Fly South This Winter... On A One-Way Ticket!

The Southeast offers a great alternative to your current work situation, and it is a great place to enjoy life and raise a family.

Scott Hodes

Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. Scott Hodes is a Senior Director based in the Southeast where he oversees attorney placements and client services primarily in Florida, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Nashville. Scott holds a B.A. in Criminology, cum laude, from the University of Florida, a J.D. from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, and an LL.M. in estate planning from the University of Miami. Scott began his legal career as a corporate litigator for a full service firm in Boca Raton, Florida.

I know what a lot of you are thinking, especially if you live in a cold-weather city like New York, Chicago, or D.C.:

“I should go on vacation this holiday season. It’s cold. It’s dark. I’m working long, late hours. I don’t remember the last time I made it home for dinner and saw my kids before bedtime. It’s frankly depressing. I need a break.”

Well, what if I told you about a magical place where the temperature rarely drops below freezing, it stays light past 4:00 p.m. in the winter, you can golf, swim, play tennis, be outside all year round, and the work-life balance is such that you might make it home in time for dinner with the family when it’s still light outside?

Such a place exists! And there is no magic. It’s called the Southeast. And for reasons I will explain at the end of this article, not only is it the right place, but RIGHT NOW is the time to consider a move.

Here is an interesting statistic on average temperatures in January:

New York City         36°F (High); 24°F (Low)

Chicago                    30°F (High); 12°F (Low)

D.C.                          43°F (High); 28°F (Low)

Miami                      76°F (High); 60°F (Low)

Okay, okay — you get the idea. So why are you subjecting yourself to the aforementioned harsh conditions when you don’t have to? I have a solution: Grab a one-way ticket south this winter.

More and more attorneys are flocking to this region for various reasons, not the least of which is the work-life balance and the lifestyle. Sure, if you join a big firm you will work hard. There is no way around that if you want to be successful. However, there are alternatives to the endless hours and unbearable stress associated with “Biglaw” in the major Northeast and Midwest markets mentioned above, and those alternatives exist in the Southeast.

Here are some reasons you might consider relocating to the Southeast:

Work-Life Balance – Ahhhh yes, the holy grail of practicing law. How do I get the perfect work-life balance? Well, that means different things to different people, and there is no magic formula. However, generally speaking, in the Southeast, billable hour requirements (and stress levels!) tend to be lower and firms place a high priority on this elusive “work-life balance” concept that seems to be a pipedream in larger markets.

You have ties to the Southeast – You know how you get those calls from home, saying you don’t call, you don’t write, and no one gets to see you? Here is a fool-proof way to avoid that guilt: Come home for good.

After all, you grew up in [insert applicable Southeast city here], your family still lives there, your friends are there, and most importantly, you probably have many contacts there who can help with business generation. Or maybe you went to school there and you’d like to come back. The time is now! You moved to the big city, you made the big bucks, you sold your soul to the practice of law, and haven’t seen the sun in a few years. Firms absolutely LOVE re-locators from large markets and large firms who want to come home and bring that great expertise and experience with them. You are in the driver’s seat.

Weather – It’s cold where you live. It’s warmer here. Simple as that. I know. I grew up in New Jersey and I love it there. I love to visit. In the summer. For three months out of the year. But a calendar year is 12 months. You do the math. I did. And that’s why I live in the Southeast. My tennis and golf game are at an all-time high.

We have REALLY great law firms in the Southeast that do really great work – Over half of the Am Law 100 law firms have offices in the Southeast, in either Florida, Atlanta, North Carolina, or Nashville. And if that type of firm is not for you, the Southeast boasts some of the top boutique and regional firms in the country. Firms that do very sophisticated work and sit across the table regularly from your more well-known Am Law firms. In no way, shape, or form are you sacrificing quality of firm if you work with the right recruiter, do your diligence, and make the right choice.

In addition, there are areas that are booming. You are an expert in Finance at one of the top firms in New York City? Try Charlotte on for size. You probably won’t even take a pay cut. Perhaps you want to get involved in Latin American transactions, litigation, or arbitration? “Please hold for Miami on line 1.” Or maybe you are looking for a smaller city? Do you have IP or tech experience? I’ll bet you never considered the Raleigh/Research Triangle Park area, which is one of the largest tech hubs and home to countless emerging growth companies in the country.

