Transferring Offices in BigLaw Forum

[Anonymous User]

I would really appreciate any advice - anecdotal or otherwise - regarding how I can best position myself to transfer offices due to a fiancé's career change. The firm is a V50 and I will be summering in the HQ office in a secondary market. I have heard of people summering in DC-NY and then starting at the other office. However, these markets are a lot more related than the 2 I am concerned with - midwest secondary HQ market vs. the DC office (although of a comparable size). I go to school in DC and will also be here for 2 more years.

I will be summering with them starting in May. Is there anything I can do now or this summer to best position myself for a transfer? I know taking on work from DC practice areas obvious, but anything more specific would be great. Any way I can put myself in a position to meet people in the DC office or clerk for them over the school year since I go to school in DC - does this ever happen? I'm afraid disclosing that my fiancé will be in another city may jeopardize my chances for an offer at the end of this summer, so how and when do I approach the topic?

[Anonymous User]

Anon because this would out me.

I was in a very similar situation, and I personally felt most comfortable being honest about my SO's whereabouts/employment. Just do good work, make an impression on the office where you summer, and you'll get an offer. After you get the offer, bring up the transfer. In my case, I had to interview with the new office - but I think the bar is lower than it would be for a true callback.

[Anonymous User]

Anon because this would out me.

I was in a very similar situation, and I personally felt most comfortable being honest about my SO's whereabouts/employment. Just do good work, make an impression on the office where you summer, and you'll get an offer. After you get the offer, bring up the transfer. In my case, I had to interview with the new office - but I think the bar is lower than it would be for a true callback.

Thank you so much for your reply - its good to hear it may be a possibility because I really like the firm. Do you mind telling me whether you did a secondary-primary market transfer or whether it was more along the lines of NYC-DC?

[DELG]

sorta doubt you'll have the option of working with anyone from the DC office as a summer, just because summers don't have a ton of control over that kind of stuff

i know people who started in a different office than they summered in, but DC is such a highly sought-after market, this might not work out. especially not if it's the firm i am assuming it is, that has a super selective DC office and i assume can't attract the same talent to its small town midwest office.

[Anonymous User]

Curious too, I am in the same situation.
I am actually pretty happy with the city I am gonna summer (secondary market ), and I love the firm a lot.. however, most of my classmates will summer at DC-NY, now I feel left out

[Anonymous User]

I was in the same boat last year. Real quick - is it to late to bring up splitting your summer between the two offices you are considering? In retrospect, I wish I had done that after I got my summer offer, but I was too afraid of bringing it up and jeopardizing my chances at an offer in the office I was set to summer in, so I kept quiet.
After the summer, I got an offer to go back to the secondary market office I summered in (I am originally from outside this city). I was super excited bc I really loved everyone at the firm and the work and everything about the experience overall. But I realized I really wanted to be in another city (major market, but my v50 firm only had a small office there). Anyway I talked to the recruiting people from the office I summered in and said I really want to be in this other city in the long term, could I start there or would it be possible to transfer out there at some point. They got back to me and said they could make it work, and I went out to the other office for a meet and greet/approval 'interview' thing and all went well and I will be starting in this office that I did not summer in. I am very grateful that the people at my firm were able to accommodate my preferences. This is anecdotal, but at least it could give you some hope that it's possible (especially at these huge national/international firms with offices everywhere)

[Anonymous User]

I was in the same boat last year. Real quick - is it to late to bring up splitting your summer between the two offices you are considering? In retrospect, I wish I had done that after I got my summer offer, but I was too afraid of bringing it up and jeopardizing my chances at an offer in the office I was set to summer in, so I kept quiet.
After the summer, I got an offer to go back to the secondary market office I summered in (I am originally from outside this city). I was super excited bc I really loved everyone at the firm and the work and everything about the experience overall. But I realized I really wanted to be in another city (major market, but my v50 firm only had a small office there). Anyway I talked to the recruiting people from the office I summered in and said I really want to be in this other city in the long term, could I start there or would it be possible to transfer out there at some point. They got back to me and said they could make it work, and I went out to the other office for a meet and greet/approval 'interview' thing and all went well and I will be starting in this office that I did not summer in. I am very grateful that the people at my firm were able to accommodate my preferences. This is anecdotal, but at least it could give you some hope that it's possible (especially at these huge national/international firms with offices everywhere)

Thanks for the advice. Question : do you think I should bring up transferring office now or after next summer when I get the offer to go back?

[Anonymous User]

I was in the same boat last year. Real quick - is it to late to bring up splitting your summer between the two offices you are considering? In retrospect, I wish I had done that after I got my summer offer, but I was too afraid of bringing it up and jeopardizing my chances at an offer in the office I was set to summer in, so I kept quiet.

