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I've been practicing for almost a year in insurance defense and coverage. Looking to trade up from my 10 person firm to biglaw or a bigger firm in a year or two.

Has anyone been successful in going from a small firm to biglaw? Do biglaw firms hire midlevel associates from small firms? What do they look for in those candidates? How is the transition to biglaw?

The firm that I'm going to next year is around a 20 person insurance coverage firm. We had 2 people leave for a big firm while I was there over the summer. I think they were both around fifth year associates though and I'm not sure how common it is.

I went from a mid-size firm to biglaw as a mid-level, so it is doable. But I returned to the mid-size firm in a matter of months due to job dissatisfaction.

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Anonymous User wrote:I went from a mid-size firm to biglaw as a mid-level, so it is doable. But I returned to the mid-size firm in a matter of months due to job dissatisfaction.

This. We (mid-size) get a lot of biglaw laterals that can't move over here fast enough.

JusticeJackson wrote:At my biglaw firm they hired a really attractive female associate from a small insurance defense firm. She doesn't do good work and no one will admit to being the one that decided to hire her.

LOL

Anonymous User wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:I went from a mid-size firm to biglaw as a mid-level, so it is doable. But I returned to the mid-size firm in a matter of months due to job dissatisfaction.

This. We (mid-size) get a lot of biglaw laterals that can't move over here fast enough.

I am the mid-size returner above. Yeah, I'd be careful about switching from a smaller firm to true biglaw. I was/am at a firm that I previously thought was biglaw, especially since it pays market and is nationally known. But then I moved a V25 1000+ attorney firm. The cultural differences were stark, and I was surprised that my midsize place did substantially higher quality work and had much more work in my practice area. My responsibility levels went way down and I felt like a minion, but my stress levels went through the roof at the biglaw firm, even though my hours were lower and I had less responsibility. Cultural fit is unfortunately ambiguous, but is extremely important, particularly for those at firms for the long haul.

I think its more doable if you start off at a boutique doing something highly specialized. There are boutiques in niche fields that compete with large firms for business.

Anonymous User wrote:
I am the mid-size returner above. Yeah, I'd be careful about switching from a smaller firm to true biglaw. I was/am at a firm that I previously thought was biglaw, especially since it pays market and is nationally known. But then I moved a V25 1000+ attorney firm. The cultural differences were stark, and I was surprised that my midsize place did substantially higher quality work and had much more work in my practice area. My responsibility levels went way down and I felt like a minion, but my stress levels went through the roof at the biglaw firm, even though my hours were lower and I had less responsibility. Cultural fit is unfortunately ambiguous, but is extremely important, particularly for those at firms for the long haul.

How bad were your hours at the midsize place that they got better at the BL firm?

TheSpanishMain wrote:

Anonymous User wrote:
I am the mid-size returner above. Yeah, I'd be careful about switching from a smaller firm to true biglaw. I was/am at a firm that I previously thought was biglaw, especially since it pays market and is nationally known. But then I moved a V25 1000+ attorney firm. The cultural differences were stark, and I was surprised that my midsize place did substantially higher quality work and had much more work in my practice area. My responsibility levels went way down and I felt like a minion, but my stress levels went through the roof at the biglaw firm, even though my hours were lower and I had less responsibility. Cultural fit is unfortunately ambiguous, but is extremely important, particularly for those at firms for the long haul.

How bad were your hours at the midsize place that they got better at the BL firm?

Well, the problem was that I couldn't get enough work at the biglaw firm-annualized I would guess 1500-1600ish if the pace continued, and that was with me doing whatever work I could find including stuff that was barely stuff you'd give to first year associates and some of it was even outside of my practice area. My hours at the midsize have typically been in the 2000-2200 range, but that was with me being proactive about protecting my nights and weekends as much as possible and taking a LOT of vacation every year, as I had at least a trial a year thrown in there.