First-year been asked to leave. How do I move forward? Forum

[Anonymous User]

I graduated bottom 25% of my class from a T2 school back in May but got my job through networking.

I started at a v100 firm in a major high cost of living market (think NYC/SF) in October. My group is pretty specialize. I have 2 partners and 2 other associates I work with on a daily basis. The reason why I’m being let go is because my work isn’t living up to expectations. They’re giving me 4 months of website time. My partner refused to act as a reference for any job application.

My grades aren’t great and I don’t have that 2 year experience a lot of firms want in laterals for my practice group. Should I look at regional firms since Biglaw seems out of the picture? Would it be harder for me to get back into Biglaw if I went to a regional firm?

Any other advice is welcomed.

[kaiser]

No need to artificially limit your search by not applying to biglaw firms. Might as well apply to both biglaw and more regional firms since you never know what will happen. And if you do end up with a more regional firm, it would probably make a return to biglaw more difficult (nor do most people even want to move from a regional firm to biglaw in most instances, so maybe the datapoints are sort of limited in that respect).

As for how you pitch it, I think you pretty much just have to say that first firm wasn't a great fit for you and/or you were looking to change practice groups ASAP. Lots of people take a mulligan early in their biglaw careers, assuming you have a decent reason for doing so. And you will need to find at least a few folks at your old firm who can serve as references (likely needs to be partner or counsel level), even if not that particular partner. If you have none at all, it will raise a serious red flag to any firm interviewing you.

Of course, the primary goal is to line up a new job ASAP. But you also need to take some time to determine why your performance was not up to expectations. The worst thing you can do is to write it off, and fail to address it going forward. That is the only way to prevent this from happening again going forward.

[2013]

Don’t mention that you are not currently at the firm. You have 4 months to play with. As for firing a first year 4 months into their career, there must be something wrong with your group (financially).

I would apply to biglaw in other cities and say that you’re hoping to relocate and that your practice in your firm isn’t in X or Y city.

I would blanket apply everywhere, geographically speaking.

Unless you want to go to midlaw, don’t settle on it.

Have you looked at any boutiques that have your practice? They’re usually more humane but still have the same caliber as biglaw.

[64Fl]

Don’t mention that you are not currently at the firm. You have 4 months to play with. As for firing a first year 4 months into their career, there must be something wrong with your group (financially).

I think the more obvious answer here is that OP had substantial problems with his or her work product. OP's partner won't even act as a reference, which doesn't even make sense for a firing that was financial.

That being said (1) blanket everywhere, (2) leave your GPA off your resume, and (3) give whatever BS reason you need to for the market (e.g. SO needs to be in SV, I want a different practice group that isn't available here, etc.)

[papermateflair]

The good news for you is that firing first years 6 months in is fairly rare in big law, so most firms won't assume you're being fired as long as you have a good story about why you are looking so early (partner got a job in a different city, moving to be closer to family, didn't get the practice area you want). Like everyone else has said, apply everywhere and give a logical reason for leaving. If you're not getting any bites after a couple of months, then start looking for jobs in the public sector (although it may make sense to start applying for those jobs too, since the timeline for public sector jobs can be quite lengthy).

[Anonymous User]

Don’t mention that you are not currently at the firm. You have 4 months to play with. As for firing a first year 4 months into their career, there must be something wrong with your group (financially).

I think the more obvious answer here is that OP had substantial problems with his or her work product. OP's partner won't even act as a reference, which doesn't even make sense for a firing that was financial.

That being said (1) blanket everywhere, (2) leave your GPA off your resume, and (3) give whatever BS reason you need to for the market (e.g. SO needs to be in SV, I want a different practice group that isn't available here, etc.)

I agree, and if entirely work product based, I’d actually take a step back and reconsider what exactly went wrong with your work product.

Realistically working in biglaw may not be for you and that’s OK, it definitely wasn’t for me and I exited my firm around the same time my first year. If you are personable enough to get biglaw as a bottom 25% T2 grad, honestly there are better roles that may fit your skill set better and can pay as well as biglaw. I’d suggest looking at from a legal side (I) biglaw business development (II) legal startup business development and (iii) legal recruiting. I have friends in all three and it’s six figure comp with less hours. If you look outside of biglaw, tech b2b sales crush it.

[Zackattack341]

Posted before but I don't think it went through:

I don't have any specific advice for OP, other than to tell you that I'm sorry that this happened and I know that it sucks. I just wanted you to know that I'm in the same position as you and that you aren't the only one struggling right now. I've been hustling for a month already. Please feel free to message me if you want to connect with someone struggling in the same situation.

[FND]

Don’t mention that you are not currently at the firm. You have 4 months to play with. As for firing a first year 4 months into their career, there must be something wrong with your group (financially).

I think the more obvious answer here is that OP had substantial problems with his or her work product. OP's partner won't even act as a reference, which doesn't even make sense for a firing that was financial.

That being said (1) blanket everywhere, (2) leave your GPA off your resume, and (3) give whatever BS reason you need to for the market (e.g. SO needs to be in SV, I want a different practice group that isn't available here, etc.)

I agree, and if entirely work product based, I’d actually take a step back and reconsider what exactly went wrong with your work product.

Realistically working in biglaw may not be for you and that’s OK, it definitely wasn’t for me and I exited my firm around the same time my first year. If you are personable enough to get biglaw as a bottom 25% T2 grad, honestly there are better roles that may fit your skill set better and can pay as well as biglaw. I’d suggest looking at from a legal side (I) biglaw business development (II) legal startup business development and (iii) legal recruiting. I have friends in all three and it’s six figure comp with less hours. If you look outside of biglaw, tech b2b sales crush it.

Caveat - if OP's connections are such that the firm believed it'd lead to near-immediate business generation (e.g. the child of a major venture capitalist) who turned out to be a dud, that might not be a viable option.

But yeah, if OP is that good at networking and that charming as to get that kind of result, there are great options. If OP wants to remain a lawyer, may I suggest T&E? a large part of that is networking and business generation, and if the OP is really good at it, there's no real limit to his/her long-term income potential, while working reasonable hours.

[+] Spoiler

Billable hours requirements at T&E boutiques tend to be much lower, than any other practice area, with the understanding that you'll spend more time developing business. 8 to 5 days are normal, but I've seen as little as 1300 hours required per year, with the expectation that you dedicate the rest of your day to networking

[jarofsoup]

You need to sell it as a practice change. That practice group being any firm that interviews you