Good morning or afternoon, depending on where you are. It was interesting. I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning. It was about how people are from law school and have a lot of debt, making it difficult to earn enough to pay it off. Most people aren't paying back their loans. Something like two-thirds or more are starting to pay back the most within a couple of years. I listened to that, and there are two parts. One part feels very badly for the people experiencing this. But the other part feels badly that more people aren't taking part in webinars and learning about how to find a job. Honestly, in this recruiting firm, we make more placements of people who didn't go to good law schools and aren't working in big firms. There's so much opportunity out there. Almost every attorney I work with is marketable. That doesn't mean everyone can get high six-figure jobs, but there are a lot of opportunities in many markets.
A lot of the reason for people not experiencing success is that they are not really listening to stuff like this—learning how to do a job search. I feel badly that people may come out with knowledge but don't know how to use it to get positions and improve their career prospects. This is a good webinar for you guys to listen to. All these webinars are helpful because there is literally so much opportunity out there that people don't see. The only way to see it is to listen to people like me. I'm certainly not the only person that understands this, but this is all I do and think about. I work with all types of attorneys getting jobs. Even in our company, there are tons of opportunities. We have probably 30 to 40 jobs here at any given time. There's a lot of opportunity in this industry for anyone who has gone to law school and is willing to apply themselves and learn. If you're smart enough to pass the bar exam, you're definitely smart enough to do extremely well in this profession, regardless of where you end up.
See Related Videos:
- Challenging Prestige Perceptions in Different Legal Practice Settings
- How to Select the Right Practice Area and Position Your Resume for Success in Your Legal Job Search
- The Top 10 Ways Working as an Attorney in a Law Firm Ages (and Kills You) Prematurely
- How Lawyers Can Change Their Practice Area in a Law Firm
Today's presentation is about relocating to different parts of the country. This is something that blows my mind that people don't do more of. I'll tell you a quick story. When I clerked for a judge in Michigan, after my clerkship, there were five big law firms in Michigan. At the time, getting a job with one of them was next to impossible. They hired a few people, often from great law schools like the University of Michigan. It was a very competitive market. So looking at other markets was a smart move for me. Even coming out of a federal clerkship and having gone to a good law school and done well, it still made it a very difficult market.
One of the most effective things anyone can do, instead of complaining about the state of the market, is to apply to jobs in other parts of the country. You might feel attached to working in New York City or wherever your parents live, but that strategy often harms your prospects. You might not enjoy working in a very conservative market like Detroit or rural Virginia, but different markets offer different opportunities. If you're relocating, you'll have better options than if you stay in your current market.
For example, if you're an attorney in San Antonio and only try to work at a few tough firms there, you may think something is wrong with you if you don't get a good reception. But there are thousands of law firms around the country that are just as good. If you expand your search to include Dallas, Austin, Houston, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and other markets, you'll have a better chance of getting a job. Many people have deflated expectations because they don't get a good reception in a single market. That's insane. One problem with trying to find a job in your own market is that law firms might wrongly conclude you're looking for a job because you're doing something wrong at your current firm.
Looking at you with fresh eyes in a new market, firms won't think of you as a cast-off from another firm. Every year, I see people relocating locally to a firm, then someone locally says something negative about them, and their reputation suffers. Relocating to another market can be helpful because it gives you a fresh start.
From my standpoint, relocating to different markets is one of the smartest things you can do in your job search. Law firms are much more likely to hire you when you look at multiple markets. Most people only look at one market seriously. For example, if you're a patent attorney in Cleveland and only look there, you might find a few jobs. But if you expand to all of Ohio, the Midwest, and 10 other states, you'll be looking at hundreds of jobs. Increasing your odds by hundreds of times just makes sense.
People who complain about not making enough money or taking government or public interest jobs often aren't searching enough markets or applying to enough law firms. To be successful, you need to do a broad search. Imagine if Coca-Cola only tried to sell in Austin, Texas, and thought they were a failure because no one was buying. Different people appeal to different markets, so you need to look at multiple markets. If you're not doing this, you're holding yourself back.
There are about 200 legal markets in the United States, some larger than others. Looking at more markets increases your odds of getting more offers. As a young attorney, getting experience is crucial. You don't need to worry about the prestige of your law firm, but you want the best training possible. The only way to get that training is to look at as many markets as you can.
