7 Factors To Consider When Picking A Law Firm To Work For

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on lateral partner moves from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Abby Gordon is a Senior Director with Lateral Link’s New York office. Abby works with attorney candidates on law firm and in-house searches, primarily in New York, Boston, and Europe. Prior to joining Lateral Link, Abby spent seven years as a corporate associate with Cleary Gottlieb, focusing on capital markets transactions for Latin American clients in New York and for the last five years for European clients in Paris. A native of Boston, Abby holds a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in government and romance languages, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College. Abby also worked with the International Rescue Committee as a Fulbright Scholar in Madrid, Spain. She is a member of the New York Bar and is fluent in French and Spanish (and dabbles in Portuguese and Italian).

Earlier, I wrote a post on the 25 Things All Young Lawyers Should Know In Order To Not Screw Up Their Legal Careers. A number of lawyers contacted me after the post ran to ask if I could further discuss some of the points and in particular, those relating to choosing the best law firm and the best practice area.

Choosing a law firm and a practice area is a big decision. While 62% of lawyers move firms within their first four years of practice, your career path will likely be clearly shaped by your first job as a lawyer. I cannot stress enough how difficult it is to switch practice areas once you have started your legal career. It is not impossible, but it can be very difficult. Some firms are much more flexible than others in letting you dabble in various areas before committing to a practice area. In fact, certain firms never officially require you to choose a group. However, it is extremely rare for associates to find opportunities to switch from one firm’s practice area A to another firm’s practice area B. If you are lucky enough to have this opportunity, you will almost inevitably be asked to take a haircut in class year.

So what are the major factors you should consider in choosing a firm as a summer associate or first-year associate?

1. Prestige.

There are a number of factors to consider in choosing a law firm, and prestige is only one of them. But all other factors being (nearly) equal, starting at a more prestigious firm can only open doors down the road. Remember that I am talking about your first job as an associate. When choosing a firm to which to lateral, a firm with which to potentially spend the remainder of your career or at least law firm career, prestige may not be nearly as important as factors such as opportunities for advancement or exit opportunities.

With prestige generally comes more sophisticated and more complex work. But another reason the prestige of your first firm is so important is simply that your next prospective employers will see it as important. You may get much better hands-on experience and training at a smaller firm, but prospective employers usually do not see it this way. When you are at a well-known firm, your training and experience is a known quantity.

Remember that groups within a firm can rank much higher in prestige than the firm on the whole, and it will generally be the prestige of your group that counts. This can be particularly true with niche practice areas (for example, investment management, appellate litigation, or real estate).

2. Which practice area is most suited to your personality?

If you are going to stick with law long-term, it is absolutely essential that you enjoy what you do. It may be tempting to pick a practice area because it’s “sexy,” because of the opportunities for international travel, or because the partners are pushing you in a certain direction. But if your gut is telling you that you do not enjoy the substance of that practice, change while you still have the chance.

Beyond your genuine interest in the practice area, consider lifestyle factors. Some groups generally have a steadier and more predictable flow of work (litigation or trusts and estates, for example), whereas others have a very unpredictable workflow (most corporate practices, and in particular, M&A).

Certain practice areas also tend to attract distinct personalities or cultures. There are of course exceptions to the rules. But you are likely to find more charismatic, outgoing, or at times aggressive personalities in litigation, or perhaps on an M&A team. You may find more timid characters in tax or on an intellectual property team. In certain practice areas (such as litigation), you may work primarily on large teams, whereas in more niche practice areas (tax, for example), you will likely be working on smaller teams or do more individual work.

Groups differ across firms and even across offices. Firms have reputations for being intense, quirky, fratty, snobby… These are generalizations, but self-selection can help to turn these stereotypes into reality. Pay attention to the personalities of those who interview you to gauge the general demeanor and culture of the group you will be joining and how your personality will mesh.

3. Your academic background.

Your pre-law academic background may make you more marketable in certain practice areas or may impose a glass ceiling on your career advancement prospects. Be sure you have the right background to progress in your practice area (or at least be aware that if you do not have this training, you will be facing an uphill battle).

A finance or accounting background or aptitude will be extremely useful for most corporate work and for tax. You will be expected to have a general understanding of company finances. You will be expected to read, understand, and check financial statements for accuracy. As a capital markets lawyer, I often turned to my calculator or an Excel spreadsheet. As underwriters’ counsel, I worked closely with the accountants. As issuer’s counsel, I worked closely with the company’s treasury department. I was expected to catch any mistakes they made.

It used to be that general litigators could make their way into intellectual property litigation with little trouble. Nowadays, it is very difficult to advance within an IP group without a hard sciences background. Certainly for patent prosecution, you not only need a hard sciences/engineering/computer science background, but very often you will need a Ph.D. in one of these fields.

Tax and trusts & estates generally require an LL.M. If bar review class put you over the edge and you never want to take another class as long as you live, avoid these practice areas.

4. Where do you want to live?

This question is about geography. Do you want to live in a major financial center for the rest of your life, or do you want the option of moving to a smaller city one day? Or is your dream to set up your own solo practice one day? Do you aspire to work overseas? Then you need to ask the basic question, “Do U.S.-trained lawyers do this sort of work where I want to live?”

