Surprisingly ties sensitive Boston market? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Never realized how insular Boston was considering how much of a major metro I consider it to be. Spouse’s family is originally from the area but others on TLS have said if you’re not a local T14 or going to BU/BC Theres no way you’ll break in. Currently an entering 1L at CCN. How would one best be able to get to Boston without significant ties?

[Anonymous User]

Never realized how insular Boston was considering how much of a major metro I consider it to be. Spouse’s family is originally from the area but others on TLS have said if you’re not a local T14 or going to BU/BC Theres no way you’ll break in. Currently an entering 1L at CCN. How would one best be able to get to Boston without significant ties?

Shouldn’t be *that* hard if you’re at Columbia or NYU. Chicago marginally more difficult (fewer alumns in Boston, I’d imagine) but not impossible.

I would just gun really hard for your 1L summer spot (paid or unpaid) to be in Boston. Then network your ass off at all of the biglaw shops. I don’t think you’d have issues getting to Boston if you do that & have good grades, assuming you want BL.

Part of the reason it’s insular is because it’s a smaller market relative to NYC/DC/CHI/LA. But with good grades from one of those schools and a 1L summer in Boston I wouldn’t worry about striking out.

[Anonymous User]

I broke into Boston market with no ties and probably most of the people I worked with there didn’t have ties. I think the big concern from Boston firms is that you won’t want to stay in Boston — the weather is tough, it’s not NY in terms of things to do, it’s expensive, and highly centered around students. Just unique in a lot of ways (a lot to like about it too, but I do think it’s unique). So you have to convince them why you are attached to Boston in a way you don’t for NY or even Texas . But a wife with connections should be more than enough. The other problem is Boston is not as big as you think. Now it’s becoming a hub for life sciences, so the legal work is increasing, especially if you can try to tie into IP and possibly life science regulatory work or maybe tech trans. But it’s not a center or even a regional center for general Corp stuff, and they have a lot of local talent between BC/BU/H that you are competing with.

[Anonymous User]

Yeah I'd always heard the same but bid a few Boston firms from OCI at Penn and got callbacks to something like 2/3 with no ties other than "I have a few good friends up there and used to visit as a child". Didn't end up even attending the CBs so I have no idea how serious their interest was, but it didn't seem like that daunting of a market to me if you have any legitimate reason to want to practice there.

[Anonymous User]

Have a few friends who landed Boston with no ties and not from MA schools — they all expressed very strong interest in biotech/life sciences.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who does interviews for one of the Boston HQ’ed firms, the responses are pretty spot on. It’s more ties sensitive than NY/DC, but all we’re looking for is a confirmation that you actually want to be in Boston. You’ll definitely get the “why Boston?” question, but your spouse’s family being from here would be more than enough to check the box at my firm.

The bigger concern is just the number of SA positions in the city (although this seems to be growing) and the informal quotas firms have for Harvard/BU/BC (and Northeastern to a lesser extent) students.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who does interviews for one of the Boston HQ’ed firms, the responses are pretty spot on. It’s more ties sensitive than NY/DC, but all we’re looking for is a confirmation that you actually want to be in Boston. You’ll definitely get the “why Boston?” question, but your spouse’s family being from here would be more than enough to check the box at my firm.

The bigger concern is the number of SAs in the city (which does seem to be growing) and the informal quotas firms seem to have for Harvard/BC/BU students.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who does interviews for one of the Boston HQ’ed firms, the responses are pretty spot on. It’s more ties sensitive than NY/DC, but all we’re looking for is a confirmation that you actually want to be in Boston. You’ll definitely get the “why Boston?” question, but your spouse’s family being from here would be more than enough to check the box at my firm.

The bigger concern is the number of SAs in the city (which does seem to be growing) and the informal quotas firms seem to have for Harvard/BC/BU students.

Agree with the latter. My firm’s summer class had 2/3 of its summers from BC/BU/H and I think that’s pretty normal for most firms in Boston. Then you have to factor in the top kids at Suffolk/Northeastern. So only like 30% of spots remain for outsiders.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who does interviews for one of the Boston HQ’ed firms, the responses are pretty spot on. It’s more ties sensitive than NY/DC, but all we’re looking for is a confirmation that you actually want to be in Boston. You’ll definitely get the “why Boston?” question, but your spouse’s family being from here would be more than enough to check the box at my firm.