I was fortunate to apply to multiple markets when I was finishing my clerkship. I didn't just work in Detroit or go back to a firm in New York. When you start looking at more legal markets, you open up opportunities. I've seen attorneys looking for jobs for months or years in markets like Detroit, Orlando, or Minneapolis. Then they come to work with me, and I help them look at Palo Alto, Chicago, or Dallas. Suddenly, they're working for a major law firm or a small firm in Kansas City. If a recruiter sees your strengths and helps you apply to other markets, you can take your career to the next level.
Attorneys often don't understand that their prospects expand when they look at more markets. What you think is in demand in your market may not be the same elsewhere. I've seen people blackballed in San Francisco or other markets get 10-15 job offers elsewhere. It's insane to limit yourself to one market when there are so many opportunities.
Markets go through recessions, booms, and busts. For example, New York City might become overly saturated with corporate attorneys, making it difficult to find jobs. Meanwhile, Texas might still have demand due to the oil industry. During the last recession, New York was hit hard, but Texas remained strong. People who applied to jobs in Texas did well.
Certain practice areas, like project finance or employee benefits, might have limited opportunities in the U.S., but plenty abroad. I've seen project finance attorneys get jobs in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Employee benefits attorneys who couldn't find jobs for years suddenly get offers in other markets. If you're smart, you'll look at other areas with more opportunities. Your career is too important not to.
Patent attorneys often look at firms all over the country because the patent bar is a national certification. I've placed patent attorneys in various states, even those who have been retired for years. I once placed a patent attorney from Texas in Pittsburgh. He'd never been out of Texas, but he liked hiking and wanted to move to Seattle. He got hired in Pittsburgh without ever visiting it and increased his salary significantly.
There are so many opportunities if you start looking at other markets. If you want to work in a big law firm but don't think you have the qualifications, you probably do. Markets like Idaho, for example, have big firms that might be interested in you even if you don't fit the typical criteria. The more narrow your practice area, the more likely you are to find jobs in various markets. Education law attorneys, for example, are extremely marketable in multiple markets.
Most professions look at opportunities in multiple markets, and if you're in a slow market, you can't afford not to look elsewhere. You need to keep gaining experience. Gaps on your resume send a bad signal, showing you're not getting the results you should from your job search.
How would you feel if your client needed a job and you only told them to pray and hope for openings in a single market? A good attorney would advise looking at every possible market and law firm. If someone tells you to pray and hope, that's ridiculous. You need to look at every possible market.
When the financial markets slow down, certain regions remain active. During the fracking boom, for example, anyone could get a job in North Dakota. People complain about the job market, but there are many jobs out there. If there are no jobs in your area, you need to relocate. Economic downturns affect different regions differently. Some recruiters focus only on certain markets, but those who expand their search do better.
Work is always somewhere. Firms are always under-marketing their jobs and unable to find people. If you're in a market with no future, you need to look at other markets. People often feel boxed in and think they must stay in a particular job or relationship, but that's not true. Expanding your search will reveal more opportunities.
I have to stay in this job. I have to stay in the city. I have to stay in this house. I have to stay close to my wife's parents. I have to stay close to my husband's parents. I have to stay close to my parents. My kids can't switch schools. I can't whatever, none of that does any good. If you're depressed and you don't have a job and you cannot control what's happening in your legal market, if a factory closes, that's not your problem. That's not something that you caused. And if that factory has all the legal jobs and is supporting the market and the hospitals and all your potential clients, then you need to move. It's as simple as that's what people do all the time. And it's just how it works. Many attorneys need to move and you will be well-served many times by relocating. It can be limiting working in small markets. It can be limiting working in large markets. It can be limiting working in the largest markets.
Many times, people want to move out of small markets sometimes because, granted, if you're working for smaller clients, the work is going to be limited, and the work is not going to be as sophisticated, and the income that you can make isn't going to be as large. You may not get as much respect from larger clients who may be harder to bring in. All that is true. You may want to leave because of those reasons and go to a larger market if you're very aggressive and want to do as well as you can. On the other hand, if you work in a major market, you may conclude it's going to be impossible for you to ever be a partner in that market.
If you want to do that in a major law firm in New York City, none of this stuff is impossible, by the way. I've met people that have come to me and have been students of the stuff I've written and have taken what I've taught them and learned from other people as well, and have risen the ranks to become partners in the biggest firms in the country. You can do that as well. You can become a partner anywhere you want, but you have to learn it. None of this is impossible. If you provide more value than you're taking, the law firm is always going to make you a partner. You just have to figure out how to do that.
