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JD Match, LLC is an independent company dedicated to improving the process of recruiting law students and clerks into law firms through an online suite of services. We have developed and implemented new processes, such as a centralized matching algorithm and other services to help drive a more rational, efficient and effective recruiting process. This provides firms, candidates and schools a more orderly overlay that integrates with current practices. JD Match is presented by Adam Smith, Esq., an acknowledged thought leader in the legal sector, although the two firms are legally unaffiliated.

How is JD Match different versus the historical way firms hire?

First of all, JD Match works within and alongside the current hiring system. Nothing about that changes. Firms and candidates conduct on campus interviews, and do all their other research, including sending and screening unsolicited resumes or whatever else you’ve done, the same as always.

What JD Match introduces to the mix that’s new are additional services to help firms find candidates they otherwise wouldn’t find today and new ways for candidates to communicate their interest in firms, and details of their own background and experience, to firms.

In short, JD Match fully integrates with current hiring practices; we provide additional resources and services to optimize more effective hiring.

What’s different for firms?

JD Match provides several features and benefits for firms to discover students they might be interested in, as well as ways for firms to learn which students are most interested in them. Overall, we believe this constitutes a more rational and efficient solution for firms.

(1) JD Match provides robust search capability enabling you to find students who match specific criteria of interest to your firm. For example? You could search for:

keywords in students' resumes, such as "President," "varsity," etc.;

students in the top X% of their class at Tier 2 or Tier 3 law schools;

Mandarin, Korean, or speakers of any of 16 other languages;

diversity criteria (optional for students to provide);

practice areas or regions of interest to students;

advanced degrees;

and much more.

(2) Because JD Match require students to list their preferred firms in strict rank order (just as it requires you to list your preferred students in rank order), we can tell you which students have ranked your firm highly, or have ranked your firm as "preferred" at all.

This capability does not exist in the offline world and provides valuable information about students' actual preferences.

[Please note that you cannot under any circumstances see students' actual list of preferred firms not can students see your firm's listing of preferred students. As a corollary, neither firms nor students can see changes-demotions or promotions-in the other side's rankings of them.]

(3) One core offering of JD Match is a patent-pending algorithm which matches students with firms based on which firms students say they want to work for most and which students firms say they most want to hire.

This is a preference-based algorithm. Its premise is that students and firms are each in the best position to determine what’s in their own self-interest.

The algorithm examines students’ ranked preferences for firms and firms’ ranked preferences for students and pairs students with the firm they ranked highest that also expressed a preference for that student, and which has an available slot. To elaborate:

The pairings require mutual interest. Your firm won’t match with a student that didn’t put you on their list and students you didn’t put on your list won’t be paired with your firm.

The students your firm will be matched with are those students who: (a) expressed a preference for your firm, and (b) were not matched with a firm they ranked more highly.

We believe one key benefit of this centralized, unitary algorithm is that there is a greater likelihood that students your firm is matched with will accept offers you may choose to make to them.

What’s the ROI of JD Match for firms?

An investment in JD Match is often less than the cost of visiting one school during OCI. Further, JD Match lets you find candidates at schools you don't even visit. JD Match can also help firms streamline the interview and call back process. For example, if you know particular candidates did not rank you highly, that information might influence your decisions regarding call backs.

JD Match can also help minimize the cost and disruption of attrition resulting from sub-optimal hiring. It is generally accepted that the cost of replacing an associate can run to two times their annual salary. With many 1st year associates earning $100,000 a year and up, the return on investment resulting from a firm’s annual membership is compelling.

If you would like to discuss the specific ROI for you firm, we would be happy to demonstrate this for you. Please contact us at support@JDMatch.com.

What are the benefits of JD Match to firms?

Yield Management

Additionally, JD Match allows better management of incoming classes by filling available seats, and only those number of seats with the firm’s preferred candidates. There is less need to guess at acceptance rates.

The Matching Algorithm

We run the matching algorithm weekly during on-campus interview season (OCI) starting in August and running through September. Multiple Match Days will serve two purposes: First, to give firms and students regularly updated, real-time market feedback as they learn more about each other and refine their rankings, and second to accommodate different law school schedules.

