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Just finished a 2L SA at a V20 firm in NYC/DC after spending 1L summer at a firm in a regional market (the firm was big enough size-wise to qualify as "big law" probably, but most of its office locations are in places most people would associate more with "mid law").

I did almost all litigation at both places, and thought it was interesting how different the practices were. A huge portion of the major market lit practice was the kind of specialized work that is somewhat typical of NYC/DC firms--lots of government/internal investigations, securities class actions, antitrust enforcement, etc. At the smaller market firm, the work revolved more around what I would consider the typical "lawsuit"--breach of contract claims between two companies, defending companies against standard tort claims, insurance coverage disputes, etc.

I enjoyed the major market work and plan on going back to that firm, but at the same time, would like to end up back in the smaller market at some point down the road. Given how different the litigation practices are in those settings, I'm wondering how transferable the major market skills are to the smaller market. In other words, what kind of demand is there from smaller-market lit practices for laterals from major markets who have worked on those kinds of matters that the smaller-market firm probably doesn't see much of? Having done that kind of work, will I find lateral opportunities difficult to come by? Perhaps more generally, how common or easy is it for litigation associates in major markets to move to more "mid law"-like firms in smaller markets?

Anonymous User wrote:Just finished a 2L SA at a V20 firm in NYC/DC after spending 1L summer at a firm in a regional market (the firm was big enough size-wise to qualify as "big law" probably, but most of its office locations are in places most people would associate more with "mid law").

I did almost all litigation at both places, and thought it was interesting how different the practices were. A huge portion of the major market lit practice was the kind of specialized work that is somewhat typical of NYC/DC firms--lots of government/internal investigations, securities class actions, antitrust enforcement, etc. At the smaller market firm, the work revolved more around what I would consider the typical "lawsuit"--breach of contract claims between two companies, defending companies against standard tort claims, insurance coverage disputes, etc.

I enjoyed the major market work and plan on going back to that firm, but at the same time, would like to end up back in the smaller market at some point down the road. Given how different the litigation practices are in those settings, I'm wondering how transferable the major market skills are to the smaller market. In other words, what kind of demand is there from smaller-market lit practices for laterals from major markets who have worked on those kinds of matters that the smaller-market firm probably doesn't see much of? Having done that kind of work, will I find lateral opportunities difficult to come by? Perhaps more generally, how common or easy is it for litigation associates in major markets to move to more "mid law"-like firms in smaller markets?

Litigation is litigation. The skills you learn at biglaw doing securities, antitrust, white-collar, etc. are skills that are transferable to any type of case, be it a simple breach of K, or a major class action.

In any type of litigation, you need to know how to write well, research effectively, be able to ferret out the relevant facts from the noise, etc. With the exception of highly technical areas like bankruptcy or patent, litigators can (and should be able to) pick up a case cold and run with it.