Lateral Timing Question - Post Clerkship Forum

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thelittlekicks

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Lateral Timing Question - Post Clerkship

Post by thelittlekicks » Fri May 17, 2019 4:20 pm

Duke/NW/Cornell grad, currently clerking at a district court in a secondary market. Had a few years of biglaw experience before that in the same area, but not interested in returning to my old firm. Am currently looking to make a move to NYC (husband got a job there, but is deferring his start date for a few months b/c of a family situation we have).

I'm in a bit of a predicament and was curious whether there are certain times of the year that are better than others to lateral. My clerkship isn't set to end until October 2019. The problem is, I have a terminally ill family member that I take care of. Doctors have told me that they have about 10 months left. It's been really rough and I know I don't have much more time with them, so I want to stay in my area as long as possible. My family member is actually quite upset with me and wants me to prioritize finding a job first. Fortunately, my judge is super flexible and will let me leave early/stay longer as needed and my thought was to stay until March/April 2020.

Since I want to maximize my time with my family, I've been applying to some firms by emailing recruiting directors, but when I mention that my clerkship won't end until early 2020, they all tell me that it's just too early and they don't know what their needs will be at this time.

Long story short is, how difficult is it to lateral in around March 2020 as opposed to Oct. 2019? I've got some recruiters blowing my phone up telling me that the lateral market for midlevels is really hot right now and to strike now. I won't lie, it would be really really nice to have a job lined up and focus on my family/clerkship without spending time on the job hunt (which is really time consuming) and have some extra money to help defray healthcare costs.

I know it's a very subjective question with no right answer, but I was wondering for those who have lateraled, whether it will put me at an extreme disadvantage to tell employers I can't start working until early next year as opposed to late fall.

I really appreciate anyone's advice they can throw my ways. Thank you.

beeoBoop

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Re: Lateral Timing Question - Post Clerkship

Post by beeoBoop » Fri May 17, 2019 6:34 pm

From a hiring/firm perspective and in my experience, it's totally firm dependant since firms hire based on need. So it's not really a seasonal thing.

That said, the general thinking/repeated word around here is that if associates are moving they move after bonuses are paid, so early into the year. I don't know how true this is so I can't speak to it but I thought I'd pass it along nonetheless.

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