Specific question wrt Boston legal market & "ties" Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hey everyone, I'm a specialist in NY biglaw looking to get back home to MA by means of lateraling. I was born and raised in Massachusetts and still have family there. From my perspective, I have very strong ties to the state. However, there is one issue that might give me some difficulty making the switch: I did not attend a New England undergrad or law school.

After taking a look at the webpages of the firms I'm interested that currently have openings (and even the ones that don't), almost all of the attorneys attended either college or law school in New England. My impression is that the Boston legal market is particularly sensitive about ties, and school location is no exception. For those of you who have experience with the Boston legal market, would you expect my background is sufficient in terms of regional ties? What is your take on the necessity of having gone to a local college or law school?

[Anonymous User]

I’m pretty sure you have strong ties. I’ve met plenty of BL attorneys in Boston who have gone to impressive schools outside of New England. Growing up and having family there = strong ties.

[dyemond]

Hey everyone, I'm a specialist in NY biglaw looking to get back home to MA by means of lateraling. I was born and raised in Massachusetts and still have family there. From my perspective, I have very strong ties to the state. However, there is one issue that might give me some difficulty making the switch: I did not attend a New England undergrad or law school.

After taking a look at the webpages of the firms I'm interested that currently have openings (and even the ones that don't), almost all of the attorneys attended either college or law school in New England. My impression is that the Boston legal market is particularly sensitive about ties, and school location is no exception. For those of you who have experience with the Boston legal market, would you expect my background is sufficient in terms of regional ties? What is your take on the necessity of having gone to a local college or law school?

Your ties are sufficient but if you’re not at a Boston school or a t14 school you may have issues.

WashU or USC or Vandy for example are good schools but will struggle to place at the Boston firms, they are weirdly selective.

[Anonymous User]

Hey everyone, I'm a specialist in NY biglaw looking to get back home to MA by means of lateraling. I was born and raised in Massachusetts and still have family there. From my perspective, I have very strong ties to the state. However, there is one issue that might give me some difficulty making the switch: I did not attend a New England undergrad or law school.

After taking a look at the webpages of the firms I'm interested that currently have openings (and even the ones that don't), almost all of the attorneys attended either college or law school in New England. My impression is that the Boston legal market is particularly sensitive about ties, and school location is no exception. For those of you who have experience with the Boston legal market, would you expect my background is sufficient in terms of regional ties? What is your take on the necessity of having gone to a local college or law school?

Your ties are sufficient but if you’re not at a Boston school or a t14 school you may have issues.

WashU or USC or Vandy for example are good schools but will struggle to place at the Boston firms, they are weirdly selective.

I did go to a t14. Not H or Y, though. Does that blunt the local school issue somewhat in your opinion?

[Anonymous User]

Not really a market I’d be targeting. Kirkland, Cooley, Goodwin and Ropes all just laid off a bunch of 2021s. Maybe worth it if you can get Skadden, Choate or Wilmer.

[dyemond]

Hey everyone, I'm a specialist in NY biglaw looking to get back home to MA by means of lateraling. I was born and raised in Massachusetts and still have family there. From my perspective, I have very strong ties to the state. However, there is one issue that might give me some difficulty making the switch: I did not attend a New England undergrad or law school.

After taking a look at the webpages of the firms I'm interested that currently have openings (and even the ones that don't), almost all of the attorneys attended either college or law school in New England. My impression is that the Boston legal market is particularly sensitive about ties, and school location is no exception. For those of you who have experience with the Boston legal market, would you expect my background is sufficient in terms of regional ties? What is your take on the necessity of having gone to a local college or law school?

Your ties are sufficient but if you’re not at a Boston school or a t14 school you may have issues.

WashU or USC or Vandy for example are good schools but will struggle to place at the Boston firms, they are weirdly selective.

I did go to a t14. Not H or Y, though. Does that blunt the local school issue somewhat in your opinion?

Should be ok on that front. Boston is just a picky market.

[Anonymous User]

If your cell phone isn’t a 617, 508, or 978 number, I wouldn’t believe you actually “grew up” in MA in an interview. I’ve lived all over but I still have the same number I had in middle school. I also wouldn’t care, though.

