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I have an interview upcoming at Sunstein Kann in Boston and I am wondering if anyone here knows much about them. I did see that they lost 7 people to Nutter McClennen in the fall but can anyone comment on firm culture, etc? Are there better firms to target?

I have an engineering background, 2018 JD and transitioning from a different career. Interested in IP law, also waiting on results from a Trademark Examiner interview at the PTO.

Thanks for any intel!

What is it that you are looking for in an associateship? Best pay? Reasonable hours? Exit options/prestige? Type of work?

Well, I am not in a position to go through the meat grinder of BigLaw (not in my 20s and need some work/life balance). The main goal is to get the entry-level legal experience to go with my technical work experience. Good pay doesn't hurt either, though! lol

I did evening law school with really no ability to do the traditional summer jobs, etc so I do have lower expectations than most of the people here, probably.

In Boston, much of the IP scene goes through large firms. If you’re actually completely opposed to that, then yeah—sunstein is a decent place to get your feet wet.

Thanks for the intel about large firms, may need to reset expectations. I lived in Boston for a lot of my life but have been in Hartford for quite some time now. Trying to figure out where I fit in as much as anything else.

Should I be worried that those people left? Or is that just a good career move for them? It does seem that Boston has become the "in" place to be lately... or at least the articles I read say that. Are there other firms at this mid-level that I should look at? There's a few in CT that I have checked out but it feels like Boston is a better opportunity... given that I grew up there and CT is in tough shape fiscally..

xmgr wrote:Should I be worried that those people left? Or is that just a good career move for them? It does seem that Boston has become the "in" place to be lately... or at least the articles I read say that. Are there other firms at this mid-level that I should look at? There's a few in CT that I have checked out but it feels like Boston is a better opportunity... given that I grew up there and CT is in tough shape fiscally..

I don’t know you or your circumstances or your credentials or anything else. That said, if I were you and I had the opportunity to hit it at a big firm with a legit office in boston (Morgan Lewis, Goodwin, Wilmer, etc.) I would just go for it. You’ve likely anecdotally heard a lot about biglaw which may or may not be true to your situation. That said, the most important support for my advice is that if you dont like biglaw, you can always go to a sunstein or a sweet in-house position. It’s much easier to get the job that you’ll eventually realize you want from a biglaw firm than from anything else. My view: don’t sell yourself short by automatically excluding biglaw opportunities in that large secondary market.

I was in the middle of an evening class at a law school that is just in the top 50. It is true that the BigLaw bias is anecdotally based. What's a good way to get over that? I have been applying to firms that have openings but I wasn't able to do much on the internship or summer front so I am in dire need of entry-level basic legal experience. I have a lot of work experience as an engineer (over 20 years).

I haven't ruled out much (except that I probably won't be leaving the Northeast...) and I know that I should have done this a long time ago, but here I am! I appreciate your insight.