Two Other Services to Help You Discover Potential Candidates

JD Match offers two new and efficient ways for firms to discover candidates you don’t know, but who closely resemble students you have expressed interest in.

#1: JD Reach

First, during OCI, firms can specify certain criteria they find desirable (LSAT, tier of law school, tier of undergraduate college or university, language fluency, etc.) We can identify students within JD Match with those characteristics and provide this list to you. Firms have the option of reaching out to these candidates; students will not be informed whether they have been included on these lists.

#2: JD Recommends

Second, at the end of OCI we run an entirely separate algorithm we call JD Recommends. This automatically analyzes the profiles of students your firm has identified as preferred and draws up a composite profile. It then searches the student membership of JD Match to find other students closely resembling students your firm expressed interest in.

Transparency In Which Students Rank Your Firm Highly

Finally, JD Match provides a high degree of transparency in that we can let law firms know which students ranked your firm highly. This transparency may allow firms to focus on those candidates most likely to accept a firm’s offer. These efficiencies may result in considerable cost savings as well as reducing time partners devote to interviewing and optimizing the not–infinite resources of firms’ recruiting professionals. This service is called JD Guide.

There are no analogues to JD Reach, JD Recommends and JD Guide in traditional recruiting practices.

How does the match algorithm work?

One core offering of JD Match is a sophisticated and proprietary patent-pending algorithm which matches students with firms based on which firms students say they want to work for most and which students firms say they most want to hire.

This is a preference-based algorithm. Its premise is that students and firms are each in the best position to determine what’s in their own self-interest.

The pairings require mutual interest. Your firm won’t match with a student that didn’t put you on their list and students you didn’t put on your list won’t be paired with your firm.
The students your firm are matched with are those students who: (a) expressed a preference for your firm, and (b) were not matched with a firm they ranked more highly, either because that firm had no interest in them or that firm filled all its available slots with students it ranked more highly.

We run the matching algorithm weekly during OCI starting in early August and running through September. Running it regularly will serve two purposes: First, to give firms and students regularly updated, real-time market feedback as they learn more about each other and refine their rankings, and second to accommodate different law school schedules.

What is JD Reach?

The reality is that your firm can’t visit every law school or meet every law student. What if you’re missing potentially valuable candidates? Until now, that’s just reality. But maybe it doesn’t have to be.

JD Reach, a unique offering from JD Match, allows firms to efficiently extend their reach to a wider audience of potentially desirable candidates. It is simple to take advantage of this. During recruiting season, you can specify the characteristics of law students you find attractive (tier of law school, GPA, LSAT, language fluency, etc.) and we can identify for you all students within JD Match who fit those criteria. We leave it to you whether you choose to reach out to these candidates; they will not be informed whether they have been included on these lists.

What is JD Guide?

During OCI, firms can learn which students ranked them highly. This allows firms and students to focus on opportunities that are more likely to lead to a match – and a match that will more likely stand the test of time.

This results from the fact that having a centralized, online service enables us to provide information not previously available, enabling JD Match to help drive further efficiencies and transparency in law student recruiting.

In JD Guide, what does it mean when you say a student ranked us highly?

“Ranked highly” is a relative measure of interest that a student has for your firm versus other firms they have ranked. As some students may rank many or fewer firms, the algorithm has established protocols that determine which firms each student has ranked highly.

What is JD Recommends?

After the OCI season ends, JD Recommends automatically identifies unmatched students who have similar characteristics to the students you ranked as desirable. Firms have the option of reaching out to these candidates.

JD Recommends helps firms fill slots that remain unfilled after the OCI process is complete with candidates who have similar characteristics to those each firm ranked.

Even if your firm has filled all its available slots, you might be interested in seeing the profiles of students who closely resemble those you identified as desirable for your firm.

JD Recommends provides more than one potential match for each unfilled position. As a default, the algorithm delivers three (3) candidates for each open slot. You can specify a different number, from 1 to 10. Further, in fairness to students, they may be matched with multiple firms via JD Recommends. Again, students won’t know which firms they’ve been matched to.

So, if firms have unfilled slots, they don’t have to go back to “Square 1” to fill them; JD Recommends can help.

How does JD Match change the dynamics of the recruiting process?

