This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognizing you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Read our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe same problems followed me after I lateralled. Every firm is the same, and maybe I should just leave the practice of law.\u201d \u201cI stayed at my firm because I knew I could make partner, now I can\u2019t get out of here fast enough, but I keep getting rejected.\u201d These two sides of the lateral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144969","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144969\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cI joined my firm six months ago, but I\u2019m always willing to hear about an opportunity.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\nStay. Having too many moves on your resume is still a major red flag to firms. Sentiments are changing, but they\u2019re changing at law firm pace. I spoke to an associate recently who bristled when I told him he needed to stay at his firm two years \u2013 better still three. He already made three lateral moves, as a mid-level, and he was at one of his firms for only eight months.<\/p>\n
When you have too many moves on your resume, especially if any are in quick succession, partners will be afraid you\u2019re unable to integrate into a group, are repeatedly being fired or encouraged to leave, just chasing money, or will generally never be satisfied.<\/p>\n
The old advice to be at your firm for a year was always intended to be the minimum, not the maximum, and never the average. Take a look at your resume from a firm\u2019s perspective. If they could only count on you to be at their firm for the average time you\u2019ve spent at each of your prior firms, would you be a good investment?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to be partner at my firm for the long-term, but I\u2019m so close to being elevated.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\nGo. The achievement of making partner can be such a strong milestone it makes attorneys stay at their firm far longer than they should. If you don\u2019t see a future at your firm, your career has stalled. You may still be doing good work, but you are in quicksand.<\/p>\n
The reality is that it can be very difficult to lateral as a partner without business. Partners need different resources and support from a firm than associates, so asking a firm to invest those resources in you, bill you out at a higher rate, without your ability to offset costs with portable business can be a nonstarter, especially in the current lateral market. This isn\u2019t to say it can\u2019t be done. It can, but these are exceptions.<\/p>\n
If you look around at the partners at your firm and you see that\u2019s not what you want for your career, maybe you\u2019re entrepreneurial and your firm has a ton of institutional clients and billing rates which make building your own book prohibitively expensive, or the opposite, maybe you just want to be a grinder and not develop business, but that\u2019s the expectation at your firm, you should consider strategically exploring the market. It will feel like you\u2019re losing ground and making partnership further away, but you will make up ground in the long-term not fighting against the economic realities of the business of law.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m learning a ton now, but partners tend to keep senior-level work, so seniors are still doing mid-level work.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\nStay, for now. I can hear you say, \u201cthis is the opposite of what you just said \u2013 don\u2019t stay at a firm when you know the future isn\u2019t what you want.\u201d The difference here is that you\u2019re still learning. If you are growing and developing, especially as a junior and into a mid-level associate, that development is essential to your future marketability to another firm.<\/p>\n
Imagine the classic plateau curve, or s-curve, where strong initial growth eventually levels off. As long as you\u2019re on the initial ascent, the immediate value of the near-term growth outweighs the future risk of plateau. Once you get nearer the plateau, that\u2019s when the equation shifts.<\/p>\n
Plan on a lateral search taking six months to find the right fit for you. Look at more senior attorneys who struggle with continued growth, find when their growth stalled, then plan on starting your search six months to a year prior to when they hit the plateau. This way you maximize your training and your value to a potential new employer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some weeks I want to die, and the partners don\u2019t provide much support.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\nGo, immediately. This is verbatim what an associate told me recently. Some people may use hyperbolic language, but it\u2019s important to recognize the mental health crisis many attorneys face. Fellow recruiters Jennifer Gillman of The Happy Rainmaker and Joe Ankus of Attorney Mental Health Education each offer excellent resources and advocacy for mental health.<\/p>\n
The associate I was speaking with was being hyperbolic, but just barely. No amount of salary is worth being miserable. Changing jobs is stressful, and if you\u2019re already struggling, that added stress can feel insurmountable. This is one reason why I believe a talented, honest, legal recruiter can be so valuable. Your recruiter can take on most of the burden of finding a new position, help you polish your resume, prepare you before interviews, handle the emails and the paperwork, all the research, all the back and forth, and on and on. Bottom line: you don\u2019t have to suffer, and you don\u2019t have to suffer alone.<\/p>\n
Each person\u2019s experience is unique, and a good recruiter will be able to offer unbiased advice to determine if your situation calls for staying or going. Before undergoing a lateral move, talk with your firm about your concerns (diplomatically and without demands). Nothing will ever change if you don\u2019t clearly communicate your challenges, and it raises the risk you\u2019ll encounter the same frustrations wherever you go. If the firm can\u2019t change, or won\u2019t listen to your concerns, then you know it\u2019s time to move on.<\/p>\n
When that time comes, you can be confident you\u2019ve avoided the danger of moving when you shouldn\u2019t and have safeguarded your resume against one of the biggest red flags firms look for and be the most competitive candidate you can be.<\/p>\n
