Biglaw, Law Schools

Decisions, Decisions

Money? Geography? Practice area? What matters when deciding what firm to work at?

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Despite the fact that the calendar has just flipped to September, for many law students, the Fall Recruiting Cycle — we really need to find a more seasonally appropriate term for this and I am open to suggestions — is coming to an end.  For those fortunate students, the extensive interview process has resulted in an offer for summer employment, and likely, a subsequent position after graduation.  A smaller cadre of students finds themselves in the even more enviable circumstance of having multiple options from which to choose one, or more positions.  Last year, I went through the nature of the offer stage and while that piece was long on logistics — those two paragraphs on how the NALP Guidelines address multiple offers now read as if they were written in an alternate dimension, which they may well have been— but short on advice.  So how should students sort through multiple offers?

While late capitalism might be the best term to describe the current American era, the latter part of that phrase is still applicable in the present day.  As such, in most industries, when multiple employers are trying to woo the same candidate, they will simply try to offer more money than their competitors.  But as mentioned previously in this space, the legal industry is far from a textbook example of the intersection between economics and employment.  As even casual Above the Law readers know, with law firms wary of seeming cheap to their own attorneys, law students, and possibly even clients, base Biglaw salaries are typically at a particular market rate to which all firms in a geographic area adhere.  Such uniformity often trickles down to the bonuses as well.  This is not to say that exceptions do not exist and that some firms will go above market, but typically speaking, salary is not going to be the deciding factor for most law students because there is no gradation amongst the firms — this similarly melts away when comparing Biglaw to more mid-size or boutique firms.

If money will not help you make a decision, consider geography.  Where do you want to spend the next several years of your life, if not longer?  Do you want to stay in the same city as your law school?  Return to your childhood hometown?  Live somewhere completely new?  Be honest with yourself during this process.  If you know that you do not like the cold weather, factor that into your analysis of whether you should accept and offer in Chicago versus Miami.

This is not to say that geographic location should be the only consideration, but it should be part of your evaluative process.

Also, think about what sort of law you want to practice.  The vast majority of firms that make up Biglaw are all-purpose firms, providing a young lawyer with an array of practice areas from which to choose — though there can be some exceptions with certain firms having more of a boutique practice, but with Biglaw revenues.  However, there are some obstacles that can arise, preventing one from being able to practice the type of law they prefer.  First, just because a firm has a particular practice area does not mean they will have a need for new attorneys in that area when you graduate from law school.  There are instances in which there is not enough work in a particular practice area to support the attorneys currently in that group, let alone to bring in a new crop of attorneys.  Furthermore, certain practice areas are more prominent in some offices than others.  If your goal is to be an appellate litigator, the Washington, DC office is likely going to have more opportunities than the firm’s Boston office.  Intellectual Property work is more prevalent in Northern California than in Milwaukee.  Not only should you consider where you want to work, but also think about how that will impact the type of practice you can build.

Working at a law firm, regardless of the size, can be an overwhelming experience.  While law school can provide you with the intellectual foundation needed to complete your work, it cannot teach you the intricacies of each firm and the dynamics at play within.  That is where mentoring programs can be greatly beneficial.  Typically, new attorneys are provided with senior mentors (typically partners) who can make sure enough work is coming the first year’s way as well as more junior mentors who help navigate the firm.  However, not all firm mentorship programs are the same.  First, make sure that the firms you are considering actually have a formal mentorship program.  While smaller firms might have more of an ad hoc program, you want to make sure there are at least some people at the firm who will support you.  Assuming all the firms under consideration have a mentoring program, get to know some of the details.  How are mentors assigned?  How many?  Are they drawn from your practice area or elsewhere?  Can you get different mentors if issues arise, e.g., a personality clash?  What sort of budget is afforded for mentoring activities?

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Finally, consider what you might want to do after the firm.  Even if you head into a summer program with the expectation that you will get a post-graduation offer, accept it, and spend the next thirty years at the firm, such a scenario is not always realistic.  Firms that have summer associate classes in the triple digits are not going to make 100 partners in ten years’ time.  Almost everyone in your summer associate and/or first-year associate class are going to leave the firm at some point before they would come up for partnership.  For those who leave the law entirely or go into academia — not to mention those of us who are academia adjacent — there might not be much of a connection between the new opportunity and their firm job.  However, for a great many more fleeing Biglaw, the landing point may well be a former client.  In-house opportunities rarely go to law school graduates as corporations would much rather let law firms train young lawyers and then pluck them once their skill set has developed.  But said plucking typically takes place from outside counsel.  Think about what sort of entity you might want to work for later in your career and see if any of your firm options happen to represent them.  It is much easier to land in-house at Pfizer if you spent the previous several years impressing them with your work product. 

Similarly, oftentimes certain government offices will have a significant number of former Biglaw attorneys from a particular firm who are always looking to add to their refugee ranks.  Do your diligence and see if a particular U.S. Attorney’s or Federal Public Defenders office you might be interested in down the line has a number of attorneys who used to work at one of the firms you are considering.  If so, that potential interview years down the road can be far friendlier than anticipated.

Having multiple law firm offers is an objectively fantastic situation, but one that can quickly paralyze even the savviest law student by overwhelming them with choices.[1] However, if you think about the various aspects of the firm and your career, you can come up with a wholly satisfying choice.

[1] Consider what would happen if you wanted to buy some cereal and went to two stores, the first having one brand and another having fifty, which store are you leaving first with a box of cereal?

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Nicholas Alexiou is the Director of LL.M. and Alumni Advising as well as the Associate Director of Career Services at Vanderbilt University Law School. He will, hopefully, respond to your emails at abovethelawcso@gmail.com.

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