Difficulty Lateraling Forum

[Anonymous User]

I’ve been trying to lateral for almost a year now. I’m a “traditional” employee benefits attorney at a very well-regarded firm in the ERISA space. I’m a midlevel now. Problem is that I would like to switch to an exec. comp. practice doing equity comp and little to no ERISA, and that’s not a possibility for me at my firm. I’ve been trying to lateral since January and haven’t been able to get many interviews at the larger firms. It’s been extremely discouraging since there seem to be like 20-30 roles open throughout the country.

I worked with a few recruiters, but a lot of them don’t seem to understand the difference between my practice and one at a transactional firm. They don’t realize that it needs to be treated as a retool most of the time.

I’ve applied to smaller firms with the hopes of retooling, but as many people in the EBEC area know, the high dollar equity comp work is usually only handled by large firms.

The firms I interview with don’t doubt that the work I do is complex, but they just don’t see a need for my expertise. They always tell me that they need someone who can run deals at my level, and they aren’t really receptive to the class year haircut.

Obviously my experience is specific to benefits, but has anyone else had difficulty lateraling due to the substantive nature of their work? I’m not talking about people trying to break into biglaw, but rather people who are in a regulatory/litigation practice trying to break into transactional.

[Anonymous User]

I'm on the comp side of the practice, and you might just be SoL. I'm at a firm with a sizable comp & benefits practice, and our associates who do comp do comp and our associates who do benefits do benefits. Your only luck is going to be some firm where people in comp are also doing some benefits work, and I don't think many firms have that setup due to the work being of completely different margin levels.

[Anonymous User]

That’s what I assumed. I’ve looked into firms that may do both (Morgan Lewis, McDermott, Winston & Strawn, Proskauer, etc.), but the ones that are looking only seem to be looking for comp associates now. I was hoping to sneak in as a benefits associate and switch, but because (as you mentioned) benefits is lower margin work/less leveraged, fewer people do it.

[Anonymous User]

Are you devoted to doing comp work? What about transitioning to a different corporate practice where ERISA experience can be relevant? For example, private funds/investment management. That area is firing on all cylinders right now; as a midlevel, I bet you could find a firm that represents funds with complex ERISA issues that would be interested in hiring you as a funds lawyer with ERISA knowledge. I know my group is hiring midlevels who need to retool to some degree.

[papermateflair]

This is a tough one. A couple of options to consider - can you take multiple year cuts? So if you're a 5th year now, apply for jobs for 2nd years and take a step back? Or have firms not been receptive to that? I get not wanting to step that far back but if firms are only hiring for juniors, then you're probably going to need to take a bigger cut. Could you lateral to your desired firm in two steps - first somewhere smaller to get the experience you need, and then lateral up to the firm you want to land? That seems like too much uncertainty to me, especially since it sounds like you want to do the type of work that isn't available at smaller firms.

Networking may be your best bet, if you can get someone in one of these busy groups to pick up the phone. It may be easier to make your case, even if that includes the cut, rather than if it's being run through recruiting.

[Anonymous User]

Are you devoted to doing comp work? What about transitioning to a different corporate practice where ERISA experience can be relevant? For example, private funds/investment management. That area is firing on all cylinders right now; as a midlevel, I bet you could find a firm that represents funds with complex ERISA issues that would be interested in hiring you as a funds lawyer with ERISA knowledge. I know my group is hiring midlevels who need to retool to some degree.

I’ve actually tried a few funds practices (ones that are large enough to have a regulatory subgroup within funds). I’ve applied to junior and entry level for these positions, and I’ve been unsuccessful at even getting an interview.

I’d like Exec comp, but funds is another area I have considered. I just moved away after receiving almost immediate rejections from the three or four firms I submitted.

[Anonymous User]

This is a tough one. A couple of options to consider - can you take multiple year cuts? So if you're a 5th year now, apply for jobs for 2nd years and take a step back? Or have firms not been receptive to that? I get not wanting to step that far back but if firms are only hiring for juniors, then you're probably going to need to take a bigger cut. Could you lateral to your desired firm in two steps - first somewhere smaller to get the experience you need, and then lateral up to the firm you want to land? That seems like too much uncertainty to me, especially since it sounds like you want to do the type of work that isn't available at smaller firms.

Networking may be your best bet, if you can get someone in one of these busy groups to pick up the phone. It may be easier to make your case, even if that includes the cut, rather than if it's being run through recruiting.

So this is where the problem lies. Firms don’t see my ERISA/traditional benefits work as transferable to an exec comp practice. I’ve spoken to partners I know in groups I’m interested in, but they just always kind of say the same thing. They’re hurting for bodies that can pretty much run deals unsupervised right now. I’d have to come in as essentially a first year and the firm team doesn’t have the time/capacity to train someone from scratch.

Some say that maybe in a few years, the firm will be interested in a QP attorney and then I’ll be able to make the jump. However, as mentioned above, I really don’t want to do QP anymore.

It’s been a mess, and seeing all the doors close around me has been giving me a lot of anxiety recently. I’ve seriously considered just quitting, getting an MBA, and starting a new career if I’m not at a new firm by July since the prospect of finding an exec comp role is slim.