But the point is that if you're not willing to pay the price that it takes to become a partner in most law firms, which is all about providing more value, way more than you're taking, then you can relocate. You can go to a major city, you can do whatever you want, or move to a smaller city. I relocate people to small markets all the time because they want a different lifestyle or more guarantees about advancement. That's it. You may feel limited by the culture in the city. I relocate a lot of people away from small Southern cities in South Carolina and places like that where everyone that works together knows each other, knows their family, and does everything together and socializes together. There are certain markets that are like that. If you don't want to be part of that, then you can relocate.
People can be limited by culture. You can be in markets that could be limiting. The people might be too conservative, not open-minded enough about people from different backgrounds, religions, orientations, races, or you could feel that certain markets are too liberal for you. It doesn't matter. The point is whatever you want. You should be in a market where you're comfortable. And if the market is doing well somewhere else, you can't afford not to look at more markets.
I grew up in Detroit, where everyone talked about the auto industry all the time. The big thing with auto salespeople is they will always try to work in the best possible firm where the most cars are sold. They don't want to work in a place where no one is buying cars. They want to sell cars that are easy to sell. So they'll always move to the firms where they can make the most money and sell cars most easily. It's considered a good job to be an auto salesman in a Porsche dealership. It used to be a Honda or Toyota dealership. The better the product, the more business there is, and the more people want to buy this stuff, the better off you'll be.
The point that I'm making is that you really need to work where there's opportunity and where people are buying your services and where there's demand. Why would you want to work in a market where no one wants you or there's not enough need for you? You're just going to feel badly about yourself. It doesn't matter where you went to law school or how well you did there, or even your past experience. If you go somewhere and you put your head down and work hard and provide a lot more value than you take, you will do well. That's all there is to it. You need to commit to it.
So none of this is brain surgery. Recently, I placed two attorneys from small firms in Indiana into major firms in the Bay Area. I placed attorneys from all around the Midwest into major firms all the time. People move from Detroit to New York City. They move from all sorts of markets to other places. This can not only change an attorney's income, but it also gives the attorney more credibility when you can move to a bigger market if you want to do that and sometimes better career prospects.
If you're in a market that's slow and you don't feel like you're doing well or you're going through the motions, then you can move to another market. If you have skills that are common in one market and in demand elsewhere, you often can't afford to ignore other markets. An example again is New York City. There's a lot of corporate attorneys there. If you want to look at other markets, there may be a lot of opportunity and demand for you. And there are other markets where there's none in New York City. Sometimes certain practice areas are very active in some markets and not others. These are things to think about when you're looking for a job.
Patent law has always been very popular, and there have been a lot of patent attorneys and IP litigators in the Bay Area, not as many elsewhere. Litigation has so many litigators in Washington, DC—very skilled and good litigators. But they're less common with those kinds of qualifications elsewhere. Regardless of your practice area, the odds are pretty good that it will be in demand in other markets around the country. You have to think about the market as a fluid type of thing where your skills are going to be in demand in one place and not necessarily in others.
When you get 5, 6, 7, 8 years of experience, you would be considered senior. It can be very difficult in very competitive markets when you have a lot of experience to find jobs in law firms. These law firms need to have work to support the higher billing rates, need to value your skills, and need to have enough work to make you a partner or advance you without you having business. These are challenges you face. One of the only ways for attorneys in that position to get new opportunities is by looking at new markets. I can't overemphasize this enough. I place attorneys without business in firms all over the country. I've had many instances, several times a month, where an attorney without any business or work is relocated to another market where they were unmarketable, couldn't find a job, and didn't even have contacts, but there was a demand for them. I'm able to get them a job.
I told you about the attorney in Indiana, not Chicago, placed in Texas—immigration attorney unmarketable in Texas, placed in Seattle; bankruptcy attorney unmarketable in Detroit, placed in New York City; senior tax attorney unmarketable in Los Angeles, placed in upstate New York; senior patent attorney unmarketable in South Florida, placed in Washington DC. Most of these attorneys wouldn't be getting jobs if they didn't relocate. If you're sitting around depressed about the fact that there's not enough work at your current employer, not enough opportunities, or you can't get a job, or you're graduating from law school and worried about the market in whatever market you're trying to work in, you need to think about the fact that the United States is a huge area of a couple of thousand miles long. There are so many opportunities out there—tens of thousands of law firms. There are so many opportunities.