JD Match is integrated with current firm recruiting practices and all guidelines in place by NALP and those at individual schools. Firms, students and schools proceed through the recruiting process as they always have. Firms and students should continue to find out as much as they can about each other. Where firms choose to interview is unaffected. School practices regarding on-campus interviewing are entirely in each school’s purview. All NALP guidelines in effect for any hiring cycle are unaffected. There are no mandatories in our system; firms and students are free to act on any matches they may receive via JD Match as they choose.

Firm policies regarding, say, accepting unsolicited resumes are similarly unaffected. For example, firms can continue to hire firm-wide or by office; whatever is their current practice. Further, Match Day will occur several times during the fall 2011 on-campus interview season starting in August and running through October. Multiple Match Days will serve two purposes: First, to give firms and students regularly updated, real-time market feedback as they learn more about each other and refine their rankings, and second to accommodate different law school schedules.

We have a great deal of flexibility on how frequently we schedule Match Days. For example, they could run as frequently as once a week, certainly at the outset of OCI in August and early September.

What JD Match does improve is the likelihood of securing acceptances from students you most desire and who want to work at your firm. Both JD Reach and JD Recommends may provide additional desirable candidates who you do not know, but share similar characteristics to those you prefer.

What are the administrative demands for participating firms?

Minimal, which we have done on purpose. This is based on the extensive research we conducted with recruiting officers at firms; we know you are already incredibly time-crunched.

Sign up takes no more than two minutes. Further, we have made revising your ranking of students as easy as “drag and drop.” We employ the same consumer-friendly technology that NetFlix uses for their customers.

For students you don’t want to hire, you can similarly drag and drop their names into the “Excluded” list.

Isn’t this like the medical student matching system?

Superficially, yes, but actually they are extremely different. Basically the similarity begins and ends with students picking where they’d most like to work, on one side, and employers picking students they’d most like to hire, on the other.

But the differences are far more important, including:

The medical system is mandatory: Students have to go to work at hospitals they’re paired with and those hospitals have to give them jobs as residents. In the JD Match system, nothing is mandatory.
The medical system runs only once, after all interviews have been completed and all due diligence finished. By contrast, JD Match runs the matching algorithm weekly during the course of OCI, starting in August and running through September.

The medical system is run under the auspices of (among other organizations), the American Medical Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Hospital Association, and the AAMC Organization of Student Representatives. In other words, it is managed by the stakeholders in the medical student/hospital residency world.

By contrast, JD Match is independent of and unaffiliated with any law firm, law school or law student organization. We do not require anyone to take any action based on the matches and information we provide.

Does JD Match address associate attrition?

JD Match can help firms identify candidates who most want to work at their firm. These are matches that are more likely to stand the test of time. Also, within the JD Match system, firms and students alike know they received the best available match, so there may be less second guessing among junior associates that they might have done better.

Does JD Match expand the number of students our firm can get to know?

We know that one of the challenges of recruiting is the reality that you can’t know every law student or visit every law school and may, therefore, be missing out on potentially desirable candidates.

JD Match addresses this in three ways. First, during recruiting season, you can specify the general characteristics of law students your firm finds attractive (tier of law school, GPA, LSAT, language proficiency, etc.) and we can identify for you all students within JD Match who closely fit those criteria. This service is called JD Reach because it expands firms’ reach.

Second, we can identify which students ranked your firm highly, reducing the need to chase students who are less likely to join your firm. This allows firms to use their not-infinite recruiting resources more efficiently. This service is called JD Guide.

Third, an entirely distinct matching algorithm runs at the end of OCI to help fill any unfilled openings. This algorithm automatically analyzes the profiles of students your firm identified as desirable and finds other students you did not rank and may not be aware of, who have closely matching profiles. This service is called JD Recommends.

In all cases, it is at the discretion of firms to reach out to students identified to you.

Does JD Match provide advice on the best students for our firm?

In a word, no. JD Match must be impartial regarding the choices firms and students make. We encourage firms to continue their rigorous due diligence process in identifying students they choose to rank. We also strongly encourage firms to be realistic in assessing which students are most likely to accept an offer from specific firms.

Does JD Match address firms’ needs for diversity?

