No one knows Northern California’s legal marketplace better than Avis Caravello. After earning her J.D. from Boston University School of Law in 1987, Avis founded Avis Caravello Attorney Search Consultants in San Francisco in 1989. She has focused on seeking “the perfect match” between law firms and partner candidates—one that results in a win-win for both parties. Representing the full spectrum of legal practices, ranging from Am Law 100 firms to specialty boutiques in all practice areas, Avis has cemented her reputation as one of the nation’s most trusted law firm partners and practice group search and placement consultants.

A longtime member of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants (NALSC), Avis serves on NALSC’s Board of Directors and chairs the Ethics Committee. Avis also serves as a member of the Executive Committee for the Boston University School of Law Alumni Association. A former member of the Queen’s Bench, Avis has invested in the career growth of numerous women as a dedicated mentor for the Women of Stanford Law Mentor Program.

A go-to source and thought leader on emerging legal recruitment and industry trends, Avis is often quoted in highly respected legal and business publications including The American Lawyer, The National Law Journal, The Recorder, The ABA Journal, The Legal Intelligencer, San Francisco Business Times, The Baltimore Sun, San Francisco Daily Journal, California Bar Journal, Miami Daily, and The Business Review. Avis is frequently invited as a guest speaker on business of law panels such as “How Veteran Recruiters Navigate Market Peaks and Valleys” at the National Association of Legal Search Consultants Summer Symposium in Los Angeles. She also moderated the panel “Recruiting by The Gold Standard, Promoting the Values of NALSC” at the NALSC Annual Conference. Most recently, she moderated “After the Offer, Exploring Best Practices to Achieve Optimal Results for the Law Firm, Candidates and Search Firm” at the NALSC Fall Symposium at Morrison & Foerster in New York in 2019.

Bay Area law firms laud Caravello for her extraordinary honesty and not hyping people beyond their capability. “There are no sales here, what you see is what you get,” one San Francisco hiring partner says of the recruiter. Hiring partners also note that Caravello knows their firms better than anyone and is extremely easy to work with. “If you’re looking for a tiger and ask Avis for a tiger, she won’t give you a mouse that growls loudly.”

California Law Business Journal / The Daily Journal