You’re not a summer looking for *any* job. You’re a lateral making a conscious effort to move back to the market.

You went to a t14, which helps. The t14 somewhat matters, though. Boston has a lot more UVA, Michigan and Cornell grads than NYU or Columbia. It’s probably some self-selection, but it’s easier to network if you have fellow alum.

Which firms are you targeting? That may help us give better advice.

[Anonymous User]

If your cell phone isn’t a 617, 508, or 978 number, I wouldn’t believe you actually “grew up” in MA in an interview. I’ve lived all over but I still have the same number I had in middle school. I also wouldn’t care, though.

You’re not a summer looking for *any* job. You’re a lateral making a conscious effort to move back to the market.

You went to a t14, which helps. The t14 somewhat matters, though. Boston has a lot more UVA, Michigan and Cornell grads than NYU or Columbia. It’s probably some self-selection, but it’s easier to network if you have fellow alum.

Which firms are you targeting? That may help us give better advice.

??? My cell phone is a 413 number.

I’m most interested in Wilmer, Mintz, Skadden, MLB, Latham, and Choate, though not all of them are hiring for my practice group at the moment.

[Anonymous User]

If your cell phone isn’t a 617, 508, or 978 number, I wouldn’t believe you actually “grew up” in MA in an interview. I’ve lived all over but I still have the same number I had in middle school. I also wouldn’t care, though.

You’re not a summer looking for *any* job. You’re a lateral making a conscious effort to move back to the market.

You went to a t14, which helps. The t14 somewhat matters, though. Boston has a lot more UVA, Michigan and Cornell grads than NYU or Columbia. It’s probably some self-selection, but it’s easier to network if you have fellow alum.

Which firms are you targeting? That may help us give better advice.

??? My cell phone is a 413 number.

I’m most interested in Wilmer, Mintz, Skadden, MLB, Latham, and Choate, though not all of them are hiring for my practice group at the moment.

You’re from western MA! I always forget anything west of Worcester. My bad.

Choate may be the firm that harps on ties. The rest won’t care that much. Although WilmerHale (don’t forget to always add Hale - some of the partners still refer to themselves as the Hale & Dorr folks) may question whether you’re trying to get into the Boston office just to lateral to DC.

[Anonymous User]

If your cell phone isn’t a 617, 508, or 978 number, I wouldn’t believe you actually “grew up” in MA in an interview. I’ve lived all over but I still have the same number I had in middle school. I also wouldn’t care, though.

Not 781 or 339???

[Anonymous User]

If your cell phone isn’t a 617, 508, or 978 number, I wouldn’t believe you actually “grew up” in MA in an interview. I’ve lived all over but I still have the same number I had in middle school. I also wouldn’t care, though.

Not 781 or 339???

I forgot 781! My bad.

[Anonymous User]

You'll be fine! I got a job in Boston based on my husband being from the area. I had never lived here before.... going on 8 years now and we just bought property so in it for the long haul.

[Anonymous User]

Total non-issue in your case. I went through OCI without a New England (not to mention MA) undergrad/law school or even anything on my resume related to the north east, and had no problems since I grew up in MA. Lateraling will be even easier (the fact that you simply want to pick up and move to Boston would probably be enough at my firm as a lateral).

[Anonymous User]

I ask the "why Boston?" question in interviews when it's not readily apparent that the interviewee is all in on Boston. The reason I (and I think others) ask is because we don't want to spend time/effort on someone who is just going to end up in a larger legal market. So ties really only become an issue if you have none or if you can't articulate why Boston is a priority for you - both signal that you're unlikely to accept an offer. But as long as you give a compelling reason, I'd think nothing of it. Just convince me you want to be in Boston and you're good.

IME there's a sliding scale of how compelling your reason must be with more ties requiring a less compelling answer. Being from Massachusetts means that as long as you have something logical to say you're fine. Wanting to return home is a good reason because it says you would prefer to be here over anywhere else. Just don't say something noncommittal like "I'm exploring my options and Boston is a strong legal market."

TBH I think it's even less of an issue for laterals. It's not like OCI where you're spreading your net as wide as you can. You're probably interviewing here because this is where you want to move to.