March 2009

The process of working on client files at Legal Authority is quite complicated and works like this:

First, our clients generally sign up on our website or call in. Once clients call in or sign up on our website, we call to schedule an appointment with them and they are assigned an Employment Advocate who will be their contact person throughout their search. With only one exception, all of our Employment Advocates are attorneys. Our Employment Advocates work with our clients through each step of the process.

Second, once an appointment is scheduled, clients speaks with one of our Employment Advocates about their job search and what they are seeking to do. During the phone call, a list of employers is generated which matches precisely what the client is seeking to do. Employment Advocates will generally counsel clients about what they believe are the most appropriate steps for the candidate to follow in their job search. Employment Advocates are sort of like recruiters because their ultimate objective is to get you a job. The difference between an Employment Advocate and a traditional legal recruiter, however, is that Employment Advocates work with you.

In the third step of the process, the list of employers that the client and Employment Advocate agree upon is sent to our data review center and the resume is sent to our resume and cover letter department.

Our resume and cover letter department is also populated almost exclusively by attorneys. Two of our resume and cover letter personnel have worked in major New York law firms. Another holds a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. In our resume and cover letter department, with the input from what you are seeking to do gained from their discussions with you and your Employment Advocate, a resume fitting exactly what you are seeking to do is crafted.

Our data center is extremely sophisticated, operates 24 hours a day seven days a week and is staffed by over twenty researchers. Our data center is populating our database with contact information every day of the week. Many of our candidates often ask us where we get our data and the answer is we get it from numerous sources. The least challenging aspect of our work is getting the data from printed sources. The problem with printed sources, however, is that a large percentage of law firms, corporations and other legal hiring organizations do not even list themselves in printed sources. A listing in Martindale Hubble, for example, costs firms several hundreds of dollars. At a cost exceeding $50,000 a month, our data center pulls information from other data sources making use of U.S. Government issued Standard Industry Classifications (SIC Codes) which classify businesses based upon the type of industry they are in. This information is constantly being double checked, reclassified and loaded into our database.

Once the candidate file is sent to the data center, the data center reviews the list of contacts put together by the Employment Advocate. Since each search is personal to everyone who uses our service, our list of contacts inside each legal hiring organization is never perfect. For example, we try to use contacts that are less than four months old. If a contact is less than four months old we do not use it and reinvestigate who the contact is. In addition, we very rarely have a full list of contacts within each hiring organization because each search our candidates perform is unique. Accordingly, the data center identifies which contacts on the Employment Advocates’ list either (1) need to be found, or (2) need to be updated and sends them to a researcher within the data center. This process of updating the information often takes less than a day. In some cases it has taken our data center over two weeks. Once the data center is happy with its information, it is sent to a data analyst like Catherine for review.

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As I sit before my computer monitor writing this short article, the window for my document is minimized so as to maximize my view of my desktop background—a view of our beloved, blue planet from two hundred miles above its surface. The stunning vista of creamy, white-blue clouds and indigo sea against a black, starless sky reminds me of the amazing richness of opportunities constantly before us…and of our regrettable inability to take advantage of all of them. Fortunately, leading full and joyful lives does not require that we take advantage of all opportunities but, rather, that we carefully choose the precious few possibilities that we can and will pursue. What a difference it will make in your law career if you seize those few opportunities and take full advantage of the doors they open!

Candidates ask me all the time, “Which firms are making partners now?” I always respond, “None of them!” The dead silence is usually followed by nervous laughter. “Not, really,” candidates say. “I know it seems like that, but where are associates really making partners?”

At this juncture, I usually let them in on a little secret: things have changed in the practice of law since the 1950s. Here’s the bottom line: there are no more firms where associates simply “make partner.” Instead, associates grow up, get clients, create practices, and only then are awarded partnership status.

What this means is that attorneys must know how to create thriving practices while maintaining heavy workloads, and most firms cannot or will not expend resources to teach lawyers how to do this. They are on their own. Well, almost.

Here are some pointers that will help you develop the personal and professional clout you will need to build your own book of business.

Start Building Partner Skills Now

Associates who are ultimately invited to join their firms’ partnerships are not created equally, yet there are several “types” of attorneys who possess skills that increase their likelihood of making partner. I once sat in on a lecture given by the chairman of a prominent law firm, in which he discussed three types of partnership-bound associates.

First, there is the “rainmaker” who spends all (or most) of his or her time networking, having lunches, meeting people, and bringing in business. Second, the “service partner” adds value to a firm by providing niche expertise in a specialized area of the law, thus meeting the needs of sophisticated clients in ways that a partner with general legal skills cannot. Finally, the “hybrid” brings good leadership skills, strong connections to the firm and within the local community, and the ability to supervise projects and associates with aplomb.

While I respect these distinctions, I see things a little more simply. The only kind of person who can make and remain a partner is a person who has developed and continues to nurture a large, quality network of friends, colleagues, experts, and clients with whom he or she is involved on a professional level. This means that a potential partner must be able to call upon the people within his or her network to meet the needs of existing clients, to refer and generate new clients, and to keep abreast of developments in his or her industry.

No matter what level of practice you may now enjoy, the levels of ability and interest you exhibit in maintaining such a network may well mean the difference between professional and remunerative success or failure.

The Core Competency of a Partner

The ability to develop successful professional relationships is one of the core competencies of a partner. Almost anyone can practice law, but only a few develop law practices. I always try to emphasize to younger lawyers that it is never too early to start the process of building a network of strong relationships. The fundamental difference between a partner and any other lawyer is leadership ability. Partners lead. That means that partners assume responsibilities, delegate tasks, and are accountable for meeting the needs of their clients. These leadership traits are not innate; they must be learned, and to be learned, they must be practiced.

The only way to become a leader is to practice leadership in a thousand small ways. Sets of small acts tend to grow, of their own accord, into larger sets of responsibilities that eventually can develop into leadership over an entire case, with a large client, or in a 3,000-member law firm.

Furthermore, leadership does not begin with a “lucky break,” such as when, for instance, the senior associate on a matter calls in sick and you are named the lead attorney…or when the lead partner suddenly realizes that you are brilliant…or even if a client suddenly prefers that you take the reins. Rather, leadership begins with relationship management. In essence, every legal task can be broken down into a series of relationships that need managing. For example, an attorney must exhibit leadership in order to assign the appropriate people within a law firm to answer interrogatories, to find critical documents, to communicate key information about deals to clients, or to manage support staff and other associates in preparing filings or coordinating nationwide document collections and reviews.

