Currently a midlevel in Big City Big Market Big firm. Thinking about relocating back to midwest town (det/minn/cleveland/cincinnati) for family reasons. I am looking for anecdotes from folks who have done this. I would go to largest firm in hometown which is based in hometown.
How have you found your work transition? do you feel like you are still getting good work or is the lower complexity boring to you? Do you feel like your chances at partner are increased? How has your comp faired? Are you happier? miss being in the city?
Lateralling to hometown Forum
Forum rules
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
Anonymous Posting
Anonymous posting is only appropriate when you are revealing sensitive employment related information about a firm, job, etc. You may anonymously respond on topic to these threads. Unacceptable uses include: harassing another user, joking around, testing the feature, or other things that are more appropriate in the lounge.
Failure to follow these rules will get you outed, warned, or banned.
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432508
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Lateralling to hometown
I haven't, but I'm also interested.
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432508
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Lateralling to hometown
nobody
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432508
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Lateralling to hometown
I lateraled from my V10 firm in a major market to my hometown that isn't known for its legal market. Overall, I regretted my decision and lateraled back to a major city a year later. The workload/demands of being a lawyer are the same no matter where you go, but the work quality and pay are much lower than the major markets. I've been advising folks against it
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432508
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Lateralling to hometown
I actually moved back to my hometown in a large market from a small market in the south. The city I was in had fewer than 100,000 people.
I was still at a satellite of an AmLaw 100 firm, so the pay (more than I make in my major city after taxes) and quality of work (types of clients) were the same. Obviously if you’re going back to a place with no large firms, this isn’t possible.
The hours were great since the time constraints weren’t as bad. I think I worked 9-530 most days. I stayed at the office after 8 once.
You won’t get the mega-deals or cases you get in a major city, but you will still have sophisticated work.
Even if the firm isn’t an AmLaw firm, there are always going to be top notch firms in many cities.
I was still at a satellite of an AmLaw 100 firm, so the pay (more than I make in my major city after taxes) and quality of work (types of clients) were the same. Obviously if you’re going back to a place with no large firms, this isn’t possible.
The hours were great since the time constraints weren’t as bad. I think I worked 9-530 most days. I stayed at the office after 8 once.
You won’t get the mega-deals or cases you get in a major city, but you will still have sophisticated work.
Even if the firm isn’t an AmLaw firm, there are always going to be top notch firms in many cities.
Want to continue reading?
Register now to search topics and post comments!
Absolutely FREE!
Already a member? Login
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432508
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Lateralling to hometown
I moved from NYC to a small market in the south. I ended up lateralling to a biglaw satellite office in a larger non-major market a few years later. Overall, like a poster above said, the workload/demands of being an associate were similar enough, but the diversity of work was much lower as was the pay. I would consider going back to a smaller firm later in my career at a partner/counsel level, but it was not worth it for me as a mid-level associate.
-
Anonymous User
- Posts: 432508
- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: Lateralling to hometown
To the extent possible, I'd appreciate something on the practice area as well. My general suspicion is that the difference in lit is much smaller than the difference in corporate, as I assume you won't do much public company stuff in smaller markets, but any thoughts on that would be appreciated.
