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How difficult is this, assuming i work at a reputable firm that has a nation-wide brand (giving a vault range would likely out the firm since OC is small).

It will be dependent on your practice area, how well you interview, and reputation of your firm. I think it is very possible. Best of luck.

kellyfrost wrote:It will be dependent on your practice area, how well you interview, and reputation of your firm. I think it is very possible. Best of luck.

OP, I'm pretty sure the above poster has never worked at big firm in LA or OC. Which makes his opinion effectively useless


that being said, i'm friends with some of my V50's OC associates. at least one of them came from LA

Anonymous User wrote:

kellyfrost wrote:It will be dependent on your practice area, how well you interview, and reputation of your firm. I think it is very possible. Best of luck.

OP, I'm pretty sure the above poster has never worked at big firm in LA or OC. Which makes his opinion effectively useless


that being said, i'm friends with some of my V50's OC associates. at least one of them came from LA

Can you point out which part of my opinion is incorrect or useless? While you may not value my opinion, which is fine, I don't think that the items I mention are useless. It appears that your friend made the move from LA to OC which is the exact opposite of the move that OP is looking to make, which would make your friend's experience somewhat irrelevant, wouldn't it?

People do lateral between the two markets, I saw it working on either end. It's not an immediate possibility though if you are a junior person since most lateraling between firms occurs after more relevant experience. If your firm has an office in LA, the shorter route would be looking into an intra-firm office move. The explanation could be work preference oriented or personal (e.g. my new fiancee lives in LA now or something). My sense is actually that OC->LA within firms is easier than the other way around since LA offices are larger so there's more flexibility in staffing. This depends on your firm though.

There's nothing unique about lateraling from OC to LA. If a position is open and you are the right candidate, you will get it. I worked in both and it just boils down to what you want to do and how you present yourself. In that sense, this advice is pointless, but have no fear. It's all the same and depends on where you want to practice/live.

Is this even a question worth discussing? Not to say your question is invalid or stupid, OP. I'm just very surprised that the geographic distance between OC and LA would even be an issue, and I'm hoping the answer to this question is the same as "how difficult is it to lateral firms within the same market?"

It's not like you're up and moving across the country, or even the state. They're literally right next to each other. I know people who commute from OC to LA (and vice versa).

iliketurtles123 wrote:Is this even a question worth discussing? Not to say your question is invalid or stupid, OP. I'm just very surprised that the geographic distance between OC and LA would even be an issue, and I'm hoping the answer to this question is the same as "how difficult is it to lateral firms within the same market?"

It's not like you're up and moving across the country, or even the state. They're literally right next to each other. I know people who commute from OC to LA (and vice versa).

On the OC end at least, lawyers tend to be very protective and like to insulate themselves from "those LA people." On top of that, each market has different practice group specialties so there's less professional overlap than you would think.