Thus, to build the confidence, credibility, and leadership skills necessary to fulfill these responsibilities, attorneys must begin by cultivating as many meaningful relationships as possible. To do this, they must actually meet people.

Get Out There, Meet People, and Make Friends

Networking is just a fancy way of describing the process of intentionally making friends. Every lawyer in the country should be a member of at least three organizations and should contribute to each of them. It is often the case that the most effective, highest-functioning attorneys are those who are members of scores of organizations that they have joined over the courses of their careers.

For starters, however, any professional—and every lawyer—should join one organization within each of the following genres: professional, service-oriented, and fraternal or social. At the most basic level, every lawyer should be closely involved with some sort of professional organization of lawyers dedicated to furthering the practice of law. This might be a subcommittee within a state bar association, the American Bar Association, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, or even your local Barristers Club. There is no substitute for meeting and interacting with new lawyers in settings devoted to their respective practices. Successful lawyers have hundreds of colleagues who are essentially professional acquaintances with whom they have developed familiarity. Although meeting people and getting to know colleagues is incredibly easy to do, many lawyers dread it. It doesn’t have to be painful. Go out and meet someone new today!

For the Socially Challenged: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Network

Here is a step-by-step primer for developing a network of professional colleagues that even a partner would envy:

1. Join the “[fill in the blank]” club.
2. Actually go to a meeting.
3. Say, “Hello, how are you?” to five people. Be brave. Try to initiate some small talk. (For example, ask questions such as “Where do you practice?” or “What is your most interesting case right now?”)
4. Give a business card to each person you talk to. Ask for a business card from each of them, or write their names and phone numbers down on one of your own cards and hang on to it!
5. Once you get home or back to the office, enter their names in your Outlook folder (or some other location), and set up a reminder to call each person back in one week to follow up and say how much you enjoyed meeting him or her.
6. Actually call each person back.
7. Make it a practice to call each person on your list of contacts once every three months.
8. Follow where this leads you.

There. That wasn’t so hard! These are simple but invaluable steps. Every lawyer has some basic social skills, or he or she would not have survived the first year of legal practice. Begin naturally—but begin—and see where these proto-relationships take you. The point is that, just like in sales, there are only so many solid opportunities per “X” number of contacts. The only way to “get lucky” is to make sure that you make lots of attempts to build and maintain your personal network. Not every person is going to become a client, but the greater the number of personal contacts you maintain, the greater the resulting synergy between their accumulated sums of interactions, relationships, and experiences and your own.

Bringing It All Together

Once you have started down the path of generating a network of diverse professionals, you will be surprised at how it starts to take on a life of its own. Telling one colleague about an amusing vignette may lead him or her to do a small favor for you, such as sending over a client as a referral. Over time, that client or that colleague may lead you to significant business opportunities. All the while, you should be continuing to grow these and other relationships.

The key point to remember is that becoming a responsible leader depends on your ability to manage relationships. In every interaction, follow through with whatever you promise to do. If you offer to provide a reference, provide it! If you agree to get the name of someone who can serve as an expert, do it—and promptly! Demonstrating this kind of courtesy builds reputations and relationships—one small, solid step at a time. I absolutely guarantee that if you follow these practices, you will eventually succeed. You don’t have to be perfect all the time. You just need to be reasonably careful, reasonably reliable, and reasonably friendly, and you will be ahead of the majority of the pack.

Conclusion

The world is full of opportunities, but we cannot take advantage of them all; we can only capitalize on a few. To the extent that you can internalize this powerful principle, you will find that the world—and, in particular, your own practice—is as full of opportunities as a path strewn with gems. The key is to determine which gems to pick up, carry, and ultimately safeguard…because you cannot take them all. If you follow this path, you may find that your biggest challenge lies not in finding opportunities, but in having sufficiently large pockets!

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Q: Will an LL.M. help my legal career?

A: An LL.M. degree is very helpful, and sometimes required, for international students who already possess a law degree from their country of origin but want to practice law in the United States. For example, in California, law students who received their legal education outside of the United States must establish their eligibility to take the California bar by showing they have successfully completed the equivalent of two years of undergraduate studies and four years of legal studies in the United States. If the student received his/her legal education from a country that does not utilize the common law of England as its basis of jurisprudence, then the student will only receive credit for the undergraduate requirement and not receive any credit for the legal studies requirement. Some international students find that having an LL.M. from the United States is a very helpful way to increase their marketability.

For U.S.-educated attorneys, an LL.M. degree is most valuable for those who are interested in certain practice areas such as tax or trusts and estates. In these cases, an LL.M. in Tax from a prestigious university such as Georgetown or NYU is very helpful and will give you a definite edge over the competition. Otherwise, obtaining an LL.M. from a more prestigious school simply in order to enhance your academic credentials and help you get a job may not be the wisest of choices.

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Q: I’m thinking of making a move to another firm that will give me a drop in pay, but I feel it will be less stressful. In your experience, is a 20% pay cut worth it if I end up happier?

A: There is no good general answer to this question since the answer will vary for each person depending on his or her specific situation, and several different personal factors. For example, some people place such a high value on prestige and money that they are willing to sacrifice anything in order to achieve great success in these areas. For these people, taking a pay cut simply to work less hours would not be worth it. However, I have spoken to many candidates who have been more than willing to take a pay cut in order to have a better lifestyle and spend more time with family and friends. In fact, I myself did exactly that, and have absolutely no regrets about my decision to do so. As the saying goes, “money can’t buy happiness” and more often than not, people find this to be true.

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Do any of the following scenarios sound familiar? You have been working for years in a high-level career that is not taking you where you want to go…or you have been slaving away working on your Ph.D. and are facing many more years of fairly thankless work in other peoples’ labs at student wages before you see any chance for autonomy or recognition…or you have one of those degrees (such as a degree in electrical engineering, computer science, or physics) you have heard all the intellectual property law firms are seeking. If you are a sophisticated, bright individual who has done a little poking around, you may have come to the conclusion that obtaining your law degree will be the solution to all your problems—your ticket to nirvana, the inside track to wealth and prestige! And it might even lead to interesting work.

Before you start filling out law school applications, it is critical that you understand the legal lifestyle and the proper strategy for crafting a successful legal career. Simply earning a J.D. is not enough. Depending on your ultimate goal, making a thoughtful transition into law requires your consideration of a number of factors before you take the leap.

This article will examine what an individual with an advanced degree or an established career needs to consider when approaching a transition into law. A subsequent article will examine how to have a successful career as a law firm associate if you come to a firm with an advanced degree (or degrees) or significant career experience.

