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My fiancé and I have been living on the east coast, with her working remotely for a tech firm in California and me being a midlevel at a big law firm. My wife is being mandated to come back work in the office, starting in the coming months. This means I will probably have to jump ship and lateral to a CA firm as long distance is not really what we want to do. My firm doesn’t have a California office, so transferring sadly enough is not an option.

Does anyone who has made such a switch have any tips? I’ve never switched firms and am not barred in California, so am wondering if I should sit for the bar exam before I even have a real shot at a law firm out there? I’ll probably sit for it ASAP, but I don’t know how crucial it is ahead of any interviews. I also don’t know how bad the job market is (I do capital markets for what it’s worth). Would much appreciate any and all help.

Most firms will generally give you the opportunity to sit for the bar after you lateral, although it depends on the firm. Generally you want to show that you have ties to the area and will stick around for a good reason and your better half having a gig there is as good of a reason as any.

Pure capital market gigs in CA are fairly dry at this point, although my V30 is hiring in all of their CA offices for something that should be applicable here, feel free to DM.