Steve Meier

Principal, Legal Recruitment Practice

Steve Meier is one of the most respected and established names in the Brussels legal recruitment market, having advised international law firms and lawyers on appointments and career moves for more than two decades.

A lawyer by training, Steve brings a deeply informed perspective to legal recruitment.  He understands law firms not simply as a recruiter, but from having worked inside them and practised law across several jurisdictions.  This combination of legal experience and deep knowledge of the Brussels market has shaped an approach built on discretion, sound judgement and highly selective introductions.

Steve began his career in law after completing his undergraduate and legal studies in Texas.  After qualifying to the Texas Bar, he returned to Europe to undertake postgraduate legal studies at the Université Libre de Bruxelles from where he obtained his Licence spéciale (Ll.M.).

His legal career subsequently took him through private practice in Brussels, including with De Bandt, Van Hecke, Lagae & Van Bael  (now Linklaters) and Van Bael & Bellis, followed by experience in Geneva and in Paris with Donovan Leisure Newton & Irvine.  He later returned to the United States, where he worked principally on antitrust and complex litigation matters before eventually making Brussels his permanent professional home.

Steve moved into legal recruitment in 2005 with Laurence Simons (https://laurencesimons.com/), identifying early the need for a more specialist approach to recruiting lawyers into the Brussels market.  In 2008 he established Steven Meier Specialist Recruitment through which he built a substantial practice advising law firms and lawyers, particularly across competition, trade and regulatory practices.

His approach has always been deliberately selective.  Rather than treating recruitment as a volume business, Steve invests time in understanding the lawyer, the firm, the practice and the circumstances behind a potential move before making an introduction.  Over many years this has given him close relationships across the Brussels legal community and a detailed understanding of individual firms, their practices, cultures and hiring priorities.

After stepping back from full-time recruitment during the pandemic, Steve continued to advise on selected appointments.  He has now joined Dober Partners as Principal of its Legal Recruitment Practice, marking the firm’s expansion into specialist legal recruitment.

Steve’s arrival brings together his longstanding relationships and knowledge of the Brussels legal profession with Dober Partners’ established search methodology and European network.  The practice will advise international law firms in Belgium on strategic legal hiring while providing lawyers with informed and confidential advice on career moves within one of Europe’s most specialised legal markets.