So you want to be a lawyer? How much do you know about what lawyers do? Do you have friends in the law? Have you been perusing law firm websites, reading bios, and hearing about those entry-level salaries for associates at top firms? Don’t get caught up in fantasy. Do your research. Talk to people who are doing the work you think you might enjoy. Take them out to lunch. Ask about hours. Ask about how they spend their days. Ask about client contact and participation (or lack thereof) in law firm management. Take an inventory of what you have enjoyed in your professional life and what drives you crazy. Learn what lawyers do, and decide whether living out that reality would make you happy.

The potential salaries are seductive, but be realistic. Most of the associates earning top dollar at the big firms are billing between 2,000 and 2,300 hours per year. And that doesn’t include “non-billable” hours. This can be a shock to someone over thirty who is trying to balance family needs with the demands of being a junior associate. Many firms expect you to work into the evenings and on weekends. Many firms expect you to take on rush projects with very little notice. Many associates will say, “Your life is not your own.” All of this is palatable if you are doing something stimulating that you enjoy, but it can be burdensome if you are doing work just to generate a paycheck. The firms paying the top salaries will also expect you to possess top credentials in terms of your law school and your grades.

Some people choose law as a second career for philosophical reasons. They want to become advocates for people, animals, or causes. Many of these individuals choose to work for the government, nonprofits, or smaller firms where profits per partner may not be the sole criteria for judging success. If the zeal of advocacy, rather than the vision of making partner, is your driving motivation, you can take a more flexible route through law school.

Some choose law as a second career based on fascination or experience with specific subject matter. Many experienced individuals have had exposure to specific areas of the law in their professional lives, such as employment law, landlord rights, or real estate, and can further their careers by getting the J.D. Again, the route through law school can be more flexible for these individuals, depending on the sizes of the firms they hope to join.

A J.D. can open the door to a multitude of opportunities within firms, within the corporate environment, within the nonprofit sector, within government, and for individual entrepreneurs. BCG specializes in placing attorneys in law firms; thus, these recommendations will focus on the individual pursuing a J.D. with employment in a law firm as his or her immediate goal.

Before you consider where to apply to law school, it is imperative to know what type of law firm you may want to set your sights on.

Below are run-downs of some of the types of law firms you may be interested in joining.

Large, Prestigious National and International Law Firms

The top-tier national and international law firms tend to be large, with multiple offices, high-profile clients, and significant profits per partner. These firms offer access to the premier lawyers in their practice areas, sophisticated and challenging work, the prestige connected with association with a top firm, and opportunities to develop careers that may lead to national and international recognition. These are the firms that pay the top associate salaries. However, most of these firms are very rigid in their hiring criteria. Many will only consider candidates from the top 20 law schools, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report. Many also require GPAs in the top 10- to 20-percent range, law review experience, and, in some cases, judicial clerkship experience. Competition to get job offers for beginning associates at these firms is intense. And you need to understand the process involved.

These firms hire the majority of their associates through their summer programs. The firms conduct on-campus interviews during students’ first and second years of law school to consider who they might invite to work for them as summer associates. If you have a successful on-campus interview, you will be invited to the firm for one or more call-back interviews. If you do well at these interviews, you may receive an “offer” to be a summer associate. Depending on how your experience goes during the summer, the firm may extend an offer to join them after you graduate.

If you set your sights on a prestigious firm, you need to have this process in mind when choosing your law school, approaching your studies and exams, and getting involved in extra law school activities. Don’t expect to be granted special notice or credit for life experience in law school. If you want to get into a top firm, your GPA will be a critical consideration.

Boutique Law Firms

Many individuals with concentrated experience in specific subject areas will set their sights on law firm boutiques that specialize in areas of the law that complement their backgrounds. A few examples include boutiques specializing in healthcare law, employment law, real estate and environmental law, municipal law, or intellectual property. Often, these boutiques may be more locally or regionally based. Attending a local law school with a decent reputation (ranked in the top 100) and having a strong background in the relevant subject matter may be enough to land you a first job. Grades will still be important, but hiring partners will probably take a broader view of what you are bringing to the table and what subjects you emphasized during law school. If you know what area of the law you want to practice in, it may be smart to consider which law schools are highly rated for programs specific to your area of interest. For example, in some cases, attending a school that is ranked highly in environmental law may be more important than attending a school in the top 20 that may not have a strong environmental program.

However, be advised that the national boutique law firms that carry prestige and serve the big-name clients will probably be as demanding as the big general practice national and international firms. These high-profile boutiques want to be able to flaunt top-level credentials on their attorney bio web pages, and top-notch writing skills are a prerequisite.

Smaller Regional and Local Firms

Firms with 50 attorneys or fewer are incredibly variable in terms of their practice mixes and the types of junior attorneys they may want to hire. Some smaller firms are just as elite and particular as the large international firms. A good rule of thumb is to explore a firm’s website and look at the attorneys’ backgrounds and academic pedigrees. The firm will be looking for junior associates with the same types of backgrounds. If you find a small firm that emphasizes the practice that interests you, make contact with one of its attorneys and find out if and how they bring in new attorneys. Most attorneys enjoy speaking with people who want to learn about what they do, as long as they are not asking for anything more than information. The process of hiring junior associates in these firms can be informal, based on word of mouth referrals or Internet advertising, or it can be based on a summer associate program as rigid and formal as those at the larger firms.

The Special Case of Intellectual Property

Those individuals with strong science or engineering backgrounds make up a unique group. In some markets, intellectual property law firms are aggressively recruiting junior associates from among first-year law students who claim these credentials. If you have an electrical engineering degree, a computer science degree, a physics degree or a Ph.D. in the bio arts, as well as significant industry experience, a recruiter may be able to represent you as a new graduate. The top intellectual property firms are selective and expect students from top-20 law schools, although students from law schools in the top 50 with strong intellectual property programs may be considered. Grades are important, but extracurricular activities related to intellectual property are also weighed heavily. Speaking to a BCG recruiter with expertise in the intellectual property market while charting your course through law school will keep your options open, as you plan submissions to firms and progress through the associate ranks. A legal recruiter can be incredibly helpful long before you need him or her to help you find a job.

