Law firms are continuing to onboard technology to make tasks like e-discovery more efficient, but when it comes to hiring new employees to fill critical practice gaps, the process still favors the "human" in human resources.

Still, even the best human interviewers need an assist now and again. While the early search for new talent may depend largely on data repositories that are beyond the reach of many law firms, tech is being deployed to help bring more organization to how and when roles are being filled.

"Bringing in tools that will help those involved with the hiring process just be more efficient and more effective, I think will be critical in the coming years," said Kelly Morgan, chief talent officer at Thompson & Knight.

Morgan pointed out that hiring is still a relationship-based initiative, so outsourcing the process in its entirety won't yield successful results.

She indicated that Thompson & Knight does use resources such as Leopard Solutions' law firm database to track and research potential candidates. However, the firm's use of technology in the hiring space appears to be primarily geared to making sure it grows.

"I think what firms are finding is that at the end of the year they really haven't grown and if anything they may have actually taken a step back in their [employee] numbers," Morgan said.

So how can tech help? Thompson & Knight, for example, has a succession dashboard in place to monitor impending departures so that the process of finding a replacement hire doesn't begin at the last minute. Per Morgan, the firm has also met with consultants about developing a solution to help track hiring objectives for different practice areas laid out in its strategic plan.

Of course, just as important as getting the right candidate through the door is keeping them there. Thompson & Knight recently purchased an integration solution from viGlobal that allows both new hires and their supervisors to share feedback and track progress.

"Sometimes there's a disconnect, right? We think that somebody is integrating really well but they might have a different perception," Morgan said.

But while tech may be able to help firms onboard new employees more smoothly, there are limits to what firms may be able to accomplish without an outside assist, especially when it comes to locating talent relevant to in-demand practice areas. Attempting to fill a highly specialized position in, say, privacy law requires the ability to hone in on people with a certain set of skills.

"I don't think law firms are in the business of maintaining a current and accurate database of everyone is in the market," said Jared Coseglia, founder and CEO of TRU Staffing Partners.

Widely available tools like LinkedIn Recruiter offer a viable alternative, but not an altogether popular one among Coseglia's clients. This could possibly have something to do with the $825-a-month subscription price tag presently attached to a corporate-level Linkedin Recruiter account.

Much like firms turning to alternative legal service providers as an alternative to footing the bill for bringing certain technologies in-house, legal may be taking a similar approach with talent scouting and staffing firms.

"In some ways it's not that different from how [law firms] subscribe to other technological services. Law firms no longer want to host their own data or have to supply their own custom software development; they want it out there in a managed service capacity," Coseglia said.