If you're in a major market and you're not getting love from top law firms, and they don't like the fact that you didn't go to a top law school and do great there, and you're not working at a great firm, and you think you need to work in a big firm, then why wouldn't you look at other markets? If you're trying to work in a major market like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, or San Francisco, do you know how many people are also trying to do the same thing as you? If you're a major law firm with an opening in one of these markets, they're going to get more than enough applications and will choose the best. They don't care where it comes from. They don't care if it's from a recruiter or someone that walks in off the street. They've got the money, they've got the work, and they will take the best person they can get. If you don't think you're the best person for most jobs, then you've got a problem. If you're in a major market, then you are probably not going to be the best person for most jobs. It doesn't matter if you have connections or know someone; they're going to hire the best person, wherever that person comes from. That's what they do. That's what their self-interest is. That's what you would do if you were in their situation too. There's nothing wrong with that.
But if you're applying to places that don't have openings and you're the only person, that's a very smart thing to do. If you're applying to firms in other markets that aren't getting many applications, then you look like the best person. That's a very good thing. There is
so much competition. I don't need to tell you how much competition there is because you know it. If you're only looking at the jobs that are coming through whatever type of search you're doing and not looking at more jobs, you're making a mistake. If you're afraid of rejection in this business, that's a real problem too because, as attorneys, that's what we do. We get rejected. We get rejected by top law schools when we apply. We get rejected by law firms when we apply. We get rejected by courts most of the time when we're litigating. We get the bad end of contracts. We get fired. All sorts of things happen to attorneys. That's what we do. You have to be used to rejection. No one cares if you got rejected 5,000 times or 100 times; all they care about is the results that you ultimately get. So you need to go out there and apply to more places and get rejected.
An attorney can often get a job in another market if they apply to firms in more cities. You need to apply to as many cities as you possibly can. You can't sit around and be depressed about the state of the market. I see patent attorneys all the time unable to get positions, and I make placements like that monthly. I see corporate, bankruptcy, and real estate people unable to get positions in major markets because the markets aren't doing well there, and then they get positions in other markets. That's just how it works. You have to be able to look at other markets when you're doing your search. If you've exhausted all the firms and have nowhere else to apply, which is often not the truth, you need to really research the market. If you want to work in New York City, have you really found the 7,000 firms that do corporate work in New York City? Have you really applied to all those firms? If you want to work in LA, have you done the same with the firms there? Or have you only applied to the 20 places you know about that are listed? This is what people do, and then they get depressed and think they've done something wrong. What you've done wrong is you haven't been a good attorney and researched all the firms out there and used Google and every resource you can think of to find who's doing the work you do.
Many people demand that they want to work in top law firms. They think their self-esteem demands that they work in these high-paying law firms. So they want to work in the highest-paying law firms possible. And then they decide that if they don't get a job in their city, there's something wrong with them. They can't pay back their student loans, and they go whine to the Wall Street Journal. This is crazy. I've been in this business for years, and I can tell you that if you expand your search to other markets, you're going to get much better results. You can find places where there's opportunity. If your search is time-sensitive and you have a family to support, you need to get a job because being unemployed looks bad on your resume, then you should look at every market there is. You have to be proactive. If you're not being proactive, there's only one thing I can say: you don't want a job. If you're not being proactive, you probably do not want a job. There's no other explanation because people that really want something get it.
If you have a bad reputation, you may have done something wrong. I don't care what it is. You may have been sued for sexual harassment, gotten a DUI, or been fired for doing something wrong. You need to fix yourself. After you fix yourself, you need to figure out what you're going to do to get a job in another market. I knew one attorney working at a law firm in a smaller market outside of a major city who got fired as a partner because he had a rip in his jeans in the crotch and didn't know about it, and someone complained because they saw his underwear. He lost a job he'd been at for 20 years and got blackballed. I don't know what you did or what happened, but if you did something wrong, you need to look at other markets. You have to be careful.
I recently represented a senior attorney who sued his prior firm for sexual harassment. Everybody in the city knew about it, and he believed that his past prevented him from ever getting interviews and offers. He expanded his search to other markets and ended up getting a ton of interviews and offers, and no one knew anything about those lawsuits. I know another attorney who was the managing partner of a major law firm and went into a meeting drunk. He flew to another city for the meeting, had some drinks on the plane, showed up drunk, and was abusive to the client or another attorney and lost his job. He cleaned himself up, went to AA, and now he's the managing partner of another big firm after not working for a year. I was able to get him a job. He looked at other markets and got a job in a market he never expected to work in. It was Nebraska or something, but a big firm, a big national firm. You can get jobs if you make mistakes. You can get jobs if you don't have the qualifications you think you need. You need to look at other markets.
