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I'm a second year at a V5 in NYC doing general corporate work (c/o 2020). I don't think it needs much explaining, but I hate working in biglaw and want to get out ASAP. Ideally, I would like to exit to an in-house role with fewer hours, rare night/weekend work, etc. I am thinking about lateraling in the early part of 2022, grinding out one more year at a new firm, and going in-house early in my 3rd year.

Basically my goals are to (i) maximize comp while in biglaw, (ii) try to buy a few slower months from lateraling, and (iii) extend biglaw lifespan to eventually move in-house. I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot on comp if I don't lateral at least once in this market, and I don't think I have good odds of exiting to a desirable in-house job without at least 1 more year in biglaw.

I've spoken with a handful of people in my class who feel similarly, so I'm sure there are folks here in a similar spot. Does my plan make sense, am I being too optimistic about being able to go in-house late in my second year/early third year? Happy to hear any thoughts.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 15, 2021 3:38 pm

(ii) try to buy a few slower months from lateraling,

Just be careful here. I have a number of friends who lateraled this year and basically lateraled into a meat grinder. No doubt collecting a signing bonus would be great, but sometimes the beast you know is a safer bet if you are just trying to survive another year before jumping ship.

In terms of timing overall, you will start to see more exits to in-house become available as a third year, but, at least in my experience, the options start looking much better towards the end of your fourth year if you can tough it out until then.