral hires, team moves, and law firm mergers. The firm was co-founded by Marian Lloyd-Jones (Director, widely regarded in the company's own material as the foremost legal recruitment consultant in the country) and Simon Lipson, a former in-house lawyer who established the in-house unit at inception.

The business operates on a consultant-led, traditional recruitment model with no proprietary technology platform. Sourcing relies on LinkedIn, standard job board infrastructure (the firm's site runs on Recruiter Sites software from HotLizard), Google Analytics, and a job alert email system. The stated technology stack is intentionally minimal, with the firm's value proposition explicitly emphasising personalised consultant service, deep market intelligence, and long-tenured relationships over algorithmic matching. Multiple consultants have been with the firm for 15+ years, and the PSL team holds over 30 years of combined specialist experience, creating deep institutional knowledge.

Revenue is generated through placement fees on permanent and contract/temporary legal roles, plus bespoke assignment recruitment campaigns. The firm claims a success rate exceeding 90% on assignment recruitment and states it has placed thousands of lawyers since 1987. Pricing is negotiated per placement and is not publicly disclosed. The company remains privately held and resolutely independent, with no disclosed private equity, venture capital, or parent company ownership. Geographic reach spans the UK nationwide with claimed service extension into Europe, the Far East, the Middle East, and North America, though physical presence is limited to London and Manchester.

Name

Lipson Lloyd Jones

Legal name

Lipson Lloyd-Jones

Website

https://ll-j.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lipson Lloyd-Jones is an independent UK legal recruitment consultancy founded in 1987, placing lawyers across private practice, in-house, and professional support roles from offices in London and Manchester using a consultant-led model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Recruitment Services

NAICS

Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Legal & Compliance Direct Hire (BPACAFAJ)

Keywords

• Legal recruitment
• Lawyer placement
• Executive legal search
• Professional support recruitment
• Legal staffing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Manchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Recruitment Placement Fees: The company operates as a legal recruitment agency, placing lawyers in permanent positions with law firms and in-house legal departments. Revenue is generated through placement fees from successful introductions. The company also handles temporary/contract placements and project-based recruitment assignments with reported success rates exceeding 90% in assignment recruitment.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lipson Lloyd-Jones is a specialist UK legal recruitment consultancy placing lawyers at all levels (newly qualified through partner) into permanent, contract, and temporary positions. The firm operates four specialist divisions—Private Practice, In House, Professional Support Lawyers (PSL), and Partners/Teams/Mergers—serving law firms and corporate legal departments across the UK and internationally. Revenue is generated through placement fees from successful candidate introductions, with bespoke consultant-led campaigns replacing technology-led matching.

Product overview

Lipson Lloyd-Jones operates as a specialist legal recruitment agency offering a unified service portfolio centered on matching candidates to legal sector vacancies. The core offering consists of online job board and candidate registration platform supported by specialist recruitment divisions covering Private Practice, In House, and Professional Support Lawyer (PSL) recruitment. Additional services include Partners/Teams/Mergers recruitment for lateral hires, CV preparation, interview preparation, and market intelligence. The company maintains offices in London (City) and Manchester, serving clients across the UK, Europe, Far East, Middle East, and North America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 90% success rate in assignment recruitment
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Robert Walters: International professional recruitment firm with a UK legal practice. Overlaps with Lipson Lloyd-Jones in mid-to-senior legal placements but operates a much wider, multi-discipline model.
• Michael Page: Global professional recruitment brand with a UK legal division. Competes for in-house and private practice mandates with Lipson Lloyd-Jones, leveraging a much larger network and brand but with less specialist depth in legal.
• Hays: Global generalist professional staffing firm with a substantial UK legal recruitment practice. Competes for in-house legal mandates and PSL roles with Lipson Lloyd-Jones, but as part of a much broader multi-sector portfolio rather than a specialist legal focus.

Direct peers

• Taylor Root: In-house legal recruitment specialist with a global footprint across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. Closely comparable to Lipson Lloyd-Jones' In-House division and PSL practice in target buyer (GCs and heads of legal) and senior-level placement focus.
• Laurence Simons: UK-headquartered specialist legal and in-house legal recruitment firm with international reach. Highly comparable to Lipson Lloyd-Jones in target market (lawyers across private practice and in-house), boutique consultant-led model, and focus on senior and lateral placements.
• Chadwick Nott: UK specialist legal recruitment firm covering private practice and in-house lawyer placements. Directly competes with Lipson Lloyd-Jones in the UK legal market with a similar consultant-led, vertical-specialist model.
• BCL Legal: UK-based legal recruitment agency placing lawyers across private practice, in-house and support roles. Direct competitor to Lipson Lloyd-Jones in the UK legal recruitment market with a comparable service portfolio and consultant-led approach.
• Major, Lindsey & Africa: Global legal search and recruitment firm, part of the Allegis Group. Overlaps with Lipson Lloyd-Jones' partner/team lateral and PSL search work at the senior end, with deeper international reach but a less UK-boutique positioning.
• Jameson Legal: Specialist legal recruitment firm operating across the UK, Ireland and offshore markets. Comparable to Lipson Lloyd-Jones in vertical specialism (lawyers) and focus on private practice and in-house placements at mid-to-senior levels.

Emerging players

• Clayton Legal: UK-based legal recruitment firm covering private practice and in-house lawyer placements. Comparable target market and service offering to Lipson Lloyd-Jones, but smaller scale and earlier in its development curve.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lipson-lloyd-jones/about
• Xx.com/Lipsonlloydj

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lipson Lloyd Jones