I'm glad everything worked out for you!

I'm not sure about how to go about splitting a summer after accepting an offer. I think this would be preferable in terms of securing an offer from the DC office but also afraid of jeopardizing my chances of an offer at the end of the summer before getting the chance to impress them. Has anyone had experience with this?

[Anonymous User]

I was in the same boat last year. Real quick - is it to late to bring up splitting your summer between the two offices you are considering? In retrospect, I wish I had done that after I got my summer offer, but I was too afraid of bringing it up and jeopardizing my chances at an offer in the office I was set to summer in, so I kept quiet.
After the summer, I got an offer to go back to the secondary market office I summered in (I am originally from outside this city). I was super excited bc I really loved everyone at the firm and the work and everything about the experience overall. But I realized I really wanted to be in another city (major market, but my v50 firm only had a small office there). Anyway I talked to the recruiting people from the office I summered in and said I really want to be in this other city in the long term, could I start there or would it be possible to transfer out there at some point. They got back to me and said they could make it work, and I went out to the other office for a meet and greet/approval 'interview' thing and all went well and I will be starting in this office that I did not summer in. I am very grateful that the people at my firm were able to accommodate my preferences. This is anecdotal, but at least it could give you some hope that it's possible (especially at these huge national/international firms with offices everywhere)

Thanks for the advice. Question : do you think I should bring up transferring office now or after next summer when I get the offer to go back?

Separate Anon.

Right now might not be a bad time to discuss the possibility of summering in the different office, although I'm uncertain how this would play out (especially if the office you'll be in or the one to which you hope to transfer has a relatively small summer class). But it is no doubt better for them to have an idea of where they'll be fall 2016, if this is a firm that consistently offers most/all of its SAs full-time positions.

If you want to see if it's a possibility, I recommend making clear that your staying with the firm is not contingent on the switch—that it is something you had hoped to explore, given an unanticipated change in your circumstances.

Based on my experience, it might be equally fruitful for you to wait until you've received your full-time offer, and then to disclose your desire and reasons (diplomatically—no need to include loads of detail). If the firm is as supportive as mine, you may be able to transfer your offer without issue. My experience is below.

I summered in an office of a V10, and over the course of the 11 months that separated my getting the SA spot and my receiving the full-time offer, decided that being in a different office/city was the right choice for me. I was incredibly fortunate to have a very supportive firm—although this was a serious moral conflict for me (I felt and continue to feel indebted to the people in the office and the relationships I had built)—and my offer was transferred to the main office. Everyone with whom I've interacted from the new (to me) location has been terrific and welcoming. I hope you have a similar experience.

[Anonymous User]

Anon because this would out me.

I was in a very similar situation, and I personally felt most comfortable being honest about my SO's whereabouts/employment. Just do good work, make an impression on the office where you summer, and you'll get an offer. After you get the offer, bring up the transfer. In my case, I had to interview with the new office - but I think the bar is lower than it would be for a true callback.

Thank you so much for your reply - its good to hear it may be a possibility because I really like the firm. Do you mind telling me whether you did a secondary-primary market transfer or whether it was more along the lines of NYC-DC?

Mine was more along the lines of NYC-DC. It looks like a lot of people on this thread had similar experiences. I hope it works out for you as well!

[Anonymous User]

Anon because this would out me.

I was in a very similar situation, and I personally felt most comfortable being honest about my SO's whereabouts/employment. Just do good work, make an impression on the office where you summer, and you'll get an offer. After you get the offer, bring up the transfer. In my case, I had to interview with the new office - but I think the bar is lower than it would be for a true callback.

Thank you so much for your reply - its good to hear it may be a possibility because I really like the firm. Do you mind telling me whether you did a secondary-primary market transfer or whether it was more along the lines of NYC-DC?

Mine was more along the lines of NYC-DC. It looks like a lot of people on this thread had similar experiences. I hope it works out for you as well!

Same anon from above. Also wanted to say - it's obviously in your favor to try to split offices over the summer, but it is not in the firm's. So tread carefully if you ask to split between offices. If you don't try to split and wait for the offer at the end of the summer (what I did), at least you may have an offer to fall back on or with which to enter 3L interview season (firms will definitely ask if you received an offer).

[XxSpyKEx]

I'd be cautious about asking to split the summer with the DC office. It seems like a sure fire way to get no-offered from the secondary market's office, because it shows lack of commitment to that area, and these secondary market biglaw offices are crazy about ties and commitment to their market. Obviously, it helps that the firm has an office in DC, but the attorneys in the secondary market's office may not have the mentality that its basically all the same big firm and that it doesn't matter that you summered at their office but want to work at the DC office.