Atlanta Biglaw Exit Options Forum

[Pure Protein]

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[McAvoy]

I might be getting ahead of myself a bit as a 0L, but maybe someone can touch on this for me.

I currently live in Atlanta and have for my entire life. I do not plan to stay in Atlanta for law school, but the idea of working in Atlanta Biglaw immediately after school has become something I might be interested in. I've found some good information about the small number of SA spots the city has, firm pay etc., but I haven't read too much regarding Exit Opportunities in the city.

I'm not really sure what sort of options I look to have, but if anyone has information about any possibilities I would love to read it.

You think? Work on retaking that 165, work on getting a scholarship to a school that places well in ATL BL (there aren't many), work on getting elite LS grades (ATL firms are GPA whores), crush OCI, get some offers, then worry about this.

[Pure Protein]

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[heavoldgotjuice]

Good luck on getting into a T-14, finished in the top 1/3rd, and getting big law in ATL.

Not only is it hard to get into a T-14, or to finish in the top 1/3rd - but ATL big law is extremely competitive ... go look in the legal employment section of this forum.

[MyNameIsFlynn!]

This thread is laughably premature, and will remain so until you have an SA offer in hand from Atl BigLaw. You should be making a decision based on employment stats, not hypothetical exit opps over 5 years down the road. At any of the Georgia schools you're very unlikely to land any sort of SA, much less Atl BigLaw.

Frankly, the only time it's really worth asking about exit options is when you've got multiple offers in hand and are trying to compare.

[Tiago Splitter]

This seems like a perfectly reasonable question to ask in this forum. The reality is that for most, biglaw is like an extended clerkship and there's no point in going to law school to shoot for biglaw if biglaw exit options aren't appealing.

[MidwestLifer]

The answer could color how OP goes about choosing which law schools to apply to, and ultimately which he attends. Or even if OP applies at all. It's a valid question to ask.

[MyNameIsFlynn!]

This seems like a perfectly reasonable question to ask in this forum. The reality is that for most, biglaw is like an extended clerkship and there's no point in going to law school to shoot for biglaw if biglaw exit options aren't appealing.

unlike law school admissions there's no formulaic, if firm X, then exit opportunity Y. Exit opportunities are difficult to generalize because they depend heavily on the relationships you form in the Atl legal community while working in BigLaw. If you want to do PI stuff, then doing pro bono work for orgs of interest will help get your foot in the door. If you want to go in-house, then develop and maintain contacts in business. These opportunities exist at every firm; if you are interested in a particular client or industry, see which firm handles their work.

With that said, there are some firms that pipeline into particular exit opps. If you want to be an AUSA, for example, go work for K&S special matters group (lol gl getting this); if you're interested in health care, look at AGG or KS, etc etc

[Tiago Splitter]

This seems like a perfectly reasonable question to ask in this forum. The reality is that for most, biglaw is like an extended clerkship and there's no point in going to law school to shoot for biglaw if biglaw exit options aren't appealing.

If BigLaw exit options aren't appealing, then why not skip shooting for BigLaw in the first place and just do what you want to do? Your logic makes no sense

It makes perfect sense. You don't go to law school shooting for biglaw unless you want to do whatever it is that people do when they leave biglaw. If that doesn't work then either pick a new goal out of law school or don't go to law school. This OP might find out that biglaw exit options aren't what he hoped, realize that his desired path kind of sucks, and choose to forego law school.

[MyNameIsFlynn!]

This seems like a perfectly reasonable question to ask in this forum. The reality is that for most, biglaw is like an extended clerkship and there's no point in going to law school to shoot for biglaw if biglaw exit options aren't appealing.

If BigLaw exit options aren't appealing, then why not skip shooting for BigLaw in the first place and just do what you want to do? Your logic makes no sense

It makes perfect sense. You don't go to law school shooting for biglaw unless you want to do whatever it is that people do when they leave biglaw. If that doesn't work then either pick a new goal out of law school or don't go to law school. This OP might find out that biglaw exit options aren't what he hoped, realize that his desired path kind of sucks, and choose to forego law school.

I edited that out of my original post because my response was circular, but going to law school *just* to pursue BigLaw is crazy IMO. Average lifespan, assuming one gets an SA and then an offer, is <5 years and the likelihood of making partner is so laughably small it's not something around which a rational person would plan.

If OP was smart, instead of asking what BigLaw options look like, he'd be asking what the best way to do X is and see whether BigLaw fits into that goal. If there's no specific goal beyond going to law school, that raises red flags.

So, OP, what kind of exit opps are you looking for? Why are you going to law school?

[TheSpanishMain]

This seems like a perfectly reasonable question to ask in this forum. The reality is that for most, biglaw is like an extended clerkship and there's no point in going to law school to shoot for biglaw if biglaw exit options aren't appealing.

unlike law school admissions there's no formulaic, if firm X, then exit opportunity Y. Exit opportunities are difficult to generalize because they depend heavily on the relationships you form in the Atl legal community while working in BigLaw.

I don't think the OP is asking for a formulaic "Oh, well, if you do a few years in Atlanta Big Law, we can say with certainty you'll have options A, B, and C." He's asking for some general information on the Atlanta legal market. Doesn't seem unreasonable. I think he should be commended for trying to determine whether what lies on the other side of Big Law is something he actually wants. Too many people view a Big Law associate job as the culmination of success, when as you point out for most people it's more of a waypoint than a career.

[run26.2]

OP, the answer to your question is not going to be appreciably different from the answers you would get by asking the same question as to other cities in terms of the range of possible options. Since the data is almost certainly going to be anecdotal, you won't have a perspective on how difficult it is to get any particular outcome relative to coming out of biglaw in another city.

That said, to the extent you want just a list of potential outcomes.... I know people who have done the following right after working in biglaw in Atlanta: move to another firm in another city (biglaw in major market, biglaw office in regional market, mid-size regional, starting own firm), go in-house in ATL, leave to clerk in another city, and start a business. No doubt there are innumerable other outcomes.