Few more days to make decision and I'm agonizing. Help me. Forum

[sundance95]

I live in a secondary market and accepted NYC over offers here because it is much easier to go back then the direction. I'm personally planning to do only a few years in NYC big law and then try to do mid law/boutique in a mid sized market.

I wanted bread, so I bought wheat seeds instead of bread because it's much easier to convert wheat seeds into bread than it is to go the other direction.

[Anonymous User]

OP

To those saying that it's easier to go from biglaw to the secondary market, does it change anything if the market that I'm talking about is extremely insular? I don't know if those considerations come into play at the lateral stage, but I had some strong ties and it took quite a lot for me to convince them that I was interested in the market as something other than a backup to NY/DC. Would I get burned potentially down the road by going somewhere else at this point?

[nickelanddime]

OP

To those saying that it's easier to go from biglaw to the secondary market, does it change anything if the market that I'm talking about is extremely insular? I don't know if those considerations come into play at the lateral stage, but I had some strong ties and it took quite a lot for me to convince them that I was interested in the market as something other than a backup to NY/DC. Would I get burned potentially down the road by going somewhere else at this point?

As I mentioned earlier, I have started looking into this question (lateraling home following 2 clerkships and a year of firm experience elsewhere) and the responses have not been encouraging. Feel free to PM me for more.

[Anonymous User]

OP

To those saying that it's easier to go from biglaw to the secondary market, does it change anything if the market that I'm talking about is extremely insular? I don't know if those considerations come into play at the lateral stage, but I had some strong ties and it took quite a lot for me to convince them that I was interested in the market as something other than a backup to NY/DC. Would I get burned potentially down the road by going somewhere else at this point?

If you are talking about biglaw in cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Milwaukee... then as long as you still have ties to the city you will be fine.

[Hutz_and_Goodman]

I live in a secondary market and accepted NYC over offers here because it is much easier to go back then the direction. I'm personally planning to do only a few years in NYC big law and then try to do mid law/boutique in a mid sized market.

I wanted bread, so I bought wheat seeds instead of bread because it's much easier to convert wheat seeds into bread than it is to go the other direction.

An imperfect analogy bc:
1. Offer rates often lower at secondary market firms vs NYC biglaw
2. Even well prepared law students will not know for sure what market they want to be in
3. Many people who may want to live in X for the majority of their career would prefer to practice in NYC/DC for a few years first

Etc

So picking a firm to summer with is not really comparable to grocery shopping. Like the practice of law itself, it is about risk management and strategy where decisions are made with imperfect information.

[NotMyRealName09]

OP

To those saying that it's easier to go from biglaw to the secondary market, does it change anything if the market that I'm talking about is extremely insular? I don't know if those considerations come into play at the lateral stage, but I had some strong ties and it took quite a lot for me to convince them that I was interested in the market as something other than a backup to NY/DC. Would I get burned potentially down the road by going somewhere else at this point?

If you are talking about biglaw in cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Milwaukee... then as long as you still have ties to the city you will be fine.

I'm in Detroit, and this is just my sense, but "ties" matter more when you're hiring a brand new lawyer and don't want to risk losing money on them for three years only to have them take their experience and leave. Someone coming back from NY/DC after years of practice will still need to explain the "ties" to Detroit because no one out of the blue says to themselves "I think its a great idea to move to Detroit". But at the lateral stage, its probably better understood that you're coming back because you're sick of the NY/DC rat race and want a better place to raise your family, so ties aren't as critical.

BUT - I'll say this too. I don't know about all the large firms here, but my firm isn't going to generally hire a 6th year or more lateral unless they are bringing a fat book of business. And we probably only hire 4th or 5th year laterals if (1) there is a sudden bump in a particular line of business or (2) more often to replace a 4th or 5th year attorney who left - laterals happen, but I think the firm's preference is to raise up young attorneys from summer associates onwards. In other words, most attorneys join my firm as either summers, partners who lateral in with fat books, or maybe a merger or absorption of a group of lawyers who left one firm to all join ours. Mid-level laterals are rare and on an as-needed basis only. Don't expect us to find a job for you because your pedigree is awesome - you'd have to catch us with a need.

[Crowing]

I live in a secondary market and accepted NYC over offers here because it is much easier to go back then the direction. I'm personally planning to do only a few years in NYC big law and then try to do mid law/boutique in a mid sized market.

I wanted bread, so I bought wheat seeds instead of bread because it's much easier to convert wheat seeds into bread than it is to go the other direction.

180

[dixiecupdrinking]

OP

To those saying that it's easier to go from biglaw to the secondary market, does it change anything if the market that I'm talking about is extremely insular? I don't know if those considerations come into play at the lateral stage, but I had some strong ties and it took quite a lot for me to convince them that I was interested in the market as something other than a backup to NY/DC. Would I get burned potentially down the road by going somewhere else at this point?

If you are talking about biglaw in cities like Detroit, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Milwaukee... then as long as you still have ties to the city you will be fine.

You should either post your basis for knowing this or not post anon, because otherwise one might be liable to think you're spewing potentially damaging advice out of your ass.