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Hi all,

Been a long time since I last posted. I have a question about lateraling. I practice in a very, very niche area of law. I was lucky to have an offer after I graduated from law school (two years ago) in this field of practice. I have two years of practice under my belt, but about four years of involvement in this particular area of law. I currently work at a boutique law firm that practices only in this area of law, which is where I have been the last two years. It is a respected firm in this are of law, but I've been looking to make a move for a while.

Recently, a big law firm that has a small practice group in this area of law posted a job looking for an associate with four years of practice experience. I had three headhunters contact me about this position. I told one of them to submit me, even though I don't have four years under my belt. Anyway, I ended up getting the interview and met with several partners. Everything went well and the headhunter I'm working with said I didn't get dinged. But there's no insight as to what the process is or how long this is going to take, or what the next steps are. It's been over two weeks now, and I'm just trying to get an idea of what other laterals have gone through at big law. What has the timeline been like for you?

I made a similar move from boutique firm to biglaw. I think I got my conflicts check form 2 weeks after the interview. The offer came 2 days after I submitted the conflicts check. Obviously it depends on the firm, but 2 weeks seem to be the norm between interview --> offer (or conflicts check depending on the firm) based on conversations with other people I know who lateraled to another firm.

I'm going through a similar process now, so sorry for the anonymous post. My experience was: submitting application, being contacted for a screening interview about a week later. Next, I had my screener and then heard back about a callback interview about three week later. After my callback interview, I received an offer about 2 weeks later. FWIW, my conflicts check occurred after I received the offer.

I know that the particular position I applied for was listed for a few months. One partner mentioned that he had hoped to fill the position several weeks before my screening interview. I think this slightly expedited the process. Other laterals have told me that their process took between 3-4 months.

I think for most lateral positions, firms are typically fine holding out for several months. They want to wait for applications to trickle in and take their time selecting the best candidate. There's no rush really on their end unless they truly are swamped and need to fill an opening immediately. Having an offer from another firm can usually speed up the process if the firm truly has a strong interest in you. It then becomes a gamble on their part - risk waiting to see if someone better comes along and keep stringing you along or risk offering you the position when someone else could have been a better fit.

If there is interest from the firm, you will receive either an offer or request for follow-up interviews shortly after your previous set of interviews. I've gone through the lateral interview process with over six firms and the timeline to offer/follow-up interview was very quick. If dinged, that was also pretty quick (though there were a few firms that took their sweet time and never followed up--I took that as a soft ding).

Is this technically a lateral?

islandmouse wrote:Hi all,

Been a long time since I last posted. I have a question about lateraling. I practice in a very, very niche area of law. I was lucky to have an offer after I graduated from law school (two years ago) in this field of practice. I have two years of practice under my belt, but about four years of involvement in this particular area of law. I currently work at a boutique law firm that practices only in this area of law, which is where I have been the last two years. It is a respected firm in this are of law, but I've been looking to make a move for a while.

Recently, a big law firm that has a small practice group in this area of law posted a job looking for an associate with four years of practice experience. I had three headhunters contact me about this position. I told one of them to submit me, even though I don't have four years under my belt. Anyway, I ended up getting the interview and met with several partners. Everything went well and the headhunter I'm working with said I didn't get dinged. But there's no insight as to what the process is or how long this is going to take, or what the next steps are. It's been over two weeks now, and I'm just trying to get an idea of what other laterals have gone through at big law. What has the timeline been like for you?

Out of curiosity, can you tell us your specialized practice, and or general region?

bizzike wrote:Out of curiosity, can you tell us your specialized practice, and or general region?

I would tell you the area of practice, but it would probably give away far too much information. There aren't many people who practice in this area of law, which is why I'm hesitant to say the area. So, for now, I'll just say it is very, very niche -- and unusual for a big firm to have a practice group in this area.

It is NYC, btw if that helps any.

Anonymous User wrote:I'm going through a similar process now, so sorry for the anonymous post. My experience was: submitting application, being contacted for a screening interview about a week later. Next, I had my screener and then heard back about a callback interview about three week later. After my callback interview, I received an offer about 2 weeks later. FWIW, my conflicts check occurred after I received the offer.

I know that the particular position I applied for was listed for a few months. One partner mentioned that he had hoped to fill the position several weeks before my screening interview. I think this slightly expedited the process. Other laterals have told me that their process took between 3-4 months.

I think for most lateral positions, firms are typically fine holding out for several months. They want to wait for applications to trickle in and take their time selecting the best candidate. There's no rush really on their end unless they truly are swamped and need to fill an opening immediately. Having an offer from another firm can usually speed up the process if the firm truly has a strong interest in you. It then becomes a gamble on their part - risk waiting to see if someone better comes along and keep stringing you along or risk offering you the position when someone else could have been a better fit.

