Top Law Schools

At what point can a recruiter claim referral ownership over you with respect to specific firms? Situation: Recruiter cold calls me about a position at a specific firm. He/she doesn't have my resume and I explicitly don't allow them to reach out to firm to gauge their interest in someone with my background, even without my resume.

What would prevent me from me from submitting an app to that firm on my own? I have contacts at that firm and knew about the posting already. Seems ridiculous for the recruiter to be able to claim a connection with me, but then again, I know how they operate and their clear incentive to try and make this claim. Apologies if this is an obvious answer – I've never dealt with legal recruiters. Thanks.

The recruiter doesn't have a claim here. It's once they submit your materials to a firm that they have a right to a commission.

Thanks for confirming my thoughts