Conclusion

Do your research. Have some idea of where you are headed before you jump into law school. As a first-year law student, I had a sudden awakening. I thought I was taking time off from life to contemplate a new career, try things out, enjoy the luxury of simply being a student, and explore whatever might interest me. I was jolted out of this reverie by the law school career counselor who gave the first-year students their October orientation. She stressed that we were not allowed to submit resumes to law firms in pursuit of summer associate jobs until December of our first year. I seemed to be the only student surprised that we were expected to start approaching potential employers only 12 weeks after beginning law school. I remember walking out of that meeting dumbfounded, thinking about how I had no idea what I wanted to do after law school. How was I to know where to submit resumes?

Although not knowing what you want to do is not a terminal condition in your first year, if you end up setting your sights on the top-level firms, you will be behind in the game if you did not enter law school knowing that was your goal from the beginning.

Other considerations for the older student include the debt load you are willing to shoulder to achieve your goals in the law, the issue of geographic relocation, and how well you will be able to balance law school and the legal lifestyle with your current lifestyle. I will explore these topics, as well as day-to-day strategies for “older” associates in sophisticated law firms, in future articles.

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My firm’s bankruptcy practice has been very busy recently and proposed that I transition to this work. What would this mean to my long-term career?

Bankruptcy has been a hot topic in the legal market ever since the dotcom bubble burst in the late 1990’s. Although many of the dotcoms disappeared with nary a whimper (because many of these firms did not have significant assets), the quick and public demise of huge international companies such as Enron Corp., WorldCom, and Global Crossing increased the amount of bankruptcy work at many firms around the United States.

In addition to the increase in activity in the bankruptcy and restructuring markets, the United States capital markets have been quiet as the economy has slowly recovered. In the recent depressed market, many corporate attorneys who were not billing enough hours were approached by their firms to “re-tool” and work with the firm’s bankruptcy or restructuring group.

Consequently, I am frequently asked by midlevel, junior, and summer associates how they should approach the current economic recession from the perspective of their practice areas, and whether they should consider a short stint in other busier areas of law such as bankruptcy or even litigation. The answer for any individual is case by case, however, there are some common threads that all candidates will have to consider before accepting a temporary or permanent change.

An important distinction should be made between experienced and newly minted attorneys. That distinction is driven, in my opinion, by the concept of an attorney’s “brand.” What is an attorney’s brand you may well ask? Practicing attorneys have a brand that is a combination of their expertise and education. Do you realize that every task performed by an attorney develops (or hinders) their brand? Therefore, choosing and changing practice areas affect your brand, and any such arrangement should be considered carefully. In my experience, well-branded attorneys get the best work and consistent recognition, and managing your brand correctly will help your success at your firm.

Bankruptcy Law

First, let us consider the practice of bankruptcy law. The bankruptcy practice is, for the most part, a federal practice before Article III courts. Under the United States Constitution, businesses (and individuals) can seek the protection of the bankruptcy courts as they seek to sort out their business and financial affairs. Bankruptcy is a code-based practice which relies on the bankruptcy code (Title 11 of the United States Code), a set of rules which are loosely drawn to determine the arena in which creditors and debtors can determine how they are going to proceed to resolve a company’s financial situation. The Bankruptcy Code has been modified by case law, but much of the bankruptcy practice never reaches published judicial decision because the parties negotiate a solution that is blessed by the supervising court.

Contrary to popular belief, businesses do not stop operating when they file for bankruptcy, and most businesses that have filed for bankruptcy continue their daily operations with the same pre-bankruptcy management and personnel. One example is Texaco, which filed for bankruptcy in the 1980’s after losing a multi-billion dollar lawsuit to Pennzoil. The bankruptcy process allowed Texaco to continue to operate its business while it negotiated payment of the lawsuit with Pennzoil. However, businesses in bankruptcy operate under the watchful eye of a court, and they cannot dispose of any of their assets without court permission. Of course, a company’s creditors are busy scrutinizing the company’s books too!

A primary function of a bankruptcy attorney is to assist his/her client in realizing the maximum value of a debtor’s estate so that creditors can receive the maximum return on their debt. Maximizing return to creditors frequently occurs in the form of the sale of assets or business operations or the whole business in an auction process. Bankruptcy attorneys are frequently called upon to assist their clients with the daily components of running a large firm while in bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy can be loosely divided into creditor and debtor practice areas and restructuring and bankruptcy practices. The creditor and debtor practices are essentially similar practices; attorneys represent either creditors (generally financial institutions) or debtors. Frequently a firm will specialize in creditor or debtor work to prevent inter-client conflicts.

Creditor practice is frequently portrayed as the more intellectual and enjoyable practice because the attorney is not involved in the day-to-day minutia associated with running businesses in the bankruptcy process. However, these practices really are two sides of the same coin, with creditors’ attorneys required to respond to and engage in the same motion practice as their debtor counterparts. In addition, the personal side of a debtor practice can be extremely rewarding because clients tend to be very grateful for their attorney’s assistance in navigating them through the bankruptcy process. In addition, associates with a debtor’s practice frequently liaise at a very senior level because bankruptcy necessarily streamlines the personnel structure in a business.

Whereas creditors and debtor re-negotiate the terms of existing debt, restructuring is rarely as complex or as lengthy as a full-blown bankruptcy. In general, this practice involves financial institutions and corporate executives working to renegotiate a company’s private or public debt.

One advantage of being a bankruptcy attorney is that the attorney has the opportunity to act both as a litigator and as a transactional attorney. One day, the attorney may be required to do research, engage in motion practice or attend court hearings, while the next, the attorney may liaise with corporate attorneys, tax attorneys, ERISA and employment attorneys, intellectual property attorneys, corporate finance, and in the case of public companies, securities professionals as they work to negotiate a deal on certain of the debtor’s assets. A bankruptcy attorney does not need to know these areas of the law, but should develop a thorough understanding of the concepts associated with these practice areas. Consequently, the practice of bankruptcy law can be bewildering to the junior attorney, as they endeavor to understand not only their own practice area, but also learn to integrate other areas of the law into their practices. This straddle between transaction and litigation frequently generates the common perception that an attorney can easily transition into or away from the bankruptcy practice. While the bankruptcy practice straddles transaction work and litigation work, it is not the same as practicing in either of those areas of the law.

Graduating Associates

Recent law school graduates frequently do not realize that they have a “brand” and their career depends on the continued development of that brand. Most recent law school graduates have invested more than $120,000 in their legal education and law school living expenses to develop their brand. With attorneys, the brand starts with your pre-law school education. In most cases, this will be the primary factor that will decide which law school you attended. Next, your law school and your grades generally determine the scope of employers and training that you receive once you have graduated.

