Rising 3rd year corp associate wanting to lateral to London Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm going to be a 3rd year in September (class of 2017) and am admitted in NY. Working in big law doing cap markets work with a lot of 144A and Reg S offerings, which I understand is what is also done in London. Hoping to move there sometime this year or right after bonus in January and continue doing similar high yield cap markets deals. I've scoured through all of the london related posts in this forum and a lot of it has proved valuable but wanted to start a new discussion:

Can people with experience chime in on various firms in the market and their reputation?
How is it like to tranisition as a 3rd year and how did it compare with your experience in the US in terms of deal flow and responsibility?
What were the biggest differences?

Spoke to a recruiter today who said it would be unusual to have a firm pick me up this late in the year and willing to pay out my full bonus. This contradicts with stories I've heard of people in similar positions getting up to a $100k signing bonus to move out there. I understand that COLA vary firm to firm and can range from $40k - $100k on top of normal cravath scale. Will I be better-off trying to solicit interest from firms on my own?

[LaLiLuLeLo]

I don’t think it’d be unusual for a firm to pay your full bonus at all. However, that’s easier to negotiate when you aren’t using a recruiter or going through an associate since that adds how much the firm has to pay for you.

From my experience, I would not lateral without my bonus guaranteed. I did not agree to prorated hours or anything. But, it depends on your circumstances and negotiation (and their need).

[Anonymous User]

I don’t think it’d be unusual for a firm to pay your full bonus at all. However, that’s easier to negotiate when you aren’t using a recruiter or going through an associate since that adds how much the firm has to pay for you.

From my experience, I would not lateral without my bonus guaranteed. I did not agree to prorated hours or anything. But, it depends on your circumstances and negotiation (and their need).

yea i was a bit off put by the recruiter's response and was thinking it might be the fact that the recruiter will get a hefty amount for placing me. The recruiter essentially told me they would contact me again in late September to check in. However, I am all for an honest recruiter rather than have one over-promise or send me resume around without authorization to lock me into a firm. I am thinking I should try my luck networking and cold emailing recruiting offices of US firms in London and seeing if they have any need. I feel like my experience is pretty strong given that I pretty much do a lot of the same work already but with NY training. Grades are not the best but went to a t6.

[Anonymous User]

Your NY experience of 144A/Reg S is better than many potential laterals but (unless you already worked on lots of cross border deals) you will still have 'missing pieces' for the London market becasue you will be unused to the structuring,collateral and bankruptcy points where the Issuer is operating in multiple European jurisdictions. It's not a deal breaker at your level but people will want to see a willingness to get up the curve on that stuff pretty quickly.

It's also not been a super-busy year for European Debt Cap Markets, because the loan market is hot and most deals have gone there instead, so I don't think you will find that teams are desperate to hire. However, if you are coming from a peer firm in NY, people will likely take a good look at your CV. But I'm not sure it's currently a market environment where your full bonus will automatically get paid out in full - that would make you an expensive hire and might make you less desirable than other candidates.

For US cap markets in London, Latham is biggest team and on the most deals (both issuer and underwriters' counsel). Other top tier practices are Simpson and Kirkland (issuer side in both cases), then Millbank, Weil and Shearman. The UK firms are usually looking - Freshfield, A&O, Clifford Chance - but I would guess much less likely to pay out the bonus.

[Anonymous User]

Your NY experience of 144A/Reg S is better than many potential laterals but (unless you already worked on lots of cross border deals) you will still have 'missing pieces' for the London market becasue you will be unused to the structuring,collateral and bankruptcy points where the Issuer is operating in multiple European jurisdictions. It's not a deal breaker at your level but people will want to see a willingness to get up the curve on that stuff pretty quickly.

It's also not been a super-busy year for European Debt Cap Markets, because the loan market is hot and most deals have gone there instead, so I don't think you will find that teams are desperate to hire. However, if you are coming from a peer firm in NY, people will likely take a good look at your CV. But I'm not sure it's currently a market environment where your full bonus will automatically get paid out in full - that would make you an expensive hire and might make you less desirable than other candidates.

For US cap markets in London, Latham is biggest team and on the most deals (both issuer and underwriters' counsel). Other top tier practices are Simpson and Kirkland (issuer side in both cases), then Millbank, Weil and Shearman. The UK firms are usually looking - Freshfield, A&O, Clifford Chance - but I would guess much less likely to pay out the bonus.

Thank you so much for this insight, as that all makes sense. I'm generally avoiding the magic circle UK firms as my understanding is they do not pay as much with respect to the COLA either and that $ adjustment is a significant factor in me moving to London. Noted on the cross-boarder point and I will try to beef up my resume by getting on a few more of those transactions here in the interim if possible.

[SighYield]

Worked in London for a US biglaw shop in their HY team. Feel free to PM if you want more info / introductions.

[CHEESEISLYFE]

Please PM me too. Similar situation as above. Thanks.

[CHEESEISLYFE]

I'm sorry - my account won't allow me to respond re PM, only receive. I think I need to have more posts. If I pass that threshold, I will respond; thanks.

[Anonymous User]

Wouldn't it be wise to see what Brexit does to the UK economy before deciding to move there?

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to go about trying to lateral on your own? Do I just reach out to partners in the london offices directly and introduce my self and say I am interested in their firm and relocating to london? Attach my resume and provide my contact info? The US lawyer market in London seems pretty small so I don't want to screw anything up. I do have classmates at one or two firms there, so I could try to get them to pass on my resume too. Ideally I would like to move this year and have the firm pay out at least the market rate portion of my 2nd year bonus (25k, and I'd leave about 10k on the table for my above-market portion).