Introduction
Flo Recruit sat down with Jennifer Lucas-Ross, Director of Attorney Recruiting and Professional Development at Morris James, to discuss how the firm has transformed its recruiting processes—from summer associate hiring to lateral recruitment—using Flo Recruit’s platform.
Morris James is a Delaware-based law firm known for its strategic counsel across litigation and business transactions. As a regional firm with national reach, Morris James depends on smart, efficient recruiting to connect with top legal talent in this competitive market.
Q: Tell us about your role at Morris James.
Jennifer: I’m the Director of Attorney Recruiting and Professional Development, and I’ve been with the firm for almost three years. I am the first person in this role, so I’ve had the opportunity to build the attorney recruiting function from the ground up. I oversee all attorney hiring—from summer associates to senior-level laterals—and I also manage attorney professional development across the firm.
Q: What Flo Recruit products do you use, and how have they affected your recruiting program?
Jennifer: We primarily use Flo Recruit’s applicant tracking system (ATS), including the interview management tools. When I joined the firm, there was no ATS—everything was tracked manually using paper files and Excel spreadsheets. There wasn’t a clear process for building or maintaining a pipeline of candidates.
Now, with Flo Recruit, I can create organized pipelines for law students, lateral associates, and even senior-level hires. I can communicate consistently and effectively with candidates to keep them engaged throughout the process. One of our recent lateral hires had been in our pipeline for over a year and a half—Flo made that important long-term relationship possible.
People across the firm have noticed the difference. Our recruiting process is smoother, more professional, and much more strategic.
Q: What unique recruiting challenges do you face as a regional firm, and how has Flo Recruit helped address them?
Jennifer: As a regional firm, one of our biggest challenges is maintaining visibility nationally. Without Flo Recruit, we’d have to manually post jobs at every law school and spend hours doing administrative work just to reach students.
Flo’s centralized platform has allowed us to extend our reach without the extra lift. We can now connect with a broader range of candidates without spending all of our time managing logistics. It’s allowed us to operate more like a national firm while staying efficient.
Q: How has Flo’s lateral ATS helped streamline your recruiting process?
Jennifer: Before Flo, we didn’t really have a true candidate pipeline. Now, I can track candidates for each job, screen, and move them through the process, and even flag someone as a good fit for a future role.
I’m no longer juggling email chains or trying to keep notes in separate places. I can compare candidates side by side, source directly, and act quickly. It’s saved me hours of manual work for every lateral hire—8 to 10 hours per role, easily.
Q: How has the interview management tool improved your process?
Jennifer Lucas-Ross: It’s been a game-changer for me, our attorneys, and our candidates. Previously, everything was done via email—it was time-consuming, confusing, and inconsistent. For students especially, scheduling could get tricky when things weren’t standardized.
Now, I can just send a link. Candidates self-schedule, and attorneys receive all the materials they need automatically. The feedback process has been completely transformed—attorneys love the assessment links.
The tool saves me follow-up time, and it saves our attorneys prep time. Everyone’s more informed, and interviews run more smoothly.
Q: How would you describe your experience with Flo Recruit’s customer support?
Jennifer Lucas-Ross: Honestly, it’s been one of the best parts. The support team is incredibly responsive—I usually get an answer right away or a follow-up letting me know when to expect one. They’ve followed through on every issue, no matter how small. The onboarding was particularly seamless, and we were able to get up and running quickly.
Q: Do you use Flo differently across law students, professional staff, and lateral hires?
Jennifer Lucas-Ross: Yes, and that flexibility is what makes it a lifesaver. I’ve built templates for each type of role, so communications and workflows are tailored to the right audience. I used to keep standard messages saved in a Word doc, and that is now all built directly into Flo.
Having a system that adapts to each hiring need has given me back so much time. It’s incredibly efficient and keeps everything organized and in one place.
Q: What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in your recruiting since adopting Flo?
Jennifer Lucas-Ross: Two major changes stand out: First, the ability to build a real pipeline of candidates. That just wasn’t possible before Flo. Now I have a true database of qualified candidates—people we can return to over time—which has improved both our student and lateral recruiting dramatically.
Second, we’re reaching more people. Before, we were limited to whoever happened to send us an email. Now, we’re seeing double or triple the number of applicants, and they’re coming from a broader, more diverse set of places. It’s opened new doors for the firm.
Q: Do you have any estimate on time savings?
Jennifer Lucas-Ross: During our busiest times, like summer associate season, Flo saves me literal days – I’d estimate a day or two per week. I’m no longer manually posting jobs at every school or chasing down candidate communications. For lateral roles, it saves me hours per position.
It’s also given me the time to re-balance my role. I can now focus more on professional development and training because I’m not buried in recruiting logistics. It’s much easier now to split my time 50-50 between PD and recruiting, which used to be impossible.
Q: What made you choose Flo Recruit over other platforms?
Jennifer Lucas-Ross: Some of the other platforms we looked at couldn’t be tailored to our needs. They had bells and whistles, but all those bells and whistles came with the inability to be flexible and required custom coding. Flo stood out because of how intuitive and customizable it was. I also heard great things about their customer support—and that absolutely proved true.
Onboarding was seamless, and the system itself is extremely user-friendly. It’s easy to pick up, and it fits our team’s needs exactly. It’s been a fantastic decision for us.
Conclusion
Flo Recruit has helped Morris James build a more scalable, candidate-focused recruiting process—saving time, improving reach, and elevating the experience for attorneys and applicants alike. To learn how Flo Recruit can support your team, request a demo today.
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