When students register, they have the option of volunteering basic diversity information such as gender, race/ethnicity, disability, and LGBT status..

Does JD Match help with having to guess what the yield of acceptances will be of offers made?

You tell JD Match how many slots you have available firmwide or, if you hire by office, how many slots by office. On Match Day, JD Match gives you as many students who pair with your firm (or offices) under the algorithm, up to the number of slots you have specified.

You can revise the number of available openings prior to each run of the matching algorithm.

Further, JD Match has a unique offering, JD Recommends, wherein we run a different algorithm at the end of OCI for firms who have not filled all their available seats. This subsequent match identifies unmatched students with similar characteristics to those students firms did rank, but whom they may not know about. It is at the discretion of firms to reach out to students identified to you.

Does JD Match also provide these services for the 1L Spring OCI season?

Yes. You identify and rank which students you’d like to offer summer internships to as well as the number of openings you have. Similarly, member 1Ls rank firms in order of preference. The matching algorithm identifies the best available candidates for each firm.

What if we’ve met with students we don’t want to hire?

JD Match lets firms identify students they do not want to hire. This is accomplished easily on your Firm page. Just drag and drop the students you do not wish to hire into the “Excluded” list.

Can firms learn which students ranked them highly?

Yes. JD Match can inform firms as to which students ranked them highly. A key feature of JD Match to both firms and students is to enhance transparency of the recruiting process. Part of this is our belief that firms benefit from being able to focus their not-infinite resources on students most likely to accept their offers. This feature is called JD Guide.

Are students obligated to accept offers if they are matched to our firm?

No.

Neither students nor firms are obligated to do anything with JD Match pairings.

How long must offers remain open?

All NALP principles and standards, including the time guidelines of acceptance or rejection of offers, apply to a match or an offer that may result from membership in JD Match. Please refer to their Principles & Standards on their site.

Can we still accept unsolicited resumés, if that is the policy of our firm?

Of course.

JD Match is an additional overlay to the current recruitment process. The JD Match site allows firms to indicate whether or not they accept unsolicited resumés. You can indicate whether or not your firm accepts resumes when you register at JD Match.

Why do we have to specify the number of available seats?

A benefit of JD Match is that is provides matches up to the available positions at your firm. The matches are with students who also ranked you highly on their lists. This will help ensure that the students you receive on your match list are more likely to accept offers that you may choose to make.

You should also know that you can tell our system you have a greater or lesser number of seats than is actually the case: Greater in order to see more potential candidates, lesser if you want to keep some slots available for referrals or other types of hires.

Why can’t we rank students in batches?

For many important reasons, the matching algorithm has been designed to result in optimal “stable” pairing. That is, the single set of matches that is the best available for both sides – firms and students. “Stable” has a simple meaning: That no student/firm pair could find a mutually superior pairing.

A further benefit of the algorithm is that it provides matches only up to the number of openings at firms, reducing the need to guess at yields. Strict ranking enables both of these benefits. Firms can approximate batching by ranking similarly desirable candidates close to each other on the firms’ ranked list of students.

Can we revise the number of available positions as we progress through OCI?

Yes.

Up until the algorithm “freezes” the data so it can run, you can revise the number of slots you wish to make available to the JD Match algorithm. This is easily accomplished, by going to your Our Firm page, clicking on the My Account button and changing the number of slots available. Only one person at the firm (or office if you hire by office) has access to this. You must do this before the rankings and slots are frozen before each run of the algorithm. Ample notification is provided prior to the freeze date.

Does JD Match fit into the NALP guidelines?

All NALP guidelines in effect for any given hiring cycle are unaffected.

How does JD Match fit with guidelines at specific law schools?

All recruiting processes or guidelines in place at schools are unaffected by JD Match. Please be fully cognizant of each school’s guidelines. Students who do not follow their school guidelines may face sanctions.

How are law school tiers defined?

JD Match bases its definitions of school tiers on rankings made by US News & World Reports. Tier 1 is the top 14 schools; Tier 2 is schools #15– 25; Tier 3 schools #26– 50; Tier 4 schools #51– 100; and Tier 5 all schools over #100 which US News does not rank.

If you'd like the full list of schools by tier and by name, please request it at support@jdmatch.com.