The bigger concern is the number of SAs in the city (which does seem to be growing) and the informal quotas firms seem to have for Harvard/BC/BU students.

Agree with the latter. My firm’s summer class had 2/3 of its summers from BC/BU/H and I think that’s pretty normal for most firms in Boston. Then you have to factor in the top kids at Suffolk/Northeastern. So only like 30% of spots remain for outsiders.

+1. I'm at a Boston HQed firm as well and when I interview someone with no apparent ties on their resume I always ask "why Boston?" If the answer convincingly addresses why the candidate wants to be in Boston either personally or professionally (ideally both), I don't think twice. When people something like "it seemed like a cool city when I visited in high school," I raise that as an issue with the hiring committee. We just don't want to waste time/spots on someone who is using Boston as a backup for another city or who is a real flight risk within the first couple years.

That said, if you don't start in Boston, it can really hard to break in as a lateral. If you're gunning for top Boston firms but don't get it on your first go I'd take something lower ranked in Boston and lateral up (possible in this market) unless you can land a V10 NY/DC.

[Anonymous User]

Necro: is clerking in the region enough (particularly CA1)?

[Anonymous User]

Necro: is clerking in the region enough (particularly CA1)?

I mean, if all you can say when asked "Why Boston?" is "I was a First Circuit clerk," then no, that's not enough. But presumably you would be able to say something more convincing than that having spent some time in the region.

[Anonymous User]

Necro: is clerking in the region enough (particularly CA1)?

I mean, if all you can say when asked "Why Boston?" is "I was a First Circuit clerk," then no, that's not enough. But presumably you would be able to say something more convincing than that having spent some time in the region.

Fair enough. I figure it’ll help to live there/want to be there long-term.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who does interviews for one of the Boston HQ’ed firms, the responses are pretty spot on. It’s more ties sensitive than NY/DC, but all we’re looking for is a confirmation that you actually want to be in Boston. You’ll definitely get the “why Boston?” question, but your spouse’s family being from here would be more than enough to check the box at my firm.

The bigger concern is the number of SAs in the city (which does seem to be growing) and the informal quotas firms seem to have for Harvard/BC/BU students.

TITCR. If someone doesn't have significant Boston ties on their resume I ask point blank "why Boston?" I'm looking for a tie to the city beyond "I like Boston" that will convince me you want to be here long term. If your answer is "Boston is where I want to end up long term because my spouse's family is here" then you'll pass with flying colors.

FWIW, I think you have a leg up trying to do this as a law student. I think it's much harder to lateral into the city after law school.

Also agree with the small pool point. Most of the big Boston summer programs are relatively grade selective (Ropes, WH, etc.), so one of the best things you can do is kill it with your classes.

[Anonymous User]

As someone who does interviews for one of the Boston HQ’ed firms, the responses are pretty spot on. It’s more ties sensitive than NY/DC, but all we’re looking for is a confirmation that you actually want to be in Boston. You’ll definitely get the “why Boston?” question, but your spouse’s family being from here would be more than enough to check the box at my firm.

The bigger concern is the number of SAs in the city (which does seem to be growing) and the informal quotas firms seem to have for Harvard/BC/BU students.

Agree with the latter. My firm’s summer class had 2/3 of its summers from BC/BU/H and I think that’s pretty normal for most firms in Boston. Then you have to factor in the top kids at Suffolk/Northeastern. So only like 30% of spots remain for outsiders.

+1. I'm at a Boston HQed firm as well and when I interview someone with no apparent ties on their resume I always ask "why Boston?" If the answer convincingly addresses why the candidate wants to be in Boston either personally or professionally (ideally both), I don't think twice. When people something like "it seemed like a cool city when I visited in high school," I raise that as an issue with the hiring committee. We just don't want to waste time/spots on someone who is using Boston as a backup for another city or who is a real flight risk within the first couple years.

That said, if you don't start in Boston, it can really hard to break in as a lateral. If you're gunning for top Boston firms but don't get it on your first go I'd take something lower ranked in Boston and lateral up (possible in this market) unless you can land a V10 NY/DC.

I think this is different for Boston HQ firms vs non-Boston firms. At a non-Boston HQ firm and we generally view it as if you’d be an asset it’s not really on us to say you should be applying to our office in the city you went to law school in. But by not being a Boston HQ that does run into our summer classes being smaller than if you applied to the mothership.