Certain practice areas are largely New York-focused, for example: structured finance, derivatives work, and executive compensation. If your ultimate goal is to move to Portland, Oregon, or Portland, Maine, it is safer to avoid these niche areas and choose a more general corporate practice or another practice area altogether.

If you start out in Washington, D.C., doing antitrust or regulatory work, keep in mind that it may be tough to move to another city that would inevitably have less of this work.

If you would like to move to a small town one day, experience with general corporate, real estate, or tax law may be more translatable into a small-firm or solo practice. If your plan is to work overseas one day, strongly consider capital markets over other practice areas. New York is generally seen as the best place to start practicing to prepare for a career overseas.

5. Given current market conditions, and expectations for future growth, how can I maximize my options?

Market conditions and the nature of demands for lawyers of particular practice areas can change rapidly. Keep tabs on the current market. While no one can predict what will happen in years or even months to come, you can make decisions to hedge your bets slightly.

Bankruptcy is very busy right now, but this is not always the case in a more stable economy. Finance and technology transactions practices are busy. M&A and real estate had been very hot for several years but are not as busy this year. If you like to gamble, a practice area so influenced by the state of the economy may intrigue you. But if you prefer stability, a practice area such as patent prosecution or tax may be better suited to you. It is helpful to keep an eye on the market at all stages of your career. This is one reason why establishing an ongoing relationship with a recruiter can be useful. Lateral Link also offers access to an online job board to help you keep tabs on current market trends.

In the current market, litigation is slowly bouncing back. We are seeing more and more openings. But litigators are still held to a much higher standard in terms of academics than corporate lawyers, for whom deal experience is an equally important factor. If the current trend continues, and if you did not go to a top law school and/or your grades are not stellar, you may find more success in the corporate arena than in litigation.

6. What are your future career goals?

Where do you see yourself working five, 10, or 20 years down the road? If your goal is to eventually transition in-house, you will have more options as a corporate lawyer (usually with a more general corporate background) than as a litigator or niche practitioner. When litigators do find those scarce in-house opportunities, they may find the work unsatisfying compared to their corporate counterparts. Depending on the organization, the work is often more attuned to project management than actual litigating.

Litigators often consider government work after Biglaw: U.S. attorneys, public defenders, prosecutors.… Non-litigators will have government options as well, but these opportunities are fewer and farther between (for example, with the IRS or the SEC).

Do you plan to stay at a law firm long-term, but with the option of going part-time one day? Trusts & estates could be a safer bet than M&A. As I mentioned above, certain practice areas also tend to have a more predictable workflow than others.

7. Structure of the firm.

The structure of your new firm may not be at the forefront of your mind when making your decision as a prospective summer or first-year associate. Nor should it be. But it is useful to understand the differences, as the structure may influence the culture of the firm and the firm’s priorities in terms of associates’ professional development.

Law firms generally fall into one of two categories:

• Lockstep: Partner compensation is based on the partner’s seniority; or
• Eat-What-You-Kill: Partner compensation is based on the hours he or she bills and the client work he or she brings in (including billing by other associates and partners for work done for that client). Every firm has a different formula, depending on the priorities of the firm. Some aim to encourage originations and sharing of clients, whereas some are more designed to reward hours billed.

Lockstep firms may tend to foster more cooperation and less competition among partners, a culture that tends to trickle down to the associates as well. However, lockstep firms also tend to have more institutional clients and may not encourage the more junior associates to learn client development skills.

For associates who are more academically oriented, it may be more comfortable to work hard and not feel as much pressure to bring in clients. On the other hand, if you enjoy the business side of law firm operations and if you think you will have an aptitude for client development, you may want to consider an environment where business development skills are more valued and where the firm will take measures to train its associates and young partners in these skills.

For lawyers more adept at client development, you also may want to consider (immediately or in a later lateral move) a firm with a two-tier partnership track (income partners and equity partners). In this system, you have a chance at the “partner” title at a more junior stage. The title aids you in proving your worth as a business-building partner in your quest for equity partnership. Firms with a one-tier partnership, with counsels and equity partners, may make counsels partner eventually, but in many firms this is rare.

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You should consider a wide range of factors in choosing a law firm and a practice area. But two points are key:

1. Genuinely enjoying your work should be your top priority in picking a practice area.
2. Choose carefully. It’s very difficult to switch practice areas once you start your career.

There is no standard or static formula for choosing a law firm or practice area. The analysis will be different for each person. But arming yourself with as much information as possible when embarking on the process is the only way to maximize your chances of picking the best route for you.

So do your homework. Read industry publications like Above the Law and the American Lawyer, as well as everything you can about the various practice areas and your firm options. Talk with practicing lawyers in a number of practice areas and ask for their honest impressions. Speak with your law school career services counselors, whether you are a current student or a graduate. Start an ongoing discussion with a trusted recruiter early on. Take stock of your situation and your level of job satisfaction — on a professional level and on a personal level — early and often.

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Lateral Link is one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices world-wide, Lateral Link specializes in placing attorneys at the most prestigious law firms and companies in the world. Managed by former practicing attorneys from top law schools, Lateral Link has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral leaps of practicing attorneys. Click ::here:: to find out more about us.