When you're relocating, you often dramatically increase your odds because the firm will presume you're a much better attorney and have fewer issues. The best reasons for relocating are things like wanting to be closer to your family, going to school somewhere, your significant other being from there, your brothers and sisters moving to that area, or having good memories of that area. Let these firms know about it. They need to understand the reasons you're interested in these areas. If they understand that you're coming home and will stay, they'll want to keep you at that law firm forever. People don't care about that so much in places like New York and the Bay Area, where they just assume everyone wants to live there. But for the most part, if you have reasons for wanting to live in a market, people will assume you're likely to put down roots and be a good employee and make them money for a long time. That's what they want.
If you have connections to a smaller to midsize market and the firm has a strong enough need and doesn't have much local talent, they're very likely to hire people from outside the area. When I clerked for a federal judge in Bay City, Michigan, near Midland, where Dow Chemical is, I can tell you that if I had decided after four or five years of practice that I wanted to work in one of those firms in that area of Michigan, an hour outside Detroit, pretty much all the firms there would be interested in me because not many people want to work in Bay City, Midland, or Flint, Michigan. Any market you have a connection with, you can always get jobs there. I see people going back to work in Charlottesville, where I went to law school, all the time. They get jobs after having worked in other markets around the country. If you have a connection to a market and want to go back there, that's a real plus. Law firms like hiring people who have connections to markets, especially smaller to midsize ones. These should always be on your interest list when you're applying.
I thought it was like 180. But this is the story about the guy in Texas. And there he had to get rid of the chickens and leave. It's a true story, and it's really funny. He's in West Texas, making less than 85, and then he got $250,000. Now he's a partner in a large law firm there, and that never would have happened if he stayed in West Texas, like Midland. Law firms have like cancer relocating, and they tend to be more sympathetic. You can often apply to firms when you're relocating and say you really want to be part of this market, and they understand they have one shot to get you. They like that. They also respect it when candidates are interested in relocating. They believe that this is a strong enough force that makes it in their best interest to hire the person. People that want to be somewhere are much better than people that just want a job. If someone is moving somewhere and committing to that employer and the employer is hiring them, that's a real connection. The odds are that the person, if they're picking up and moving somewhere, is going to stay and try to make things work. They also believe that people are going to be motivated to settle down and work hard and be less likely to leave. There's all sorts of reasons.
When an attorney relocates, it doesn't raise questions regarding if the person is having issues at their current firm. If you're working in Chicago and start applying to other firms in Chicago while you're working there, the firms in Chicago, even if you have a great background, are going to be a little suspicious, especially if you're coming from a good firm that's been around a hundred years and is going to be around long after you're dead. They're going to wonder why this person is leaving this firm. Are they having problems? Is something wrong with their performance that we don't know about? Other political issues? What's going on?
Recruiting firms to work in our company. Despite my best efforts, those people usually end up being problematic when I hire them. They don't make as many placements or whatever it is they represented. Sometimes they have hidden substance abuse problems. Other times, they may have issues with attendance and all sorts of things. More likely than not, if they're applying. So, typically, I like to hire people that haven't worked in recruiting firms or, if they have, they've been there for 15 years, have a good track record, and are still trainable. But these things are difficult to come by.
Law firms want to hire people doing well in their existing firms. If you're relocating within a market, the law firm will wonder why you are relocating. What are they doing? Why are they coming to our firm when they're just across town? Are they having a hard time getting along? What's the problem there? They ask these questions because, based on their experience, there are usually problems with someone they hire locally. But if you come from another market and say, "I'm moving home because my mother and my sister and everybody lives here, and I just want to be home," and you had a great experience working at a law firm in Los Angeles, but you needed to come home to Memphis to be close to your family, firms will open up. They won’t think you’re having problems. Law firms do not want to hire someone else's problem. When you're looking at firms locally, they often worry about that, and those are valid concerns. In my experience, it’s a valid concern. It’s often not always the case, but most firms will conclude that if you moved from another firm, you might have won political games or you have no chance of advancement, or there are personality problems. Though it's not always the truth, they're going to be suspicious and look at you harder than they would someone trying to relocate. Most of my placements, by the way, are people relocating to other markets because that level of suspicion doesn't exist. Even if I have an opening for a certain type of attorney to work in Orange County as a litigator, they're more likely to hire people from other markets in California who grew up in Orange County rather than an attorney in Orange County currently working in a competitive firm. Like I told you at the beginning of this presentation, the most embarrassing thing that can happen to a law firm is for someone to make a snide remark at another firm about a person they hired who didn’t work out, saying, "I hope they work out at your firm; they tried with us." That's what happens when you apply locally. If you're doing a good job, the second a law firm hears something like that, they're very embarrassed. They don't like it and are afraid of hearing that because law firms and attorneys, just like you with your peers, are competitive with each other and don’t want to make a mistake. If they make a mistake, it’s more likely to get back to them if they do it locally.