Why should we risk firm money? What’s the ROI?

The investment in JD Match is relatively modest compared to the cost of replacing one bad hire. It is generally accepted that the cost of replacing an employee can run to two times their annual salary. With many 1st year associates earning over $100,000 a year, the return on investment (ROI) resulting from a firm’s annual membership is compelling. Depending on the firm’s size and salary for 1st year associates the ROI could be from 3 to 10 times the firm’s investment in JD Match if you’re able to avoid just one bad hire.

JD Match also helps firms streamline the interview and call back process. For example, if you know particular candidates did not rank you highly, that information might influence your decisions regarding call backs.

If you would like to discuss the specific ROI for you firm, we would be happy to demonstrate this for you. Please contact us at support@JDMatch.com.

What is Adam Smith, Esq.?

Adam Smith, Esq. LLC is a firm that provides strategic management consulting services to the legal sector. It is recognized within the legal community as one of the best sources for information and commentary on issues facing the legal industry today. Adam Smith, Esq. is entirely independent of law firms or schools. To learn more, please visit the site, www.AdamSmithEsq.com.

How do I access Our Firm page?

Once you sign in you should be automatically redirected to your Our Firm page.

What if we forgot our password?

We have a few ways to help.

First, if you supplied a “secret question” when you registered and you can answer it correctly we will display your password in a popup window.

If you did not supply a secret question, or cannot answer it correctly, we can email your password to an email address you supply—which must be the primary email address you used to register.

If you can’t access the primary email you used to register, you will have to contact support@jdmatch.com.

What if our firm hires by office rather than nationwide?

The JD Match algorithm is specifically designed to accommodate firms’ hiring practices. Simply let us know when you sign up whether you hire nationwide or by office.

You will need to designate one and only one person who can revise, edit, re–order, and update your rankings for each office (or nationwide, if that’s your practice). We assume only one person at your firm can revise rankings in order to avoid conflicts.

We refer to this person in the “Primary Contact” for the firm or for that office.

If you hire by office, you can have entirely different lists of preferred students by office–and students, conversely, will see each of your offices appear separately when they’re ranking their preferred firms.

We shouldn’t tell you how to fool the system, but if you want to let more than one person revise office rankings, that’s up to you. Simply share the appropriate login credentials with other individuals.

What if our firm hires nationwide?

The JD Match algorithm allows firms to hire nationwide, if that is their practice. One person at the firm revises and edits the students on the ranking list and the order of their ranking. Following Match Day, each firm with available positions receives email notification to access their Our Firm page to check the match status for their firm.

What security precautions has JD Match taken to protect our information?

Security has been and remains a top priority at JD Match:

Site construction, protocols and safeguards are identical to precautions taken by online financial institutions
Students can only see firms pages; they cannot see other students’ pages
Similarly, firms can only see student pages; they cannot see other firms’ pages
No member can see another member’s rankings
The algorithm “knows” members only as randomly generated numbers
All industry reports use aggregated data. Specific analyses about a firm or school will be shared with that firm or school, only
JD Match does not include matches or any other sensitive information in emails; members can only see their match status on their own page on the JD Match site.

Are firms mandated to hire matches they receive from JD Match?

There are no mandatories in the JD Match system.

The matches and other features of JD Match are overlays to current recruiting practices, bringing greater efficiency, order and transparency to the recruiting process. How firms use this information is entirely at the discretion of each firm.

What does it mean to be the ”Primary Contact”?

The JD Match algorithm is specifically designed to accommodate firms’ hiring practices. Simply let us know when you sign up whether you hire nationwide or by office.

You will need to designate one and only one person who can revise, edit, re–order, and update your rankings for each office (or nationwide, if that’s your practice).

This is the individual we call the Primary Contact. We assume only one person at your firm can revise rankings in order to avoid conflicts.

What about non-primary users at firms?

Others beyond the primary user can access the site and review the rankings and firm profile.

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HOW TO JOIN JD MATCH

It's easy to become a JD Match member firm. After signup, here is what you do:

Use the robust array of tools JD Match provides to
- search for,
- evaluate, and
- if you wish to take advantage of the matching algorithm, rank candidates in order of preference
Change your profile and/or your preferences at any time