Thanks for this. Overall, my experience with this firm is that the process has been slow (from submission to interview). I guess I just have to be a bit more patient.

islandmouse wrote:

bizzike wrote:Out of curiosity, can you tell us your specialized practice, and or general region?

I would tell you the area of practice, but it would probably give away far too much information. There aren't many people who practice in this area of law, which is why I'm hesitant to say the area. So, for now, I'll just say it is very, very niche -- and unusual for a big firm to have a practice group in this area.

It is NYC, btw if that helps any.

Why do you want to jump? Usually people go the other way. There are some real career risks to jumping to a very small, very niche practice group at a BigLaw firm. Make sure you know what you are getting into.

TooOld4This wrote:

islandmouse wrote:

bizzike wrote:Out of curiosity, can you tell us your specialized practice, and or general region?

I would tell you the area of practice, but it would probably give away far too much information. There aren't many people who practice in this area of law, which is why I'm hesitant to say the area. So, for now, I'll just say it is very, very niche -- and unusual for a big firm to have a practice group in this area.

It is NYC, btw if that helps any.

Why do you want to jump? Usually people go the other way. There are some real career risks to jumping to a very small, very niche practice group at a BigLaw firm. Make sure you know what you are getting into.

TooOld4This wrote:

islandmouse wrote:

bizzike wrote:Out of curiosity, can you tell us your specialized practice, and or general region?

I would tell you the area of practice, but it would probably give away far too much information. There aren't many people who practice in this area of law, which is why I'm hesitant to say the area. So, for now, I'll just say it is very, very niche -- and unusual for a big firm to have a practice group in this area.

It is NYC, btw if that helps any.

Why do you want to jump? Usually people go the other way. There are some real career risks to jumping to a very small, very niche practice group at a BigLaw firm. Make sure you know what you are getting into.

FYI I was going to guess admiralty. Prolly goes without saying but I would recommend doing a lot of due diligence in on the firm your joining. In particular, getting intel on the partner you'll be working with almost exclusively. If you like the people you currently work with, use the biglaw for leverage at your current employer if possible.

And along the lines of others being in such a niche practice means you're at the mercy of the partner a) bringing in enough business to sustain you and b) partner not being poached by another firm and not taking you with him. (presumably b might be less of a risk if it's litigation and you have a looong case)

bizzike wrote:

TooOld4This wrote:

islandmouse wrote:

bizzike wrote:Out of curiosity, can you tell us your specialized practice, and or general region?

I would tell you the area of practice, but it would probably give away far too much information. There aren't many people who practice in this area of law, which is why I'm hesitant to say the area. So, for now, I'll just say it is very, very niche -- and unusual for a big firm to have a practice group in this area.

It is NYC, btw if that helps any.

Why do you want to jump? Usually people go the other way. There are some real career risks to jumping to a very small, very niche practice group at a BigLaw firm. Make sure you know what you are getting into.

TooOld4This wrote:

islandmouse wrote:

bizzike wrote:Out of curiosity, can you tell us your specialized practice, and or general region?

I would tell you the area of practice, but it would probably give away far too much information. There aren't many people who practice in this area of law, which is why I'm hesitant to say the area. So, for now, I'll just say it is very, very niche -- and unusual for a big firm to have a practice group in this area.

It is NYC, btw if that helps any.

Why do you want to jump? Usually people go the other way. There are some real career risks to jumping to a very small, very niche practice group at a BigLaw firm. Make sure you know what you are getting into.

FYI I was going to guess admiralty. Prolly goes without saying but I would recommend doing a lot of due diligence in on the firm your joining. In particular, getting intel on the partner you'll be working with almost exclusively. If you like the people you currently work with, use the biglaw for leverage at your current employer if possible.

And along the lines of others being in such a niche practice means you're at the mercy of the partner a) bringing in enough business to sustain you and b) partner not being poached by another firm and not taking you with him. (presumably b might be less of a risk if it's litigation and you have a looong case)

Thanks. It's not admiralty; it's probably even more niche. I did a lot of research on the firm before I interviewed; the firm does have some drawbacks in comparison to other Biglaw firms, however it would likely be a significant increase in salary for me. The practice group itself is well recognized on the national level. But I understand what you are saying about being at the mercy of the partner. The group isn't big, and that's a concern for me as well -- plus it seems to be scattered throughout the US.

int'l trade?

Why do people try and guess the guy's fucking niche. And then do it anonymously.