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Hello. I am a class of '17 NY licensed attorney from one of the T14. I've worked for the past couple of years in one of the major shops in Asia doing corporate/M&A work. I am in the process of trying to lateral back to the States to be with my husband, but I have been facing a lot of trouble piquing any interest from the market. I have been actively searching since October, and have been using a recruiter (who essentially submitted my application to over 60+ firms since I started working with her), but so far, I've only ever gotten 2 interview invites from posts I saw on LinkedIn (one small shop and one in-house position). I am starting to get really frustrated and depressed at how horribly the job search process has been going so far (at least give me a screener please!). Can anyone tell me if this is normal for the lateral market right now? Or am I just completely doomed because I don't have Big Law experience (I've worked in-house in NY at a major hedge fund before moving to Asia)? Would really appreciate any advice on how to re-tweak my search or maybe re-set my expectations on the process... :/

Bump as I could really use some perspective :/

I realized fairly quickly in my lateral search that recruiters generally don’t help. Unfortunately it sounds like the recruiter submitted you to almost every biglaw firm in NY, so I think that ship may have sailed since the recruiter will have the finder’s fee for 6 months to a year.

Do you have any classmates you still talk to at any of the firms you haven’t been submitted to? That may be the best way to go. I think the lateral market is hot for people who are going from top firm 1 to top firm 2. Outside of that, I think it’s still somewhat difficult.

FWIW, it took me 13 months to find my new job and I was already working at a respectable firm.

Damn, 13 months.... I guess I should lower my expectations...