Moving as an attorney Forum

[Anonymous User]

Does anyone have recommendations for moving states as an attorney? I have decent credentials (UT honors) and experience in both big law and at a regional firm. After school, I stayed in Texas for personal reasons and, four years later, those personal reasons no longer apply. Professionally I am decently happy, but personally I am pretty miserable and need to make a change. Almost all of my contacts are in Texas and I am really lost at how to even approach changing markets. I've considered applying for clerkships as a way to break into a new market. In my really desperate moments, I've even considered giving up on law and applying for MBA programs. I was one of the last classes to take the Texas bar, so I am currently studying for the Feburary UBE. There is not a lot of work in the market I grew up in, so returning there is not really an option. I know everyone wants a story or a reason for moving, but I feel like personal reasons are never enough.

[Anonymous User]

I think personal reasons are often enough, but the most convincing ones are wanting to be closer to family or moving for a SO's career, and if those don't apply to you, personal reasons are tougher. I agree that just wanting a personal change (like your personal reasons for being in Texas no longer existing) or to experience a new place tend not to carry a lot of weight. I also don't think it's worth lying about these things b/c you'd need to keep up those lies if you ended up getting the job and that just gets too complicated. Depending where you land, it might never come up again, but it might - and the more weight a firm places on personal connections, the more likely people are to remember them/ask you about them, I think.

On a non-personal level, not asking you to give these details here, but think about the work you've been doing and/or the work you want to do, and think about what kinds of opportunities exist to do that work elsewhere, whether that's a particular location (like if you've been doing gas/oil, maybe look for natural resource-type jobs in western resource-rich states?), or a particular firm (if you're in lit, do you want to sell yourself to a lit boutique as really wanting to get trial experience?). Generalizing wildly, I think you can probably tell NYC biglaw firms that you want to do sophisticated work in the nation's financial capitol; or maybe pitch some kind of regulatory interest to DC. Similarly, if you are at all interested in fedgov, that's a built-in reason to move to DC. Of course, the latter two require you to move to NYC or DC, which I have no idea if you're interested in doing.

I also think that clerking can be a great way to break into a local market. Depending on the market, don't rule out state clerkships. IME with clerking at the state level, it's less competitive to get the job than in federal court (especially if you're willing to do the state intermediate appellate court), but it connects you to a lot of locals, and it gives you a year to network really hard. I know two state court of appeals clerks who did not have biglaw offers out of law school (from respectable but lower-ranked schools than UT) who did all the networking things - joined the local bar association, an inn of court, volunteered, met with alumni, etc - who got biglaw offers by the end of their clerkships. The big downside of state clerkships is that the pay will likely suck (and even federal clerkships will probably be a pay cut), and can be of less interest to biglaw firms if they primarily practice in federal court. (And I'm not suggesting you're not competitive for federal clerkships, which would likely be a better option all around, just noting that state clerkships can expand your options.)

Clerking puts you on a longer timeline, but if you identify some desired locations, keep checking back on their court websites to see if anything opens up sooner. Plus it gives you lots of lead time for the bar, moving, etc.

More controversially, I also think that depending on your politics and where you want to apply, you could probably lean a little bit on "I want to get out of Texas." I definitely know people who want to leave Texas due to state politics. This is obviously risky because you can't guarantee that the people reading your application will agree with you; but it might be something you could float, subtly, in an interview if you get to that point and it seems like it would go over well. And just to forestall commentary: I'm not saying it's fair/right to view Texas this way, but there are definitely going to be people in liberal bastions that have this perception. It's also something I wouldn't rely on unless it's actually how you feel (and no idea if it is), nor will it work if you want to move to a politically-similar, especially southern state. But I toss it out there as food for thought, if any of your misery is related to Texas politics/culture rather than your own personal situation.

[Anonymous User]

I changed states/cities as a mid-level lateral. I wasn't looking to change what I did (not really - maybe a slight emphasis on one of many areas of my niche), so my messaging to the new firm was mostly about moving cities, and it was a pretty easy sell - I always wanted to be in (new city), but was looking for the right time to make the move. I did do my summer associate job in the city I moved to so I had at least one piece of data working for me, but I didn't have a compelling family reason or anything like that. I think you just need to have some sort of explanation and don't lean on it top heavily. Most non-Texas states hate Texas so if you say you've been looking for the right opportunity to move to (Nyc/Dc/wherever), you have friends in the area and have always wanted to make this your home, and you no longer want to live in Texas, everyone will be satisfied.

When I help with hiring, once someone overcomes the basic questions about why they want to be in our city, we don't really care about anything except for fit, skillset, experience. You don't need to make this more complicated than it needs to be.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thank you all for the responses. I tend to agree that I am overthinking my situation. Ideally I want to move to the east coast. I did the whole get married young thing, and it ended in divorce, so I am hoping to go somewhere where being single at 30 will not mark me as an old-maid. New York or DC are my goal locations. My sister lives in Boston and I would love to move there, but I understand that the legal market there is very insular. At my big firm I worked in real estate, I now work at a smaller regional shop in land use and environmental regulatory work. I would like to stay in the regulatory sphere, but am not really picky about firm size or specifics.

[2013]

OP here. Thank you all for the responses. I tend to agree that I am overthinking my situation. Ideally I want to move to the east coast. I did the whole get married young thing, and it ended in divorce, so I am hoping to go somewhere where being single at 30 will not mark me as an old-maid. New York or DC are my goal locations. My sister lives in Boston and I would love to move there, but I understand that the legal market there is very insular. At my big firm I worked in real estate, I now work at a smaller regional shop in land use and environmental regulatory work. I would like to stay in the regulatory sphere, but am not really picky about firm size or specifics.

Look into Beveridge & Diamond. They have a lot of east coast offices.

[Anonymous User]

OP here. Thank you all for the responses. I tend to agree that I am overthinking my situation. Ideally I want to move to the east coast. I did the whole get married young thing, and it ended in divorce, so I am hoping to go somewhere where being single at 30 will not mark me as an old-maid. New York or DC are my goal locations. My sister lives in Boston and I would love to move there, but I understand that the legal market there is very insular. At my big firm I worked in real estate, I now work at a smaller regional shop in land use and environmental regulatory work. I would like to stay in the regulatory sphere, but am not really picky about firm size or specifics.

When you start looking, you don't want a firm to have too many questions about you as a candidate. So if you think you want to change practice areas, you need to have a stronger reason for moving states. A firm likely doesn't want to roll the dice on someone who both doesn't seem to know what they want to do OR where they want to live. I would start by targeting firms based on your experience. And just because you're in Texas doesn't mean you can't start networking now. Look for alumni from your law school at the types of practice areas you're interested in and start setting up a few informal chats to get their perspective. If you would love to live in Boston, contact some firms in Boston - even if nothing happens now, you never know.