Introduction
Elizabeth Greiner, Content Manager at Flo Recruit, sat down with Lea Sahgal, Recruitment Specialist and Laura Knodel, Legal Recruitment Assistant at Linklaters, to discuss their experiences and the tangible benefits they’ve realized from using Flo Recruit Work Allocation and beyond. With a goal of providing the best possible summer associate experience, saving time on administrative tasks to use more strategically, and centralizing summer program processes, Linklaters adopted Flo Recruit’s Work Allocation system in 2024 for their summer associate program. Because of the rollout success in its first year, the firm has also implemented the solution into the first-year associate assignment system.
Q: Can you each tell us about your role at Linklaters? How long have you each been with the firm and what areas of the recruiting process do you oversee?
Lea Sahgal: I’ve been at Linklaters for just over 3 years, and my role is split between various aspects of recruiting, from managing the firm’s summer program to working on lateral recruitment for associates and counsel. My focus is on everything from planning the summer program to execution and our 2L recruiting process.
Laura Knodel: I’ve been at Linklaters for 7 months, and I support all aspects of recruitment including 2L recruitment, the summer program, lateral recruitment, and partner recruitment.
Q: What Flo Recruit products do you use, and how long have you been working with Flo?
Lea Sahgal: I’ve been using Flo products for the past 3 years, specifically the interview platform (within Flo Recruit Applicant Tracking) and, more recently, Work Allocation and our Flo Forward Firm Profile. We started using Work Allocation in 2024 for summer associates. It went so well, and we were so happy with how it worked to save us time and to streamline our process, that we also decided to use it for our first-year associates, and it's been a game changer there as well.
Q: Congratulations on finishing up your summer program! Can you tell us about how you used Work Allocation this summer and how it integrated with your work assignment process more generally?
Lea Sahgal: The biggest change was being able to have the attorneys actually use the platform for submitting assignments. For summer associates, attorneys submit assignments directly through Flo, and then I assign them to the summer associates. For first-years, they input their own assignments, but we have full visibility. It’s made everything much more efficient. It truly streamlines everything and reduces the need for back-and-forth communication. It’s so much more efficient for everyone.
Q: How did your approach to assigning and evaluating summer associate work shift after adopting Flo’s Work Allocation system? What differences stood out compared to your previous process?
Lea Sahgal: One of the major improvements has been the time savings. It’s much more efficient—everything is centralized in one platform. Now, anyone on my team can access the information, and it’s all standardized. Before, I was manually entering assignments and tracking them through spreadsheets, which took up a lot of time, and was not integrated across the firm. With Flo, everything is automated and tracked, which has freed up my day for other priorities.
Laura Knodel: For me, it’s been great to have everything in one place that we can all access. It’s incredibly user-friendly, and the customer support was fantastic when I had questions.
Q: Can you quantify any time savings or other outcomes you’ve experienced using the system?
Lea Sahgal: Before Flo, I was spending a lot of time on manual tasks for our summer assignments because I had to put them all in my own spreadsheets, which was inefficient. Now, I’ve gained back about 2 hours every day. The platform makes it easy to see what assignments summer associates are working on, and which practice groups they’ve been exposed to, and where they might need more assignments, because they haven’t had a chance to work with a group they’ve expressed interest in. It’s also great for tracking where the pain points are. I can quickly address any issues because it’s all right there and easy to see.
Q: What was your team’s experience learning and onboarding Work Allocation?
Lea Sahgal: The onboarding process was very smooth for me, as I was already familiar with the platform. I was able to train the rest of the team right away, and I sent out detailed instructions and FAQs to our attorneys.
Laura Knodel: I picked up on the platform quickly. Lea provided great hands-on training, and Flo’s customer support was extremely responsive. I didn’t have many questions after the initial training because everything was so intuitive, but knowing there was a help chat available was a huge plus.
How did your attorneys and summer associates respond to using the system?
Lea Sahgal: There can be a learning curve when transitioning to something new, but most of the attorneys adapted quickly, and now that it’s been two seasons using it, it becomes second nature. Once the attorneys saw how much easier it was to submit assignments and track progress, they were on board. The summer associates are so used to everything being on tech platforms, and were familiar with Flo from their interviews and Forward, so that made it very easy to implement with them.
What advice would you give to another firm considering Work Allocation for their summer program?
Lea Sahgal: Use it! It will save you time you didn’t even realize you could get back. The system is extremely efficient and automated, and it centralizes everything. Plus, the summer associates are tech savvy and are used to modern tools platforms, so it’s a great fit for them.
How has your experience been with Flo’s customer support and account management teams during implementation and throughout the summer?
Lea Sahgal: Everyone at Flo has been fantastic. Our Account Manager Kristin and the team are incredibly responsive and always willing to listen to feedback. They’ve rolled out product updates that make the platform even better, which shows they are really committed to improving the user experience.
Laura Knodel: The customer support was really helpful when I needed assistance, and they were quick to respond. I had a great experience overall.
Conclusion
By adopting Flo Recruit’s Work Allocation tool, Linklaters has modernized its recruiting process. The transition from manual, spreadsheet-based systems to a fully automated and centralized platform has not only saved valuable time but has also improved transparency, accountability, and efficiency across the board. For Lea and Laura, the impact has been profound—giving them more time to focus on high-value tasks, increasing collaboration within their team, and leveling up the overall experience for attorneys and summer associates. Linklaters’ success with Flo Recruit serves as a prime example of how law firms can leverage technology to modernize and optimize their recruiting efforts.
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