Biglaw --> midlaw --> in-house Forum

[tls4118]

I'm a corporate associate at a v10 firm in a major market and am considering moving to a smaller market for family reasons. My end goal is to go in-house, preferably at a large company with a sizable legal department. I'm not sure I will be able to find said in-house job in the smaller market right now (as there just aren't that many openings for my seniority level compared to a large city), so I'm also considering going to a regional firm in that area for a couple years until I'm a bit more senior. Let's assume that, again for family reasons, I'm not going to stay in the smaller market for the long term either, so building client relationships in that area won't really be helpful.

My question is - do you think going from midlaw in location A to in-house in location B (where it's unlikely anyone has heard of this mid-sized firm) is much more difficult than going from a reputable biglaw firm? I'll have the v10 firm on my resume, but it won't be where I'll have been hired from, so I'm not sure which one I'll be associated with more. My alternative is to stay at the big law firm, or just wait it out until maybe I can find an in-house job that I like (but I'd rather not do that unless it was that much more beneficial for my career...again, for personal reasons). Thanks!

[jhett]

So your plan is to move to city A first for a few years for family reasons, and then move to city B for family reasons? Is there some reason you can't move to city B directly? If you can just do that, then you can move to a reputable midlaw firm in city B and be able to go in-house easily.

[Anonymous User]

So your plan is to move to city A first for a few years for family reasons, and then move to city B for family reasons? Is there some reason you can't move to city B directly? If you can just do that, then you can move to a reputable midlaw firm in city B and be able to go in-house easily.

But just assume the moves are going to happen. Will the fact that I started off in biglaw help me with getting in house jobs or will employers wonder why I went to a smaller/regional firm they hadn’t heard of?

[jhett]

But just assume the moves are going to happen. Will the fact that I started off in biglaw help me with getting in house jobs or will employers wonder why I went to a smaller/regional firm they hadn’t heard of?

As long as you have a valid explanation for your moves, it won't be too much of an issue. Moving because of family reasons is usually an accepted reason. Having a biglaw name helps, but there any plenty of in-house folks who come from small and midlaw firms. What's more important is that your skills and experience line up with what they are looking more.