A graduating associate is different from an experienced associate because the graduating associate has yet to develop their practice area. The biggest career choice that graduating associates make when they join a firm is deciding their practice area. Consequently, I would recommend that graduating law students find an area of practice that they are prepared to commit to from the start. Choose an area of law that is right for you rather than being “hot.”

Changing practice areas later is not necessarily easy, especially if the associate has been branded as a bankruptcy associate. For example, many junior attorneys overlook the fact that law firms are seeking laterals with experience in an advertised practice area. Junior associates can lateral into a different practice area, but frequently they must compete against candidates who have the prerequisite experience and all else being equal, it is most likely that the experienced candidate will fill an available job.

Experienced Associates

With experienced attorneys, the issue is more complex. Experienced associates have (presumably) developed expertise in one area of law and have managed their career to get the widest range of experience in their practice area. However, a dilemma arises when your practice area is quiet, and the partner has asked you to “help out” in another department.

Temporarily working in a related practice area may be perceived as being beneficial to an experienced associate. The associate can make new contacts with different departments and partners of the firm. The attorney believes they will also demonstrate their commitment to their firm, and wants to see their firm succeed.

However, an attorney’s skills in their chosen practice area will atrophy over time, and the attorney is not being trained in their chosen practice area. It is hard to focus on the demands of the training and reading associated with one’s favored practice area when one is busy working in a foreign practice area. In addition, there is the chance that the associate will be removed from the roster of associates available for assignments because the transferred associate’s hours have increased. Associates asked to transition should consider whether the firm is giving them a subtle hint that they are not fitting in with their peers in their own practice areas. For example, do some of your colleagues remain busy while you are idle? Perhaps it is time to dust off your résumé and consider looking for a new home.

Having said all that, if you like the idea of bankruptcy as a career then I would encourage it. I worked as a bankruptcy attorney at one of the large New York firms and I still consider that experience to be one of the best in my legal career. The work was hard, the hours were long, but, in retrospect, I learned an enormous amount about how to get deals done and what it means to run a business. Finally, bankruptcy, in many ways, is not like other aspects of the law. I found it to be very creative because bankruptcy lawyers operate in one of those rare spheres in the business and legal worlds where the legal process drives some of the business decisions.

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Legal Authority was built on the belief that there is no point in doing something if it is not done at its very highest level and better than anyone else. I can say that we are the undisputed world leader in the attorney mass mailing service. And our efforts will only continue to improve. The reasons we are the undisputed world leader, and will continue to dominate the market are described below:

First, we have more potential legal jobs and hiring contacts than any single source on Earth. There is no one with more hiring contacts—anywhere. When we started, we knew that there was no reason to do what we were doing unless we did it all. This was a massive goal—and still is on a daily basis. But it is one we have achieved and continue to achieve.

Second, we are aggressively using technology. Recent changes, such as the compact search, and the ability to upload thousands of corrected records in seconds, have improved efficiencies of our workforce by over 2.5 times. We need to continue aggressively using technology to experience the levels of market domination we should.

Third, we stress an outstanding work product in all we do. While our review and revision of cover letters and resumes may seem like and unnecessarily time consuming task—and one that detracts from our profits—it should be noted that we are committed to doing exceptional work. To this end, we have almost from day one had a professional writer on staff to ensure this work is done in a timely manner. In addition, our production department consistently keeps stressing a quality and first-rate work product that is error free. To date, we have done an exceptional job with this.

Fourth, we are a team. There is little doubt that we are a team here! In fact, I would question any organization to try and be more of a team than us. Work can be fun and we can do excellent work at the same time. We are proving this on a daily basis with all we do. Our weekly Attorney Employment Advocate and Production Department meetings have proven an outstanding tool to ensuring we are all in the same team.

Fifth, we exist because we want to help those who have proven they are worthy of help. This organization was founded simply because there was no source in existence which would do all they could to assist attorneys. Our work is noble and has profound significance. We are helping people who deserve our help because they are people who have taken efforts to help themselves by attending law school and completing a rigorous curriculum.

We need to constantly be aware that our goal is to make a meaningful difference in peoples’ lives and that we can do this. We are often people’s last stop in their job search; however, we are without a doubt the most potentially effective stop. There is no more effective way for an attorney to get a job than by using our service—anywhere. In fact, there has never been. We are making history here and changing lives for the better on a daily basis.

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Law Students and Recent Grads: Do Not Rely on Career Services. Take Control of Your Job Search!!!

Every law student in this country is familiar with Career Services. You have probably used them to look for either a summer associate position, or a law clerk position while you attended school, or even a post-graduation position after you had taken the bar exam but before your results arrived. Some students have achieved varying degrees of success, but most students have been left dissatisfied, frustrated, and, most important, JOBLESS! If this describes your situation, Legal Authority exists to help students like you.

This article is not designed to bash Career Services or the job that they do. Rather, this article is meant to highlight the fact that while Career Services serves a function, that function is rather limited. One thing that law students are not aware of is the fact that Career Services can only be effective for the top 10% of the class!!! Unfortunately, the other 90% of the class is left struggling to find positions. Legal Authority will assist that other 90% in finding the best jobs for them.

The primary purpose of this article is to make sure that you, the job seeker, are equipped with all the information you need to take control of your job search. We will look at Career Services in terms of what do they do and whom they help the most. Next, we will look at why it does not make sense for you to place your future in the hands of Career Services. And finally, we will lay out your plan of action and determine how you can take control of your job search!

Career Services: Who are they, and what do they do?

As noted above, every law student in this country will at one time or another visit his/her Career Services office for assistance with his/her job search. In the fall, most if not all Career Services offices organize some sort of on-campus-interviewing process. Many schools refer to it as fall OCI (on-campus interviewing). During this process, many large law firms go to various law schools and recruit law students up to one year in advance to begin their positions with these firms the following summer. Career Services will help law students draft resumes and cover letters for the available positions. In addition, they will help law students get their resumes to the hiring coordinators of the large firms.

Unfortunately, your decision to work for a firm that recruits on campus is not always in your control. First, firms are usually looking for the top students with the best grades, as well as journal/moot court participation. Second, you might be a student who is looking to move to a different geographic region for the summer, and firms from that region do not recruit on your campus. For the lucky few students who land their positions through this process, the hunt is over. However, for the majority of students, the job search is only beginning, and these students can no longer rely on their school’s Career Services office.

Your Future in the Hands of Career Services???

