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What to Expect in a Lateral Move [Kevin Quinn] Lateral moves are becoming more common by the day among attorneys. There are obstacles in your way if you are planning on it, but there are also benefits that can make it all worthwhile.
For most attorneys fresh out of law school,
lateral hiring director in the human resourc-
you are really good at explaining things away
associate status is the most obvious way to
es department that specializes in looking
(which can be a large part of being a lawyer,
start a legal career. You sign up with that
for qualified attorneys that were raised by
anyway, so it should be a good test for you),
firm you clerked at during school, practi-
other firms to join their firm. Many of these
this could be a huge bump in the road. Life
cally kill yourself trying to bill 60 hours a
lateral hiring directors hardly have to look
experience outside of the law can be seen as
week, yet, at the same time, you pull in pay
very hard, though, as any large firm will have
a positive thing, however, depending on how
checks that make all those sleepless nights
lateral associate candidates climbing up the
you frame it.
bent over your “Evidence” law books thinking
walls to get a chance to see what life is like
“Why me?” worth the trouble.
in a different environment. What differenti-
If you are currently an associate in good
ates those attorneys who get the new jobs
standing at a top firm, they will want to know
Of course, things change for many attor-
from those that are stuck where you are?
what kind of progress you have made in
neys. Maybe around your second or third
Several factors:
your position and what kind of impression the partners in your firm have of you. If a
year, when you are still stuck with the same ridiculous standard for billing hours that you created when trying to show off in the first few months, your attitude about your new job may start to sour. You could realize that what you are doing is incredibly tedious, perhaps you want to remove the futon from the office and start sharing your nights with your family, or maybe the partner you are assigned to is just a relentless jerk. Well, these are all perfectly valid reasons to start consider making a lateral move. The questions you have to ask yourself, however, are whether you can find something better based on your experience, whether now is the time where you can get the best position, and what a new position can do for you. It used to be unheard of for attorneys to
Academic Performance -- To some firms, you could be 15 years removed from law school, worked at the most prestigious firms in the country, and they will still demand to see your transcripts. While it is mostly more of an East Coast phenomenon to place a huge emphasis on education, where you went to law school and how you performed there is going to be considered in the decision to hire you. If you recently got a decent job out of an average performance at a fourth-tier law school, you might want to hang onto that for a while, especially in an economy like this one. Additionally, if you have done anything else in the academic realm - such as write an article that was respected in the legal community or get an L.L.M -- that certainly helps your cause.
has become more the exception than the rule. The need to relocate, recession-related cutbacks, unhappiness with a work situation -- anything can contribute to the need to move to a new firm. In fact, most of the larger firms in the country have a special
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probably won’t be asking for letters of recommendation, so you will have to show your worth to your current firm in other ways. One way to do this is to emphasize the amount of responsibility given to you, within what time frame you were granted significant responsibility, and how that relates to other associates of your year. If you are in your first year at a large firm, for example, and you were allowed client contact or you are billing one of the firm’s largest clients, that shows that they respect and trusted you (or that they are incredibly short-handed). It never hurts to have billed an obscene amount of hours, either - but don’t emphasize that as a selling point if you are trying to move to work less, as a new firm will probably expect the same effort of you if allow that firm to.
switch firms. Recently, an entire career spent working within the same four walls
job search is being conducted covertly, you
Work Experience -- Obviously, firms that are looking to hire will want to know what you have been up to since you graduated from law school. If you did not choose to go into the legal profession immediately after graduation, firms may think you lack the motivation it takes to be at a top firm. Unless
Portable Clients -- Did you do some work for Microsoft and they loved you so much that you have vowed to never ever let you go? Well, take them with you and any firm would be glad to have you. If you are a first year associate, a lateral hiring director will prob-
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