I don’t think it’s impossible because there are people who have transitioned. However, when I look at their LinkedIn profiles, I see that they did the transition fairly early in their careers (within 2 years). I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who made a transition after that.

[Tree]

What market are you targeting?

[papermateflair]

This is a tough one. A couple of options to consider - can you take multiple year cuts? So if you're a 5th year now, apply for jobs for 2nd years and take a step back? Or have firms not been receptive to that? I get not wanting to step that far back but if firms are only hiring for juniors, then you're probably going to need to take a bigger cut. Could you lateral to your desired firm in two steps - first somewhere smaller to get the experience you need, and then lateral up to the firm you want to land? That seems like too much uncertainty to me, especially since it sounds like you want to do the type of work that isn't available at smaller firms.

Networking may be your best bet, if you can get someone in one of these busy groups to pick up the phone. It may be easier to make your case, even if that includes the cut, rather than if it's being run through recruiting.

So this is where the problem lies. Firms don’t see my ERISA/traditional benefits work as transferable to an exec comp practice. I’ve spoken to partners I know in groups I’m interested in, but they just always kind of say the same thing. They’re hurting for bodies that can pretty much run deals unsupervised right now. I’d have to come in as essentially a first year and the firm team doesn’t have the time/capacity to train someone from scratch.

Some say that maybe in a few years, the firm will be interested in a QP attorney and then I’ll be able to make the jump. However, as mentioned above, I really don’t want to do QP anymore.

It’s been a mess, and seeing all the doors close around me has been giving me a lot of anxiety recently. I’ve seriously considered just quitting, getting an MBA, and starting a new career if I’m not at a new firm by July since the prospect of finding an exec comp role is slim.

I don’t think it’s impossible because there are people who have transitioned. However, when I look at their LinkedIn profiles, I see that they did the transition fairly early in their careers (within 2 years). I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who made a transition after that.

If you're considering going back to school, then you might as well do an LLM and get an exec comp job, if that's what you want. I don't think you should give up hope, though. There are some groups that do at least a split of plan work and exec comp, and maybe you can find a place in one of those groups. It may not be the top tier exec comp group you're looking for, but you may find you enjoy the mix better than just doing QPs. I hope you find something soon. I wouldn't give up quite yet - I'm sure there will be a lot of movement after folks collect their bonuses, so you may find that firms are more willing to take you on in the new year.

[Anonymous User]

What market are you targeting?

I’m not focused on specific markets anymore. I was initially focused on NY since I’m licensed there, but I’ve expanded my search to places where I’d have to sit for the bar again.

[Anonymous User]

This is a tough one. A couple of options to consider - can you take multiple year cuts? So if you're a 5th year now, apply for jobs for 2nd years and take a step back? Or have firms not been receptive to that? I get not wanting to step that far back but if firms are only hiring for juniors, then you're probably going to need to take a bigger cut. Could you lateral to your desired firm in two steps - first somewhere smaller to get the experience you need, and then lateral up to the firm you want to land? That seems like too much uncertainty to me, especially since it sounds like you want to do the type of work that isn't available at smaller firms.

Networking may be your best bet, if you can get someone in one of these busy groups to pick up the phone. It may be easier to make your case, even if that includes the cut, rather than if it's being run through recruiting.

So this is where the problem lies. Firms don’t see my ERISA/traditional benefits work as transferable to an exec comp practice. I’ve spoken to partners I know in groups I’m interested in, but they just always kind of say the same thing. They’re hurting for bodies that can pretty much run deals unsupervised right now. I’d have to come in as essentially a first year and the firm team doesn’t have the time/capacity to train someone from scratch.

Some say that maybe in a few years, the firm will be interested in a QP attorney and then I’ll be able to make the jump. However, as mentioned above, I really don’t want to do QP anymore.

It’s been a mess, and seeing all the doors close around me has been giving me a lot of anxiety recently. I’ve seriously considered just quitting, getting an MBA, and starting a new career if I’m not at a new firm by July since the prospect of finding an exec comp role is slim.

I don’t think it’s impossible because there are people who have transitioned. However, when I look at their LinkedIn profiles, I see that they did the transition fairly early in their careers (within 2 years). I don’t think I’ve seen anyone who made a transition after that.

If you're considering going back to school, then you might as well do an LLM and get an exec comp job, if that's what you want. I don't think you should give up hope, though. There are some groups that do at least a split of plan work and exec comp, and maybe you can find a place in one of those groups. It may not be the top tier exec comp group you're looking for, but you may find you enjoy the mix better than just doing QPs. I hope you find something soon. I wouldn't give up quite yet - I'm sure there will be a lot of movement after folks collect their bonuses, so you may find that firms are more willing to take you on in the new year.

Thanks. (Un)fortunately, I already have my tax LLM (from NYU/GT). I did decently well in exec comp.

I just listed the firms earlier because they’re the obvious firms to apply to for a split practice. I’m open to places that aren’t top tier, but I have a hard time believing those firms will handle significant amounts of exec comp. Maybe 70-80% of my work is QP and I think that’s too much. At many of these non-top tier firms, I think associates may be doing 70%+ QP/H&W work or ESOP work, which wouldn’t be an improvement to my situation (also it would probably require a steep pay cut).

I’m still hopeful that people jumping after bonuses will open up some roles. But I’m trying to be realistic about my options at this point.