Contrary to popular belief, you can have a very rewarding, long, and prosperous legal career outside of the larger markets that you are accustomed to.

Salaries and Cost of Living – With some exceptions, it would be disingenuous to suggest that across the board you can make the same salary in Florida, Atlanta, North Carolina, or Nashville than you can in New York City, Chicago, or D.C. However, the discrepancy may not be as bad as you think when you take into account recent increases in salary, healthy bonus payouts, and most importantly, cost of living.

More and more firms have raised salaries in response to the introduction of last year’s “Cravath scale.” While many firms are not on the same scale, they are getting closer and closer, and salaries in the Southeast and Midwest may surprise you. In addition, there are fewer firms that are “lock-step” and therefore there is some flexibility for the right candidate (read: a top relocation candidate from NYC, D.C., or Chicago from a highly ranked Am Law firm with great academic credentials).

And I would be remiss not to mention cost of living. Here is what the CNN Cost of Living calculator says about an Atlanta salary compared to an NYC salary:

A $200k salary in Atlanta would be equivalent to a $464k salary in NYC. Housing alone is 426% higher in NYC, and that’s to say nothing about utilities (25% higher), transportation (31% higher), and groceries (24% higher).

Now of course these are approximations and at the end of the day you might have to take a bit of a salary cut, but the cost of living differential is very, very real.  When taking all of the other above reasons into account, it is indeed a factor that goes on the scoreboard in the Southeast column.

So, let’s take a timeout. Are you convinced yet that the Southeast offers a great alternative to your current work situation, and it is a great place to enjoy life and raise a family?

If so, the next question is why should you talk to a recruiter and consider a move now, when everyone else is getting ready for the holidays and waiting until next year?

I submit the following…

We are here to help during this busy timeWhile this time of year can be tremendously stressful, with work and holidays and everything that comes with it, we are here to help make it easy for you. We can seamlessly navigate the process by identifying opportunities, making introductions, organizing interviews, and working with both sides effectively and efficiently.

Strike while the iron is hot – I know conventional wisdom would indicate otherwise, but take the word of someone who is recruiting in this market for their eighth straight winter: this is a very busy time of year for recruiting and lateral movement.

Granted, you might not actually start a new job until after January 1 because you and the law firms need to wind things down and close year-end deals, but THIS is the time to position yourself for next year and land that perfect job. Do not wait until it is too late and you are competing with all of your colleagues who did not read this article.

By that time, current openings will be closed, and the market will be inundated with others who waited until it was too late.

Get a head start on the competition – This is the time to stand out from the crowd. Firms have needs, and those needs must be filled. And they are not sitting tight waiting for next year. They need to fill them now! While your colleagues take a wait-and-see approach, you have the opportunity to be proactive, not reactive, and you have a teammate in me who is knowledgeable about the market to assist you with and guide you through the process.

Bonus Considerations – I know. I get it. I really do. You are waiting to get your bonus. And you deserve it. You worked hard all year, hit or exceeded your hours, and you should be rewarded. You would have to be crazy to leave that money on the table right? Well, yes, in theory. But consider this:

Firms know this, and as a result, many firms will offer a signing bonus to either match your current bonus or soften the blow of leaving it behind, so you may not take as much of a financial hit as you thought.

More importantly, you have to look long-term. If you have decided to make a move or you are strongly considering a move, is staying for your bonus going to cost you an opportunity to get that perfect position? What if the new job actually results in a better financial situation long-term? Is it worth losing that opportunity?

The answer may not be clear, and it is most certainly case-by-case, but it should definitely enter the thought process and it is wise to balance the benefit of staying for your bonus versus the chance of missing out on something that will be more satisfying, enjoyable, and perhaps even more financially rewarding, in the long run.

The steps are easy:

Step 1: Read this article. Look outside your window at 4:00 p.m. Look at the weather report for the next three months. Consider a move to the Southeast.

Step 2: Call me or email me during this holiday season and this winter at shodes@laterallink.com and let me help.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go make my tee times for January.


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.