Meet the experts behind Black & White Legal Recruitment
Meet Darren
As the founder of Black & White Legal Recruitment, Darren draws on his in-house and independent recruitment experience to connect talented lawyers with their dream firms in the UK.
As someone who finds talking to others comes naturally, I’ve always found it easy to integrate into different friendship groups or social circles. And soon realised I had a real knack for connecting others to those networks, too.
It wasn’t until I moved to Australia to work and travel that I realised I could do that for a living. A friend I’d made in Melbourne worked in recruitment and suggested it would be the perfect career choice for me.
The rest, as they say, is history.
After moving back to the UK, I secured my first role with Randstad CPE in Newcastle, with nothing to work from: no existing clients, no ready pool of candidates. I had to build the whole thing from scratch, headhunting candidates directly rather than waiting for applications to come through. I quickly learned how different businesses operate, what they needed, and how I could solve their staffing problems.
I then moved to an independent firm, where I began my journey in legal recruitment and started training and mentoring newcomers to the profession. It was here that I specialised in the London legal market – a sector I’ve focused on ever since.
Keen to make real headway, I took on a new role at a larger, finance-focused firm seeking to expand into legal services. I founded their legal arm in London, grew the team to seven heads, and generated over £700K in fees in year two.
At this point, I felt the natural next step was to put my experience into practice by setting up my own firm, which led to the founding of Black and White Legal. From day one, my goal has been to provide an elite service to both candidates and hiring managers, while maintaining a firm focus on the human element of recruitment.
Away from BAW, I’m married with two young sons. As a family, we squeeze in as much travel as we can and particularly love visiting the Greek islands. We also enjoy collecting Star Wars LEGO together.
Personally, I’m an avid supporter of Newcastle United and attend as many matches as possible. I’m a regular at the gym and – when my body allows! – I also enjoy some friendly competition on the Padel court.
“Darren has had a lot of success hiring across our legal team and consistently provides clear communication, valuable market insight, and a genuine commitment to delivering the best outcomes for us.
“By supporting our legal hiring needs, Darren has delivered exceptional results time and again and, as a result, has become our trusted recruitment partner and will always be our go-to for legal and US hiring”
Meet Callum
With several years’ experience placing property lawyers across London, Callum now partners with lateral firms across the New York City real estate market.
After securing a 2:1 in History and International Relations from Lancaster University, I weighed up several career options. I wanted to use my skills in a dynamic, fast-paced industry where I could work hard while building genuinely meaningful connections with other professionals.
Recruitment became the obvious choice, and four years later I’ve built a wealth of experience in legal recruitment, with a focus on real estate and corporate appointments.
For me, one of the best parts of this career is embedding myself within an organisation. I never see myself as a “supplier”, but as an extension of my clients’ team.
To do that, I enjoy getting into the nitty-gritty of a business to understand its market position, goals and objectives, and culture, so I can find the perfect long-term candidates. I know it sounds clichéd, but I genuinely have a meticulous eye for detail, and I enjoy reading between the lines to piece together what a business really needs from its next recruit.
That’s what I’ve been doing for the last five years, helping place property lawyers in London.
More recently, I’ve focused on the US market – in particular, the real estate market in New York City, where I’m partnering with lateral firms to place talented NYC-based candidates.
Outside of work, I live with my partner, who teaches foreign languages. We love travelling and enjoy ticking off as many European destinations as we can. We’re always keen to go a bit further afield and head across the pond, and our love of the United States was a big factor in my decision to niche down into the US market.
I’m also musical – another example of my attention to detail! – and play both the guitar and piano.
“Callum was so efficient and a pleasure to deal with. It was six days between our first telephone conversation and job offer following a second interview!
I have honestly never dealt with anybody who has turned things around for me so quickly. I’m still in shock at how fast it all happened, and he got me a really amazing offer.”