Job Searches, Midsize Firms / Regional Firms

Back In The Race: Midlaw Does Not (Usually) Hire Newbie Lawyers

We need to expose and bust the Midlaw myth for the Class of 2019 and beyond.

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resume girlToday, I want to talk about getting a job at something called Midlaw. Obviously, the term Midlaw suggests that the firm is smaller than Biglaw but larger than a small firm. Typically, a firm is labeled Midlaw if it has between 11 and 100 attorneys, depending on the practice area.

Some are mini-Biglaw firms. They do pretty much the same work that Biglaw does and have wealthy and sophisticated clients. Thanks to technological advances in legal research, IT, and client communications via email and video chat, some Midlaw firms are just as effective as Biglaw firms and a lot of times more efficient.

Other Midlaw firms do insurance defense work defending policy holders in auto accidents and homeowner liability cases. Some people call these firms “BigSmallLaw” because they handle small cases on a massive scale. I have heard mixed opinions about these firms. Some say that these firms are great training grounds for litigators while others say they are sweatshops that operate borderline unethically with very little opportunities for growth beyond a certain point.

Considering that only 8.6% of law students will get a Biglaw job and most of them come from top law schools, Midlaw is the backup choice for most law students once they don’t make the Biglaw cut. They think that many of these Midlaw firms are hiring and pay minimum $100K salaries to their attorneys.

But they are in for a rude awakening when they learn how Midlaw operates, particularly when it comes to hiring.

First, let’s talk about Midlaw salaries for law school graduates. It’s hard to get specifics because there is no published Midlaw minimum market salary. So let’s take a look at NALP’s infamous bimodal salary distribution graph.

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The graph indicates that a very small number of people report salaries in the range of $90,000 – $150,000. It’s possible that people are getting these salaries but are not reporting them in order to protect their privacy and to minimize the likelihood that others will try to take their job. But I think the more likely reason is that the people who got these starting salaries got them through extraordinary means. Maybe they have special skills. Or they know certain people who can sway the hiring committee. But I’m willing to bet that they didn’t find these jobs on Craigslist or Symplicity.

While some might look at the graph and think that Midlaw does not exist, others can argue that Midlaw does hire law school graduates but will not pay them six-figure salaries for a year or two while they are being trained.

While that could be true, it is the exception rather than the norm. The sad truth that I and many others have learned the hard way is that few Midlaw firms hire new law school graduates. Not only that, Midlaw does not poach lawyers from smaller firms except in rare cases.

Instead, most Midlaw firms hire Biglaw or government refugees. Take a look at your favorite Midlaw firm and check out the attorney bios. You’ll see that most of the associates have had previous experience in major law firms, the government, or in some specialized position. To these people, Midlaw offers them more work-life balance and more hands-on exposure to cases.

This may not be fair to some people, but you have to understand the mentality and background of the Midlaw senior attorneys. First, they too were also Biglaw or corporate refugees and ended up doing well objectively. So they want to find someone who shares their background. I have also overheard some of these people say, “If they were hired by a major law firm, then they must be good. They are used to working long hours and have a good work ethic.” While I do not disagree with this, there are others who fit that bill as well.

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The only significant exception to this is the BigSmallLaw firm I mentioned earlier. Insurance companies have to respond to a large amount of relatively small cases and it does not make financial sense to hire a top law firm to defend them. Since these cases are relatively straightforward and will not result in a large judgment for the insurance company, it makes sense to delegate smaller cases to a new grad under the supervision of someone with experience. But as you have probably guessed, their first- and second-year salaries are on the “broke” side of the bimodal distribution curve.

We need to expose and bust the Midlaw myth for the Class of 2019 and beyond. Uninformed law school wannabes think that they will end up in Midlaw if they don’t make the top 10% of their class. But the reality is that few Midlaw firms hire fresh law school graduates. They don’t want to train new lawyers. They gravitate towards former Biglaw or government lawyers because they think they something to bring to the table.

Shannon Achimalbe was a former solo practitioner for five years before deciding to sell out and get back on the corporate ladder. Shannon can be reached by email at sachimalbe@excite.com and via Twitter: @ShanonAchimalbe.

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