The post Recruiter\u2019s Corner: Should I Stay or Should I Go?<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/attorneyatlawmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/black%400.5x.png?resize=172%2C63&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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Go. The achievement of making partner can be such a strong milestone it makes attorneys stay at their firm far longer than they should. If you don\u2019t see a future at your firm, your career has stalled. You may still be doing good work, but you are in quicksand.<\/p>\n
The reality is that it can be very difficult to lateral as a partner without business. Partners need different resources and support from a firm than associates, so asking a firm to invest those resources in you, bill you out at a higher rate, without your ability to offset costs with portable business can be a nonstarter, especially in the current lateral market. This isn\u2019t to say it can\u2019t be done. It can, but these are exceptions.<\/p>\n
If you look around at the partners at your firm and you see that\u2019s not what you want for your career, maybe you\u2019re entrepreneurial and your firm has a ton of institutional clients and billing rates which make building your own book prohibitively expensive, or the opposite, maybe you just want to be a grinder and not develop business, but that\u2019s the expectation at your firm, you should consider strategically exploring the market. It will feel like you\u2019re losing ground and making partnership further away, but you will make up ground in the long-term not fighting against the economic realities of the business of law.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m learning a ton now, but partners tend to keep senior-level work, so seniors are still doing mid-level work.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\nStay, for now. I can hear you say, \u201cthis is the opposite of what you just said \u2013 don\u2019t stay at a firm when you know the future isn\u2019t what you want.\u201d The difference here is that you\u2019re still learning. If you are growing and developing, especially as a junior and into a mid-level associate, that development is essential to your future marketability to another firm.<\/p>\n
Imagine the classic plateau curve, or s-curve, where strong initial growth eventually levels off. As long as you\u2019re on the initial ascent, the immediate value of the near-term growth outweighs the future risk of plateau. Once you get nearer the plateau, that\u2019s when the equation shifts.<\/p>\n
Plan on a lateral search taking six months to find the right fit for you. Look at more senior attorneys who struggle with continued growth, find when their growth stalled, then plan on starting your search six months to a year prior to when they hit the plateau. This way you maximize your training and your value to a potential new employer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some weeks I want to die, and the partners don\u2019t provide much support.\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\nGo, immediately. This is verbatim what an associate told me recently. Some people may use hyperbolic language, but it\u2019s important to recognize the mental health crisis many attorneys face. Fellow recruiters Jennifer Gillman of The Happy Rainmaker and Joe Ankus of Attorney Mental Health Education each offer excellent resources and advocacy for mental health.<\/p>\n
The associate I was speaking with was being hyperbolic, but just barely. No amount of salary is worth being miserable. Changing jobs is stressful, and if you\u2019re already struggling, that added stress can feel insurmountable. This is one reason why I believe a talented, honest, legal recruiter can be so valuable. Your recruiter can take on most of the burden of finding a new position, help you polish your resume, prepare you before interviews, handle the emails and the paperwork, all the research, all the back and forth, and on and on. Bottom line: you don\u2019t have to suffer, and you don\u2019t have to suffer alone.<\/p>\n
Each person\u2019s experience is unique, and a good recruiter will be able to offer unbiased advice to determine if your situation calls for staying or going. Before undergoing a lateral move, talk with your firm about your concerns (diplomatically and without demands). Nothing will ever change if you don\u2019t clearly communicate your challenges, and it raises the risk you\u2019ll encounter the same frustrations wherever you go. If the firm can\u2019t change, or won\u2019t listen to your concerns, then you know it\u2019s time to move on.<\/p>\n
When that time comes, you can be confident you\u2019ve avoided the danger of moving when you shouldn\u2019t and have safeguarded your resume against one of the biggest red flags firms look for and be the most competitive candidate you can be.<\/p>\n
The post Recruiter\u2019s Corner: Should I Stay or Should I Go?<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Go, immediately. This is verbatim what an associate told me recently. Some people may use hyperbolic language, but it\u2019s important to recognize the mental health crisis many attorneys face. Fellow recruiters Jennifer Gillman of The Happy Rainmaker and Joe Ankus of Attorney Mental Health Education each offer excellent resources and advocacy for mental health.<\/p>\n
The associate I was speaking with was being hyperbolic, but just barely. No amount of salary is worth being miserable. Changing jobs is stressful, and if you\u2019re already struggling, that added stress can feel insurmountable. This is one reason why I believe a talented, honest, legal recruiter can be so valuable. Your recruiter can take on most of the burden of finding a new position, help you polish your resume, prepare you before interviews, handle the emails and the paperwork, all the research, all the back and forth, and on and on. Bottom line: you don\u2019t have to suffer, and you don\u2019t have to suffer alone.<\/p>\n
Each person\u2019s experience is unique, and a good recruiter will be able to offer unbiased advice to determine if your situation calls for staying or going. Before undergoing a lateral move, talk with your firm about your concerns (diplomatically and without demands). Nothing will ever change if you don\u2019t clearly communicate your challenges, and it raises the risk you\u2019ll encounter the same frustrations wherever you go. If the firm can\u2019t change, or won\u2019t listen to your concerns, then you know it\u2019s time to move on.<\/p>\n
When that time comes, you can be confident you\u2019ve avoided the danger of moving when you shouldn\u2019t and have safeguarded your resume against one of the biggest red flags firms look for and be the most competitive candidate you can be.<\/p>\n
The post Recruiter\u2019s Corner: Should I Stay or Should I Go?<\/a> appeared first on Attorney at Law Magazine<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n