Most students need to be proactive in their job searches and take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that they find the best jobs for them. If you are one of those students, Legal Authority can help you apply directly to almost any legal employer anywhere, including law firms, corporations, judges, public interest organizations, public defender’s offices, prosecutor’s offices, state and federal governmental agencies, law schools—you name it. With the largest database of legal employers anywhere, Legal Authority has contacts for more than two million legal employers in all 50 states and more than 150 countries. It is not unusual for our clients to get 10 or more offers. The limited resources of your law school’s Career Services office simply are not designed to help you get such results.

When looking for a job as a 2L, 3L, or recent grad, it is important to note that the job that you take is critical and will set up the first stage of your legal career. Because your first job as a law clerk or a first-year associate is so important, the wisest job seekers do not leave their job searches in the hands of Career Services. They are great for helping students with the best grades land great positions. And you must remember that your Career Services office has every incentive to promote their best students in landing jobs with firms. This is primarily because it helps to increase the school’s ranking and prestige in the legal community. Nevertheless, if you are not one of those select few, Career Services can leave you feeling hopeless.

Take Control of Your Job Search: Your Plan of Action

As you might have experienced, it is very difficult to land a summer associate position if you have not been recruited. It is not, however, impossible. To maximize your chances of getting a great position, you need to first maximize both the quality and quantity of the interviews and then maximize your interview efficiency. This is where Legal Authority makes all the difference. We will help you get your resume and cover letters out to great firms that are looking for someone just like you.

This opportunity is being utilized constantly by students and attorneys alike. Many 2Ls and 3Ls use targeted mailing as a way of getting around the nightmare of fall OCI, where only the top 10% of the class is offered job opportunities. The savviest students know that they can use Legal Authority to create their own fall OCI that is tailored to their needs and targeted to those employers that are not going to dismiss them simply because they are not first or second in their class. The service has helped numerous students from all over the United States bypass Career Services and take control of their job searches!

Remember, when you conduct a job search using Legal Authority, the purpose is not to find just any job. If you sit around long enough, you will find any job. The point of this search is to find the best job for you. You will sample all of the opportunities out there and find the job that is the best fit for you and your needs. No other job search allows that. If you find a job through an advertisement, then you are at the mercy of that employer, including whatever salary and workload it dictates. There is no opportunity to weigh several offers and negotiate the best deal. Targeted mailing affords you that opportunity. Your future does not have to be governed by the lack of success during the on-campus-interviewing process. You can determine your career path and land a great position when you take the initiative with Legal Authority and take control of your job search!

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by Carey Bertolet and Joanna Joplin

“We say tomato, and they say…”

On a daily basis, we meet lawyers who are considering not just a change of firm but a complete change of scenery. Often, a lawyer’s interest in relocating to a new city is based on his/her perception of what it’s like to live and work in the target city. Of these lawyers interested in relocation, some of the most frequent are New York-based lawyers interested in working abroad and London-based lawyers interested in practicing in a New York firm. We see these preferences often enough that it caused us to consider what it means to live and work in New York vs. London and whether there are generalizations that can be made that accurately contrast the lawyer’s law firm experience in London to that of the New York-based lawyer.

New York State of Mind

To start, we interviewed lawyers at several large New York practices to see what generalizations can accurately be made regarding the city itself. Certainly, New York is commonly regarded as one of the world’s predominant cities in the global economy and is the home of the world’s largest corporations. As such, law firms thrive in New York, and associates can boast their participation in corporate deals with the most zeros and litigation with the most at stake. The New York legal market is certainly form and substance: capturing the best work demands, the best credentials, and the fanciest resumes. It is a city that many lawyers consider the place to be for the most complex work and noteworthy representations. There are, however, hundreds of sophisticated firms in New York, causing us to cross-examine the notion that the practice in New York is fairly described as any one thing when compared to another city’s legal practice. Looking for themes that might carry through from New York firm to New York firm, we were specifically focused on the work environments for New York associates in sophisticated law firms.

The Downtown Institution. To begin, we interviewed a lawyer with a large multinational firm’s New York office, located in downtown Manhattan. This Wall Street-oriented firm ranks high in name-recognition and size and has a full-service, highly visible practice in New York and beyond. It is fairly described as a “white-shoe” firm — a term indicating that the firm in question is considered among the elite. Generally speaking, white-shoe firms are New York-based, have a long-standing presence in the New York marketplace, and often cater to institutional clients who are usually large corporations and entities with immediately recognizable names in New York and beyond.

Environment. This firm’s austere office is in many ways what one expects from the more traditional firm. With a conservative décor and regimented office plan, this firm’s environment encourages conservative dress and demeanor. Still, associates are attracted to this firm, often times because of a combination of the sophistication of the work and the pedigree that goes along with working at a white-shoe firm. Associates tell us that as traditional as this firm is, they contribute to cases or transactions to degrees that one might find unusual at a big firm. In addition, associates travel on behalf of clients, give presentations in and out of the city, and take substantial roles in their work.

Community. Associates are likely encouraged to be social animals within the firm setting, and this is “especially true during the summer.” Many relationships fostered among summer clerks and junior associates carry over to day-to-day socializing among lawyers at the firm. Although that socializing, over time, becomes more common only among colleagues in a practice area or classmates, these social relationships are often sustained.

Hours. The firm’s best billers frequently bill in excess of 2,500 hours per year, although many associates log closer to the 2,000-hour range. Our source tells us that this firm’s traditional foundation is a face-time culture, where many partners do appreciate seeing their associates at their desks. Having said that, the firm’s internal clock runs early. Whereas many New Yorkers don’t start their work days until 10 a.m., hours are being billed at 9 a.m. here. And you will see many of the lawyers punching out around 7, which is a bit more family friendly than some of this firm’s competitors.

Despite the old-school approach to office furnishings and hours, times are changing, even at the oldest New York firms. The advent of technology allows an associate to be more connected to partners and clients by remotely accessing voicemail. Associates are even required to be “Blackberry accessible” at all times, including on weekends. The more progressive practice groups (for example, the intellectual property transaction department) are more likely to understand that a connected associate can be just as productive and available outside the office as they are in. Associates here are required to get their vacations approved in advance, and during busy times, there may be “moratoriums on vacations for three months at a time,” and vacations do get cancelled from time to time, even when approved. Of course the firm will reimburse an associate for those missed trips, but free time is not necessarily a guarantee.

The Global Player. For our second case example, we examined a firm with a slightly different picture. Though this firm certainly scores high marks regarding large-scale transactions and marquis clientele, it is not considered one of the more traditional firms in New York. In addition to an undeniable New York presence, this firm is more notable for significant growth in other major United States cities and metropolitan locations across several continents.

