What's the Iowa legal market like? Forum

[Jalapeno2]

I'm an associate in V5 biglaw. I'm considering trying to move to a firm in Iowa, where I have strong ties, in the next year or two. There's information on associate salaries elsewhere on TLS, but I'd be glad to hear any other advice or information y'all have for someone in my position. Are there any firms I should be gunning for or avoiding (in terms of culture, clients, work, partnership prospects, etc.)? How much credit should I expect for my time in biglaw? Any tips on moving from large to small markets in general? Thanks!

[Anonymous User]

I am in biglaw but pretty familiar with the Iowa market. By Iowa, I will assume you mean Des Moines. The market for midlaw outside of that is very small, but still existing, in a place like Cedar Rapids or Iowa City - think Simmons Perrine or Shuttleworth & Ingersoll.

In DSM, Belin McCormick pays top of market and AFAIK no one is very close to them in comp. I have heard varying things about what it's like to practice there. Belin has an eat what you kill structure for its partners
which flows down to associate life in the expected ways. I think Belin associates also bill a lot more than most other DSM lawyers and it's closer to a biglaw lifestyle.

The biglaw-iest Iowa firm is probably Nyemaster Goode, and DSM is adding more offices from bigger firms with regional, if not national, presences - like Dorsey & Whitney, Faegre, Frederikson & Byron to name a few.

Salary-wise, most of these places are starting first years around 100k (with compression after that). I think Nyemaster and Simmons are 95k, Faegre is 115k, and the others are in that mix - with the exception of Belin, which was 140k a couple years ago and may be higher now. I think it's now 150k but unsure.

In terms of credit, it depends how senior you are. The local firms are generally on 5 year partnerships tracks, so if you have more than that in biglaw but have never been a partner, there's a good chance they'll bring you on as an associate with a 1-2 year partnership ramp-up. I don't know for sure, but I think some of the bigger firms with DSM presences (read: Faegre, etc.) would have longer partner tracks and may treat that differently.

[Jalapeno2]

Thanks! Any idea on the cultures or type of work or anything at the non-Belin firms? Belin seems Des Moines’s mini-Wachtell from what I’ve heard and would probably be the first choice but given its small size I’m not counting on it.

[JOThompson]

Not as chill as you might think. Many of the younger attorneys in Des Moines firms think they are a big deal, like it is New York City. But still I would much rather work in DSM than in Chicago, Minneapolis, etc. in terms of work-life balance and office culture.

[Iowahawk]

I'm not an attorney in Iowa, but I'm another Iowa native. Pretty much everyone from a T14 that goes to a firm in Des Moines goes to Belin I think but there are a couple at Faegre too. My friend who worked at Belin for a summer had very positive things to say about it. Faegre just merged and looks like it's hiring quickly. Davis Brown's Glassdoor makes it sound like it's not a great place to work, but small sample sizes being what they are I don't know how much to read into it. In any case I'm sure you'll get an offer at Belin or Faegre so there's no reason to take the pay cut.

[Anonymous User]

I'm an associate in V5 biglaw. I'm considering trying to move to a firm in Iowa, where I have strong ties, in the next year or two. There's information on associate salaries elsewhere on TLS, but I'd be glad to hear any other advice or information y'all have for someone in my position. Are there any firms I should be gunning for or avoiding (in terms of culture, clients, work, partnership prospects, etc.)? How much credit should I expect for my time in biglaw? Any tips on moving from large to small markets in general? Thanks!

Not in Iowa, but a nearby state. The salaries are going to be much lower than you're used to. I don't know if any Iowa firms even start at $100k, and obviously the progression thereafter will be very condensed.

There are not a lot of opportunities there, so it's more a matter of waiting for something to open up. If you have ties to the legal community, or even if you don't, it may be helpful to let HR in the bigger firms know that if an opportunity opens up they should reach out to you

Good luck

[JOThompson]

I'm not an attorney in Iowa, but I'm another Iowa native. Pretty much everyone from a T14 that goes to a firm in Des Moines goes to Belin I think but there are a couple at Faegre too. My friend who worked at Belin for a summer had very positive things to say about it. Faegre just merged and looks like it's hiring quickly. Davis Brown's Glassdoor makes it sound like it's not a great place to work, but small sample sizes being what they are I don't know how much to read into it. In any case I'm sure you'll get an offer at Belin or Faegre so there's no reason to take the pay cut.

