Legal Hunters

Leading Legal Recruitment Specialist

Helping businesses and careers move forward

About

Legal Hunters has specialized in legal recruitment since in 2010, placing attorneys, (candidate)notaries, tax lawyers and inhouse counsels into permanent and interim appointments.

Whether you are a firm looking to recruit or an individual considering the next stage in your career, Legal Hunters has made it her mission to place exactly the right person in precisely the right place.

We are also strongly committed to addressing the diversity challenges faced within the legal profession.

We take our role in the placing of legal professionals into their dream jobs extremely seriously, understanding implicitly the importance of listening to requirements, working in their best interest at all times, and giving them the tools and resources they need at every step of the journey – for a successful outcome for all parties.

So, whether you’re an ambitious candidate looking to make your next move or a law firm seeking to build your talent pipeline, we’re here to help.

By the numbers

Years in business

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Candidates placed in roles

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Unique clients

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Testimonials

Hanneke Dorsman, General Counsel and Company Secretary ABN AMRO Bank N.V.

“ABN AMRO has been working with Legal Hunters for quite some time, both for filling permanent legal vacancies and for sourcing interim legal professionals. The collaboration is highly valued and has resulted in the successful placement of several roles.”

Eric van Dam, Partner Littler

With her energetic and sparkling personality, Ilona is uniquely capable of conveying the ‘Littler story’ to candidates with verve and inspiring them to join our firm and take the next step in their careers. Without exception, the candidates Ilona has placed with us speak highly of the way she guided them through the process.

Ilona is also interested in staying up to date with the ongoing developments and expansions of our firm, even when there are no placement processes underway.

Peter Habraken, Partner HabrakenRutten

HabrakenRutten has been working with Ilona Tjon Poen Gie of LegalHunters for some time now. This collaboration has been both pleasant and successful. In a short period of time, Ilona has gained a clear understanding of the type of lawyer that fits our firm. She has a strong and highly relevant network and great powers of persuasion. She is able to engage and attract candidates without being pushy. By now, approximately half of the candidates introduced by LegalHunters have joined our firm. We therefore regard LegalHunters as one of our trusted, regular recruiters.

Merel van de Kamp, Managing Director, Rutgers & Posch

Since the establishment of our firm in 2013, we have been working with Ilona. Over the years, she has successfully placed several lawyers with our firm. Throughout this time, we have come to know her as a professional and highly committed partner, with an excellent understanding of both people and organizations. Ilona takes the time to truly understand her clients, and as a result, she has an in-depth knowledge of our firm, its practice areas, and its culture. She consistently presents candidates who are not only strong from a substantive perspective, but who also fit well within the team and our firm as a whole.

Olav Heuts, Partner Lennox Litigation

Ilona approached me regarding my current position as partner at Lennox Litigation. She identified the match extremely well and subsequently provided careful and thorough guidance throughout the joining process. Lennox works with Ilona on a regular basis, and we are very satisfied with the collaboration.”

Paul Josephus Jitta, Attorney-at-law and Partner Corporate Law, Managing Partner of Buren N.V. and Honorary Consul of Ecuador.”

“Ilona approached me regarding my current position as Equity Partner at BUREN. She demonstrated a strong understanding of Buren and expertly assessed the firm’s needs, my own needs, and where the right match lay. Ilona has a very pleasant, personal way of working and knows us well as a client. For that reason, we continue to engage Ilona regularly and with great satisfaction.

Gerard Endedijk, Attorney at Law and Partner at Lennox Litigation

“I have been working with Ilona for many years and am very satisfied. Ilona is highly dedicated and simply a wonderful person to work with. She knows the market well and closely follows developments, which allows her to clearly understand the needs of her clients.

But above all, Ilona focuses on people. She strives to place each candidate in a role where they will be truly happy; the employer’s satisfaction naturally follows. Her personal approach is also reflected in the small-scale nature of her work: Ilona handles the assignments herself. This makes the collaboration personal and enables her to connect the right people with the right roles.”

Lisette Hendrikse, Founder Alliance Business Counsels

“Over the past few years, Ilona and Legal Hunters have successfully supported us on multiple occasions in attracting new talent, including international lawyers from major law firms as well as self-employed lawyers who were just starting out and looking for a collegial environment.

The process was always straightforward and pragmatic. Ilona has a strong understanding of the exact type of lawyer that fits our firm and is able to convey this in an engaging and appealing way to potential new talent.”

Anouk Oosterom, Rutgers & Posch Advocaten

“Ilona approached me at the time regarding my current position as Partner M&A/Energy at Rutgers & Posch. She asked the right questions and seemed to have a strong sense of my business needs and the type of firm I would be a good fit with. I can therefore recommend that anyone considering a potential next step reach out to Ilona to exchange thoughts and ideas.”

Your trusted partner for legal recruitment

We take our role in placing legal professionals into their dream jobs extremely seriously, fully understanding the importance of listening to requirements, acting in their best interests at all times, and providing the tools and resources needed at every step of the journey — ensuring a successful outcome for all parties.

So, whether you are an ambitious candidate looking to make your next move or a law firm or company seeking to build its talent pipeline, we are here to help.

We have always believed in forging enduring relationships rather than chasing targets or KPIs. We take immense pride in empowering our candidates to unleash their full potential.

Ilona Tjon Poen Gie studied Notarial Law at the University of Amsterdam. She subsequently worked for ten years as a candidate civil-law notary, specializing in corporate law and real estate, including international matters. Since 2007, she has been working as a legal recruitment specialist, and in 2010 she founded Legal Hunters.

Looking for a new role in Legal?

We are dedicated to making your job search successful.

We place lawyers, (candidate) civil-law notaries, tax lawyers, and in-house counsel — from junior professionals to partners and General Counsel, as well as complete teams.

With over ten years of experience within private practise, we combine in-depth legal expertise with thorough market knowledge, enabling us to think along with you and provide well-considered advice.

We offer pragmatic, tailored solutions, and our aim is to provide all candidates with a truly consultative, efficient, and results-oriented service.

Transparency, integrity, and honesty are at the core of our work. We are proud to offer a highly trustworthy, reliable, and diligent service.

Looking to hire Legal Talent?

We combine deep market insight with a strong commitment to honest and transparent communication with both clients and candidates. At Legal Hunters, we firmly believe that long-term commercial success is achieved by aligning the objectives of our clients with the ambitions and motivations of each individual candidate.

We provide a bespoke recruitment consultancy service, offering tailored and personalised solutions designed to meet the specific needs of every client. Our relationships endure for one simple reason: we deliver. We achieve this through consistently reliable processes, an in-depth understanding of the legal market, and a professional, open, and positive approach towards both candidates and clients.

We take the time to fully understand each role and meet every candidate personally, allowing us to assess not only their skills and experience but also their aspirations. Over the years, we have built strong, long-standing relationships with clients and candidates alike — a clear reflection of the quality and care of our service.

How we work

A structured, transparant approach to legal recruitment – from intake to long-term retention

Onboarding & Retention

Define the role.
Define the context.
Define success.

* In-depth intake & search brief.
* Distinguish must-haves and nice-to-haves.

Selection & Decision

Focused search.
Substantiated selection.

* Targeted search & direct approach.
* Carefully argued shortlist.

Intake & Positioning

Structured decision-making, no surprises.

* Reference checks & offer strategy.

Search &
Shortlist

A placement is only successful if it lasts.

* Onboarding & check-ins.
* Ongoing client & candidate support.

This is how we approach legal recruitment: structered, discrete and focused on long-term success

We’d love to hear from you

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