Environment. At this large multinational firm’s New York office, day-to-day existence isn’t as formal or as polished as with our downtown firm example. You are likely to “walk over boxes to get to the partner’s desk” at this office. That partner is much more likely to be interested in the files on his or her desk than how upscale the office furniture is. While one could not describe the lawyers here as flamboyant in dress or personality, the mood here is decidedly more casual, among lawyers and staff alike.

Culture. Our insider tells us that this firm is marked by a vibrant social scene, which can be attributed in no small part to how much time the associates spend together in the office. One of the most positive aspects of this firm’s social life (for lack of a better phrase) is that many co-workers “become like family,” and relationships created here are often important professional and personal relationships over time. Our sources remark there is a great deal of bonding among partners and associates and between practice groups. The drawback to this close-knit environment is a certain degree of politicking. An associate here does well to create strong relationship with influential partners who can drive good work and advancement opportunities their way.

Hours. Our insider estimates that a good lawyer is billing in the 2,200 annual billable-hour range, although busy lawyers with a lot of drive bill easily more than 2,400. Although there is variation between practice groups, this firm’s lawyers allow client needs to drive the schedule. An upcoming trial or large deal will easily keep the lawyers on that file in the office virtually around the clock. Moreover, associates are expected to be “on call” for partners and clients, and being plugged into time-sensitive work, including on weekends, is paramount.

The Mid-Sized Competition. For our final New York sample, we chose a slightly different demographic: the up-and-coming mid-sized firm. Quite to the contrary of conventional wisdom, this mid-sized firm is not necessarily a kinder, gentler law firm. A growing but still modestly sized firm prides itself on competing with New York’s most recognizable names. Not able to or interested in resting on an institutional client base, the firm’s biggest rainmakers are active practitioners and prominent members of the community.

Environment. At this firm in particular, “appearance is paramount.” There is little place for the professionally awkward here: the associates and partners are as polished as the marble in the lobby of this midtown practice. They demand as much as their large-firm counterparts regarding the types of credentials they want reflected in their attorney biographies. Nonetheless, a tour of the office quickly reveals a firm where technology is important and lawyers are generally fairly self-reliant.

Culture. While undoubtedly a social firm, we found that this firm is more formal. It is more uncommon here to see partners lunching with associates, and there is certainly an awareness of the firm’s hierarchy. Our source describes the firm as being a place where you are encouraged to handle your work without a great deal of supervision, making it an ideal environment for someone who craves responsibility. Having said that, although associates are encouraged to seek out a partner if they feel that they are “in over their heads,” ultimately, the firm does not look kindly on associates who need “bailing out.”

Hours. Although the conventional wisdom is that mid-sized firms have lesser loads when it comes to billable hours, this firm proves that such generalizations aren’t necessarily true. There are associates here who bill 2,000 hours, although the word on the street is that it takes 2,100 to feel secure in your billable hours here. Bonuses are awarded to those who exceed 2,400 billed hours, and that lofty goal becomes an important number for many associates. Although weekends aren’t as much of a week-to-week occurrence as at other firms, an associate walking the halls on a Saturday will definitely not be alone.

Common Traits

What are the commonalities? Not surprisingly, different firms in New York have similar hour requirements, and it is hard to find a successful associate at a top firm billing less than 2,000. Superstars in the billing department are much more likely to be over the 2,400-hour mark.

Second, regardless of the firm, there is a certain level of connectedness to the work, whether that be in the evenings or on weekends. At some firms, it may take the form of a late-night call from a partner or it may simply be the expectation that a client’s questions be answered as soon as they are asked. Nonetheless, the New York associate is generally never far from their Blackberry, and they rarely stay away from the office without checking their voicemail. Although it comes in different forms, there appears to be some expectation that the New York associate will remain plugged in and responsive, even while they are physically not in the office.

London Calling

As in New York, we interviewed several associates in London (both UK- and US-qualified) to get a feel for just what it’s like to practice in jolly old London. Just as there are generalizations to be drawn from the big-firm New York lawyer lifestyle, there is a shared experience amongst London lawyers practicing in the city’s top firms.

So, what’s it like to be a lawyer in London? Well, it may not be too different from what it would be like in New York in terms of lifestyle. Once you make it into the firm where you are comfortable, you can bet your work will be challenging and exciting, with a very international flavor. London is certainly, both culturally and professionally, an international city. You will likely be working with people of different nationalities and backgrounds, who speak two, three, or six different languages and have lived, worked, and been educated all over the world. London’s legal community mirrors this diverse, international mix — more so even than New York’s. Plus you can spend all that money you make on weekend trips to Paris, Prague, or Rome, to name a few popular nearby destinations. And with London lawyers, when you leave the office, you tend to really leave the office behind (or at least to a greater extent than their New York counterparts).

The Nice Guy in the Circle. In the first London example, we interviewed a second-year trainee at one of the top city practices in the Magic Circle. This full-service firm has a large multinational presence and is well known all over the world (including the US) for its highly trained lawyers. Unlike some of its fellow Magic Circle firms, this firm is reputed to be the “friendlier” firm, where even in the economic downturn, it resisted engaging in the widespread redundancy programs that left many highly qualified associates jobless.

Environment. This firm’s offices vary according to location. The older offices are a more traditional cellular model, while the new facilities are more modern and open-plan. The atmosphere is “dress-down casual,” which lends itself to the firm’s friendly reputation. Like most other large city firms, the practice groups are basically segregated, so there isn’t much intermingling of associates from different groups.

Trainees are particularly attracted to this firm for its first-class training program widely reputed to be the best in the city. The friendly reputation is also a plus, with young and vibrant partners that help new trainees and associates feel more at ease. Plus, the firm is committed to retaining any trainee who wants to stay, although there is no guarantee that the trainee will be placed in the practice group of his or her choice, which forces many of them to look elsewhere. Competition for coveted placement spots can be fierce, which leads to some “sucking up” by trainees to get the placements they want. Thankfully, full-blown backstabbing to get ahead is avoided. But with that level of training and experience on their CVs, you can bet its trainees and associates have no trouble finding work elsewhere within or outside the Magic Circle. Which isn’t a bad idea, since the prospects of ever making partner at this (or any other Magic Circle firm) are quite slim. Indeed, many senior associates leave and join smaller firms as junior partners when there is no room at the top for them at this firm.

Culture. While associates and trainees are less likely to socialize outside of work (at least compared to their American cousins), lawyers consider the firm to have quite a friendly culture. Partners are seen as very approachable and available to junior associates and trainees, which is not always the norm at UK and European firms. Even lawyers at other firms consider this one to be a friendly firm. But, hey, even if they can’t find the time to hang out after work, there’s a bar at the firm. Scary, you really never need to leave….