I don't work in Iowa anymore but I went to school there. About five of my classmates are at Davis Brown and they seem to enjoy it. They're not the type to mute their criticism, and I've never heard a negative thing about it from them. I know a guy who moved from Faegre to Davis Brown and he seems content there too.

[Anonymous User]

I'm an associate in V5 biglaw. I'm considering trying to move to a firm in Iowa, where I have strong ties, in the next year or two. There's information on associate salaries elsewhere on TLS, but I'd be glad to hear any other advice or information y'all have for someone in my position. Are there any firms I should be gunning for or avoiding (in terms of culture, clients, work, partnership prospects, etc.)? How much credit should I expect for my time in biglaw? Any tips on moving from large to small markets in general? Thanks!

Not in Iowa, but a nearby state. The salaries are going to be much lower than you're used to. I don't know if any Iowa firms even start at $100k, and obviously the progression thereafter will be very condensed.

There are not a lot of opportunities there, so it's more a matter of waiting for something to open up. If you have ties to the legal community, or even if you don't, it may be helpful to let HR in the bigger firms know that if an opportunity opens up they should reach out to you

Good luck

$100k is around market for major firms in Iowa and the top of the market for starting salaries is $150k. I think you're under the impression that Iowa is much smaller than it is, it's not North Dakota, Des Moines has satellite offices of biglaw and midlaw firms and such.

Edit: accidental anon for this and the following post, this is Jalapeno2 (OP)

[Anonymous User]

I'm not an attorney in Iowa, but I'm another Iowa native. Pretty much everyone from a T14 that goes to a firm in Des Moines goes to Belin I think but there are a couple at Faegre too. My friend who worked at Belin for a summer had very positive things to say about it. Faegre just merged and looks like it's hiring quickly. Davis Brown's Glassdoor makes it sound like it's not a great place to work, but small sample sizes being what they are I don't know how much to read into it. In any case I'm sure you'll get an offer at Belin or Faegre so there's no reason to take the pay cut.

I don't work in Iowa anymore but I went to school there. About five of my classmates are at Davis Brown and they seem to enjoy it. They're not the type to mute their criticism, and I've never heard a negative thing about it from them. I know a guy who moved from Faegre to Davis Brown and he seems content there too.

This is useful information, thank you to both of you.

[Iowahawk]

I'm an associate in V5 biglaw. I'm considering trying to move to a firm in Iowa, where I have strong ties, in the next year or two. There's information on associate salaries elsewhere on TLS, but I'd be glad to hear any other advice or information y'all have for someone in my position. Are there any firms I should be gunning for or avoiding (in terms of culture, clients, work, partnership prospects, etc.)? How much credit should I expect for my time in biglaw? Any tips on moving from large to small markets in general? Thanks!

Not in Iowa, but a nearby state. The salaries are going to be much lower than you're used to. I don't know if any Iowa firms even start at $100k, and obviously the progression thereafter will be very condensed.

There are not a lot of opportunities there, so it's more a matter of waiting for something to open up. If you have ties to the legal community, or even if you don't, it may be helpful to let HR in the bigger firms know that if an opportunity opens up they should reach out to you

Good luck

I agree with OP that this sounds like bad advice (and not just on salary). Since OP isn't looking to move immediately this probably isn't bad advice for them in particular, but for anyone else reading this thread in the future, I doubt that sophisticated firms of the sort a V5 associate would be looking at can't make space for a lateral they want (except for maybe Weinhardt, which is tiny). The legal market just isn't that small.

[Anonymous User]

Faegre's Des Moines office has very high leverage for the market: 10 partners, 7 of counsel, and 19 associates. Many of the partners are laterals who did not rise through the ranks. That's because the partnership track is the longest in Des Moines and you compete with attorneys in Minneapolis, etc. for partnership due to the structure of the firm. It pays more to associates than Davis Brown or Nyemaster (though still significantly less than Belin), but for (personal) long-term prospects it's potentially a less attractive firm to practice at. The office is heavily focused on litigation, though it does have a corporate presence. The litigation and employment practices are first-class but obviously do more satellite work than comparable firms in Des Moines.

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone familiar with the market have any predictions for the direction of the litigation landscape? Particularly interested in the future of Belin with Matt McDermott gone to the Iowa Supreme Court and Steve Locher soon-to-be gone to the Southern District. Also curious about whether any of the out-of-state firms will make a serious play for non-satellite business and the direction of the Weinhardt Law Firm.