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Considering a lateral move; biglaw in secondary market. The position is open because someone left (not fired, according to another associate at firm at least). I figured out who it was and kind of want to call the guy who left to hear his thoughts on the position, not specifically why he left but hoping it'll come up. Has anyone done this? Was it helpful?

I did. The guy was super cagey and it was just awkward.

It won't hurt to try probably . . . But if it were me you were calling, I probably wouldn't want to (a) directly, if at all, say anything negative to a stranger on a cold call (i.e., you may not get the full/honest picture); or (b) spend the time to give open and thoughtful insight to a stranger on a cold call. It's one thing to be at a networking or alumni event, but cold calling people is just awkward and inconvenient.

It will likely be awkward and not super sincere, but that being said, you can probably still force out of him a bit of insight on the kind of stuff you work on, office hours, etc. if you keep it quick. I doubt it'll be anything super worth it though.