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Marketing, legal & office recruitment · Across Canada
Great hires who stay, for marketing, legal and office teams.
We help businesses, law firms and in-house teams hire marketing, legal and office professionals, from executive assistants and office managers to counsel and C-suite leaders, through targeted search and careful assessment. Every search focuses on the experience your role requires and the people who will work well with your team.
- 10 years of recruiting experience
- Permanent & executive roles
- Confidential by default
- Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal & across Canada
Steady career progression. Real reasons for moving. Experience that matches the brief, not just the title.
We recruit for
- Seven Sisters & Bay Street firms
- Corporate offices & growing businesses
- In-house legal departments
- Media, tech & consumer brands
- Finance & professional services
Our specialties
Search built around your business.
Your priorities, our focus. We recruit across marketing, legal and office teams, from support roles to the C-suite.
Legal Recruitment
Lateral and in-house hiring for law firms and corporate legal teams, from first moves to senior appointments.
Discuss a legal searchExecutive Search
Discreet searches for leadership roles where the right hire shapes the direction of a team or a business.
Discuss an executive searchMarketing & Finance Professionals
Permanent hires across marketing, communications, finance and accounting, from specialists to department leaders.
Discuss a professional searchOffice Teams
The people who keep an office running smoothly, hired for reliability, judgment and lasting fit.
Discuss an office hireWhy 1st Phaze
Fewer résumés. Better people.
We identify and approach candidates, assess their experience and interest in the role, and present a carefully selected shortlist, so your time goes to the people worth meeting.
Your priorities.
Our focus.
Targeted outreach
We go directly to relevant professionals through LinkedIn and our own network, including the strong people who aren’t actively applying.
Steady tenure, not job-hoppers
We look beyond job titles to progression, contributions and reasons for moving, and screen for people who build careers, not short stints.
Business context
We start with how the role supports your team and wider goals, then search for the experience that genuinely matches.
Lasting fit
We weigh each candidate’s ambitions alongside the demands and opportunities of the role, so placements hold.
Clear advice
Every recommendation comes with the strengths and considerations behind it. No padding, no surprises.
Discretion
Sensitive hiring plans and career conversations are handled with care, for clients and candidates alike.
How it works
A clear search, start to finish.
Every search starts with a conversation about the role, your team, and what a successful hire needs to bring.
- 1
Sourcing & screening
We define the brief with you, map the market and approach the right candidates, then assess experience, tenure and genuine interest.
- 2
Shortlist & interviews
You receive a carefully selected shortlist with our reasoning. We coordinate every interview and keep both sides informed.
- 3
Offer & follow-up
We help navigate offer discussions and follow up with you and your new hire after they join your team.
Who we place
Featured roles
A sample of the roles we recruit for, not live postings.
Corporate Counsel
Corporate and commercial transactions experience, with steady tenure at a full-service or national firm.
Submit your résuméLitigation Associate
Commercial litigators with three or more years at a respected firm, ready for a long-term platform.
Submit your résuméLaw Clerk
Corporate or litigation clerks who keep files moving and lawyers organized.
Submit your résuméExecutive Assistant
Supporting senior leaders with calendars, travel, meeting materials and the details that matter.
Submit your résuméOffice Manager
Running the day-to-day of a busy office: facilities, vendors, onboarding and team support.
Submit your résuméHR Manager
Hands-on HR leadership across hiring, employee relations, policy and culture.
Submit your résuméChief Marketing Officer
Senior marketing leader to own brand, growth and a high-performing team.
Submit your résuméChief Operating Officer
Operational leader to scale processes, people and performance alongside the CEO.
Submit your résuméChief Executive Officer
A proven leader to set direction and guide the next phase of growth.
Submit your résuméDon’t see your role? Many of our searches are confidential. Submit your résumé and we’ll be in touch when the right one opens.
In their words
What clients and candidates say
Working with 1st Phaze was refreshingly straightforward. They took the time to understand our team, and the shortlist was small, well chosen and right on brief. We hired our first choice.
We had struggled to fill a senior role for months. The 1st Phaze team brought us three strong candidates within a few weeks, and the person we hired is still with us and doing great work.
They know the legal market and they listen. Every candidate we met had the experience and tenure we asked for, which saved our partners a lot of time.
The 1st Phaze team was honest with me about timing and fit, and never pushed me toward a role that wasn’t right. The move I made has been the best of my career so far.
I wasn’t actively looking when they reached out. They explained the role clearly, prepared me well for each interview and kept me informed the whole way through.
Working with 1st Phaze felt like having someone in my corner. They helped me land a strong offer and checked in after I started to make sure it was going well.
Who you’ll work with
Senior attention on every search.
1st Phaze is owner-led. The people you meet at the start are the people who run your search.
Julie Karami
CMO
As CMO of 1st Phaze since 2022, Julie leads the firm’s brand and marketing while working hands-on with clients and candidates on searches across marketing, legal and office teams.
Before 1st Phaze, she was Social Media and Brand Specialist at the Together We Stand Foundation and Special Program Coordinator at Phaze 3 Associates, an asset management firm, where she worked alongside senior leaders and learned what it takes to earn the trust of demanding stakeholders. That mix of brand-building and relationship work shapes how she recruits: she knows how to present a company to the people it wants to hire, and how to spot the candidates who will thrive there.
Friendly, hard-working and detail-oriented, Julie believes honesty comes first. She takes the time to understand both the people she places and the teams she places them with, so every introduction is one worth making.
LinkedIn
Michael Teymouri
Managing Director
Mike brings more than 15 years of recruiting experience to every search. He built his foundation at Robert Half, one of the largest recruiting firms in the world, where he learned how to read people, communicate clearly and match talent to the teams that need it.
Over the years he has led large recruiting teams and built a deep network of relationships with top law firms, leading companies and senior decision-makers across Canada. Those connections mean clients get access to candidates who aren’t on the open market, and candidates get introductions to opportunities they won’t find on a job board.
Collaborative by nature and an expert negotiator, Mike works closely with both sides of every search to land the right hire on the right terms.
LinkedInFor employers
Hiring for your marketing, legal or office team?
Tell us about the role and your team. We’ll come back with a clear view of the market and a plan to reach the right people.
- Associates, counsel, partners and in-house legal teams
- Executive, marketing and finance searches
- Shortlists of vetted candidates with steady tenure
Prefer to talk? Call (416) 276-9578 or email info@1stphaze.ca.
Hire talent
Share a few details about the role and we’ll be in touch.
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For candidates
Thinking about your next phase?
Send us your résumé for a confidential conversation about where your career is heading, and roles you won’t find on job boards.
- Your details are never shared without your permission
- Opportunities at law firms, in-house and beyond
- Honest advice on timing, fit and compensation
Questions first? Email info@1stphaze.ca or call (416) 276-9578.
Submit your résumé
PDF or Word, up to 5 MB.
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