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Happy spring! And despite our still-challenging times, there are things to celebrate.
A year ago today, I was still in the hospital with a severe case of COVID-19. This March was much, much better: my big news for the month is that I received both doses of Pfizer’s new COVID vaccine. I experienced some side effects – fatigue, aches, chills – but they’re much better than the alternative. I’m glad and grateful to be vaccinated, and I urge you to get vaccinated when you can if you haven’t been vaccinated already.
The sooner we all get vaccinated, the sooner we can return to some semblance of normalcy. And there are already signs that we’re starting to turn the corner. Law firms and in-house legal departments are making tentative plans to return to the office – and because so many of them are so busy, they’re ramping up their hiring. Here are just a few of the exciting opportunities that we’re handling here at Lateral Link:
1. A remote business-side role. If you’re a lawyer or law school graduate looking to transition over to the business side while still making use of your legal education and experience, here’s a great opportunity. An innovative and rapidly growing ed tech company, a recognized leader in bringing digital learning to the legal industry, is looking for a Manager of Law School Engagement. This new role provides an exciting opportunity to use a range of skills – including relationship management, business strategy, and sales and marketing – to help the company grow, to help law students become more practice-ready, and to help law professors develop new methods of teaching that incorporate the company’s offerings.
The role offers the chance to make a big contribution to a growing business, a competitive salary, equity in a thriving company, top-notch health insurance, and a 401(k) with employer matching. A law degree is required, and experience at either a Biglaw firm or in sales and marketing is a plus. Because the company is remote, the candidate can sit anywhere in the country. This job search is being handled exclusively by Lateral Link.
2. An amazing appellate opportunity. One of the world’s top law firms is looking to hire a third- to fourth-year associate to join its Supreme Court and appellate practice. This role offers an incredible opportunity to work on premier appellate matters with one of the nation’s leading SCOTUS advocates, and it’s also geographically flexible. While D.C. would be preferred, the new hire could also sit in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and a number of other major markets – making this the rare opportunity to engage in Supreme Court and appellate practice without living in Washington.
Requirements: a stellar academic record in law school, a SCOTUS clerkship or a clerkship with a leading federal appellate judge, and class of 2017-2018. (I mentioned this opportunity in a prior newsletter. Since then, the group has hired one fairly senior associate, so it’s now looking at the more junior level – and there isn’t much flexibility here.)
3. A capital markets role with a decent lifestyle. If you’re a midlevel to senior capital markets associate, you have no shortage of opportunities right now. But because cap markets is so busy, most of those opportunities involve working extremely long hours. If you focus on capital markets/securities work for public companies but also want to have a life outside of work, we are currently working with an Am Law 200 firm that boasts interesting work, an international orientation, a highly collegial environment – and yes, reasonable hours.
4. A securities litigation boutique with stand-up opportunities. For litigation associates with three to four years of Biglaw experience, a plaintiff-side securities litigation boutique in New York is looking to hire. The work is interesting, dynamic, and fast-paced; you won’t be stuck on these giant Biglaw cases that drag on for five or 10 years. Expect to have stand-up opportunities, such as arguing motions, very soon after arriving. Prior securities experience or a demonstrated interest in securities work is strongly preferred.
5. Litigation boutiques more generally. Outside the securities space, a number of elite litigation boutiques seek associates with strong academic records from top schools, one or two federal clerkships, and one to two years of experience at a top Biglaw firm (but generally not more than that; the window for lateraling as a litigator is earlier than it used to be). Compared to their Biglaw counterparts, boutiques offer smaller and often more collegial environments, more responsibility at an earlier stage of your career, and enhanced partnership prospects. If you have the credentials discussed above, graduated from law school in 2017-2019, and might be interested in learning more about top boutiques, please contact us.
If any of these opportunities sound appealing, please feel free to reach out to me or any of my colleagues to discuss possible opportunities. We look forward to hearing from you.
Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts from Lateral Link’s team of expert contributors. This post is by David Lat, a managing director in the New York office, where he focuses on placing top associates, partners and partner groups into preeminent law firms around the country.
Before joining Lateral Link, David founded and served as managing editor of Above the Law. You can read his latest writing about law and the legal profession by subscribing to Original Jurisdiction, his Substack newsletter. David’s book, Supreme Ambitions: A Novel (2014), was described by the New York Times as “the most buzzed-about novel of the year” among legal elites. Before entering the media and recruiting worlds, David worked as a federal prosecutor, a litigation associate at Wachtell Lipton, and a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. You can connect with David on Twitter (@DavidLat), LinkedIn, and Facebook, and you can reach him by email at [email protected].
Lateral Link is one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices worldwide, 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.