Hours. Not surprisingly, the hours can be hard. Although this firm’s target hours are around the standard 1,700 for Magic Circle firms, trainees and associates work long and hard on a regular basis. Trainees have been known to pull all-nighters in their first month of work, and associates generally bill closer to the 2,000+ hours required by US rival firms. The hours of course, as with all firms, depend upon the practice group, with projects and corporate groups being rumored as the busiest.

One nice aspect to this and other UK firms is that vacation time is taken very seriously. Although partners will generally be “on call” on their holidays, contacting them is generally avoided at all costs. The same is true for associates; when they are out on vacation, they are considered for the most part unavailable and are able to really leave the office behind them.

The New Kid on the Block. This firm is really only “new” to the Magic Circle by comparison to its more established rivals. However, there is no denying that it is a global corporate powerhouse, and it routinely tops the charts in a wide variety of practice areas. Its global reach is truly daunting, and for the transactional associate, it can offer fantastic opportunities for world travel, although you won’t have much time for any sightseeing. It is reputed to be one of the most brutal in terms of hours, but for many associates, the work quality and experience they gain is worth the sacrifice.

Environment. The firm’s new digs are astounding. There’s a full-service gym on site with swimming pool, magnificent views over London, and even beauticians and masseurs on hand to cater to the lawyers’ whims. Almost makes you want to move in….well, after all, this is the firm with the most sweatshop-like reputation, so you might as well be in a nice environment if you are going to spend loads of time there. Otherwise, the atmosphere is quite casual which is something you would expect from a more modern (read: less stodgy) Magic Circle firm.

Culture. As a general rule, UK firms are notoriously snobbish about university name recognition (not to say this is unlike many top US firms), and most Magic Circle firms recruit heavily from the Oxbridge graduating classes. This firm in particular seems to avoid that reputation by recruiting top graduates from a variety of institutions, which gives it a more “down to earth” atmosphere that attracts some associates. This easygoing personality is also reflected in the partner-associate relationship. Associates here generally feel that partners are “very nice and approachable” and are willing to provide insight and assistance to associates when asked. The collegial atmosphere helps keep associates at this firm, despite the long hours.

Hours. “On average, transactional practice associates at my firm were billing anywhere between 2,000 to 2,500 hours per year,” says our associate, who admits the firm has a particularly bad reputation as far as hours were concerned. However, this reputation might not be a deserved one, as it seems associates in other top-tier firms are billing roughly the same amounts. Nonetheless, the hours still cause some turnover, as the long hours are the primary gripe of associates to choose to leave for smaller firms and markets.

The Mid-Sized London Firm. As we discovered in New York, the mid-sized firm in London is also not necessarily the “greener pastures” that high-powered associates are looking for. The word on the street is that some of these firms, particularly those at the top of the middle tier, can be very difficult places to work. While Magic Circle lawyers complain about hours but are generally content with their treatment, experience, and relationships with co-workers (including partners), it seems that discontent is far more widespread at these firms. These associates often find themselves working Magic Circle hours, sometimes for less pay and less international name-recognition on their CVs. Law firm hierarchy is more rigid, with partners being more aggressive and less approachable by associates. In terms of the actual experience associates receive, these lawyers are likely to gain more hands-on experience in these offices due to the smaller size; i.e., they can avoid the “cog-in-the-wheel” complaints of some Magic Circle associates. The best places to work on balance seem to be the mid-size, mid-tier firms, which are content with where they are in rank and size and are comfortable with having a select number of highly regarded practice areas.

Similarities

So, what are the similarities? The Magic Circle and those firms at the top of the middle tier consistently provide their lawyers with top-notch work and demand perfection from their associates. They also require long hours. On a positive note, although UK lawyers put in long hours at the office, they generally take their vacation time seriously and won’t be seen checking their Blackberries every 30 seconds like the average New York associate.

This “leave the office behind” mentality can also bleed into the after-work social life (or lack thereof) at Magic Circle firms. Indeed, as a general rule, it seems that associates at Magic Circle firms are less likely to socialize outside of the office than their American cousins. For one thing, UK firms don’t provide for firm-paid social events in the same way as US firms, and the over-the-top summer associate events are generally unheard of. Also, many UK lawyers at the top law firms have close university and public school friends right in London, and generally they prefer to spend their time away from the office with those “social” friends. Let’s face it: it’s nice to get away from the office (and from fellow lawyers) from time to time.

Finally, the way Magic Circle firms treat their associates seem to be quite uniform. While Magic Circle trainees and associates seem very happy with the way they are treated, they generally enjoy a more gradual training process and are allocated responsibility on deals according to their individual level of PQE. By contrast, Londoners view the American model as a more “baptism by fire” method of training, where junior associates are given high levels of responsibility and client contact despite their status as junior associates. “US law firm culture seems to be more aggressive,” observes one Magic Circle associate, who also notes that their relative office size in London doesn’t lend itself to providing much support to junior attorneys as compared to the larger Magic Circle and top-tier firms. This doesn’t necessarily stop UK lawyers from seeking out super-sized paychecks from the US firms in town, but they do seem generally content with getting a more gradual level of responsibility than their more “assertive” New York counterparts.

Conclusions

Ultimately, many of the qualities that define any one law firm, regardless of the city, can’t be defined simply by geography. Assuming that all London firms offer one lifestyle while all New York firms do not won’t scratch the surface in determining whether one city is better for you. Some differences do, however, emerge. It appears that London firms will be more rigid in terms of work assignments: first-year associates are more likely to be restricted to first year work, whereas a New York associate may easily find himself or herself doing as sophisticated a project as they are capable of taking on (or more!).

Second, New York firms are less likely to keep vacations or holidays as sacred as London firms are. A New York associate is more likely to feel constantly “on call,” as opposed to the Londoner, who will likely enjoy his/her three-day holiday weekend without attaching their Blackberry to their ski boot or scuba gear.

Finally, for those of you who count down the days until the summer associate season, the London firm may not be for you. While associates are friendly and certainly can become close to colleagues they have worked with over the years, they are generally less likely to have a thriving social life with each other outside of work. Plus, the firms foot the bill for fewer social events than their New York counterparts, which doesn’t exactly foster socializing on a grand scale…

While we believe both markets are thriving legal communities, it is unlikely that one city truly trumps the other in lifestyle. As every lawyer has different goals, differences among firms in one city may be more relevant to any particular individual than differences among cities.

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