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I'm a c/o 2016 graduate who just finished my first year at a regional office of a V10 after a year-long district court clerkship, meaning I'm a third-year associate come January. I've recently decided that I want to leave for a lit/trial boutique, whether in my current market (think Houston, Charlotte, Dallas, etc.) or home market in the south. I'd like to start putting in applications now with the hopes of making the transition sooner rather than later. I'm at a bit of a loss regarding how to go about making this move. A few questions:

1) Assuming no connections at the firms I know I want to target, is it best to just submit my application directly (if so, to whom?) or work with a recruiter? Some of these boutiques have less than 10 lawyers, if that matters.

2) About recruiters: How do you find a good one? How do you know they're good? What is the process like for retaining a recruiter (can you work only with them, and not apply solo? If so, for how long usually?) Can you sign on with different recruiters for different markets at the same time? What exactly do they do for you?

3) What else should I know?

1) Like most attorney responses -- it depends. If all the recruiter is going to be doing is emailing/submitting your resume cold, you are better off applying on your own as firms do not like to pay the recruiter's fees. Talk to the recruiter first and try to gauge how much they actually know someone at the firm you are applying too to see if applying through them will actually make a difference.

2) Legal recruiters are hit or miss and it's tough to find a "good" one. Best advice is find someone you trust who has used a recruiter that can give you a referral. Other than that, look for recruiters from reputable firms and ask as many questions as you can. Generally, recruiters expect you are not going to use another recruiter for the market they will be applying for you, but something you should clarify beforehand.

3) While you have impressive credentials, expect the lateral process to take longer than you expect, especially if you are looking to go to a boutique. Most boutiques do not have "traditional" associate hiring practices like you may be used to at a big firm, and most of a boutique's hiring is done based upon referrals/relationships when they are faced with an extraordinary workload.