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I have been a government attorney for 8 years, and am now looking to break into some of the larger law firms in my midwestern city. My experience is as a felony prosecutor and state court judicial law clerk, and I come from a pretty decent academic background in both college and law school.

I have submitted resumes to some firms recently and two of them want to set up lunch meetings with hiring partners. Such an informal initial meeting is very different than how recruiting went back when I did OCI. Is that a red flag that the firms arent that serious about considering me? Or is such a setup somewhat common for mid-career moves like mine?

I don't see why they'd waste their time, even a working lunch, if they weren't at least interested. They might be trying to feel out whether you are serious.