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Wanting to change markets due to my partner's job. Going to be a summer associate for a firm in NYC (the firm does not have a chicago office), but will want to apply to Chicago firms over the summer/fall? Any information about the timeline of 3L hiring as well as any tips/general advice about the process would be great. Thanks!

Wow, I've been on this forum too long--I was like "why would you be moving to Chicago for a partner at a firm if they don't have an office in Chicago?"

Anyways, the 3L hiring timeline is always a crapshoot because--surprise--there is no official timeline. Assuming you are a big law summer looking to go to Chicago big law, that's a little than if you're going from a small/midsize firm to big law in Chicago (or even vice-versa). I definitely think having a summer position at a law firm is helpful compared to folks who weren't able to secure a legal summer position and are now doing 3L recruiting.

You have an understandable and compelling reason for going to Chicago, but you should still have a spiel of "why Chicago" that doesn't sound like "Because I had to." You should capitalize off of any past experience to market yourself as someone with strong skills that you can bring to X firm, and you should try to get as much experience this summer or find a way to intelligently talk about what you did this summer rather than just "I learned how to save files to our system." This will give you a leg up over others doing 3L recruiting.

Timing-wise, I think most firms will know whether they need to recruit more folks by the end of summer and into spring (either non-offering, getting turned down, or certain practice groups ramping up/down), but you should definitely be doing things during the summer instead of trying to blast out applications at the end of the summer. What you can do before those applications open up may be things like: if you have friends summering in Chicago at firms you have an eye on, maybe ask them to get a sense of whether the firm is busy/looking to hire; if your firm knows you can't stay in NY and you're close with certain folks at the firm, maybe chat with those people about what you can do and maybe they'll put some feelers out with people they know in Chicago; and get in touch with people in Chicago at firms you are interested in and do informational interviews about the firm, feel out if they are busy and are looking to hire. Ultimately, some firms will post either on school job sites or on their own sites that they're recruiting, but I think most of them will not and will approach 3L hiring in a more selective and targeted manner--the key is to be on their radar when they are hiring, so I think doing a lot of talking to people and sending your resume and a thoughtful cover letter to recruiting teams is going to be what gets you there.

Try and get reciprocity access to Chicago area law schools. Law firms might target certain schools with their 3L/entry level hiring. Chicago bar association and Attorney jobs in USA are a good starting place for legal job postings. Best of luck!

For most practice areas, I would venture that Kirkland is by far your best bet based purely on numbers. We seem to love hiring people from NY firms and also just need a lot of juniors. If interested, I would reach out to a young-ish partner or two in your group of choice to grab coffee whenever you're in Chicago and explain your situation and why you think K&E would be a good fit.

This advice probably applies to other large firms too, but it's been particularly effective at K&E from what I've seen.