When you're interviewing laterally in your own market, you need to avoid saying negative things about your firm. Instead of saying, "I want to move home" or "My spouse is from here," say, "It's not a good cultural fit." The law firm will question why you took your job in the first place and what kind of culture you're expecting. They might think you'll have the same problems with them. The law firm will assume you won't fit in with them either. "Not a good cultural fit" often means people don't like you, perhaps due to the quality of your work, your attitude, or your social skills. Or maybe it’s about your work quality, as they've given you feedback, but your work isn't improving. That's not a cultural fit. Another one people say locally is, "There's not enough work." That’s a reasonable explanation, but most long-established law firms always have work. If there's not enough work, why aren't they giving it to you? Good attorneys always get work. When I had the benefit of doing a clerkship before starting my job, I was trained by a detailed-oriented judge. My assignments were as perfect as they could be, so people gave me a lot of work. The point is, if you do good work, you'll get a lot of work at most firms. Everyone will want to work with you because they want you to do good work for their clients. They'll give you work across practice areas and fight to keep you if you do good work. After five years of experience, if you say there's no work, you're highlighting your inability to generate work. Law firms go through ups and downs, but they realize that if things get slow, you'll complain and leave. Talking about no work shows you're hopeless and can’t generate clients, and people aren’t giving you work because they’re not enthusiastic about you.
Another thing people say is, "An important partner with business just left." If that was a partner with work, why didn't they take you with them? Were you not up to snuff? When law firms are interviewing laterally, especially from a city, they're trying to find your weaknesses by probing your political choices, alliances, and whether people in the firm wanted to give you work. The law firm will be interested in whether you'll leave at the drop of a hat. That’s difficult when you're looking locally. Partners leave their firms all the time. If you tell a law firm an important partner just left, they'll know what's going to happen with you too. Sometimes people say, "I would like to do more sophisticated work." That’s a great reason, and one of my favorites. But if you say you want to do more sophisticated work and they ask what type of work you’re doing, the answers you give are critical. When I was a junior associate, I wanted to do trials, more depositions, and hearings. But that can make you seem like a diva, difficult to manage. If you're doing corporate churn, larger litigations, that’s good. But a law firm doesn’t need divas. If they have a small litigation matter, they need people to work on it. If you say things like that, they'll think you're out of the running. Talking about the sophistication of the work you want separates you from the crowd, making you seem difficult to manage. If the firm knows that, they’ll think you'll interview with competitors and complain. They won't like that. Firms ask about teamwork and personal relationships, especially when you're interviewing locally. These questions aren’t asked as much when you're looking across the state or another market.
Another thing people say is, "There's not enough opportunity." That’s another huge minefield. It means one thing to the firms interviewing you: you're not good enough to advance. You're not making the cut there. Maybe you don't have enough business or can't work hard enough. But if you're good enough, providing more value than the law firm can find elsewhere, you'll do well. Anybody can be a partner at any law firm. No law firm is completely closed to partners. If you're smart enough, hardworking enough, or bring in enough business, you can be a partner. You can do anything if you apply yourself. Opportunity is a good one, but if you talk about no opportunity at your firm, thinking there’s more elsewhere, it doesn't look good. You need to be indispensable. Talking about a lack of opportunity means you expect to be made a partner, paid a certain amount, and advance. That may mean you don't have the commitment. Another thing people say is, "I'm evaluating my options, and it feels like a good time to look around." This often means something else is wrong. If you say that, realize you're signaling you might have been asked to leave. Law firms don’t like that. Be careful. Another big one is, "Morale is low." I hear this about firms that have been around for over 100 years, the most prestigious firms in the country. All this means is you're not on the right side of management. Instead, you're someone who follows groupthink and won't support the firm through thick and thin. If they hire you, they'll think you'll be problematic.
Another thing people talk about is the commute. That’s fair, or maybe they can't work from home. But when you take a job, it needs to take precedence. If you say the commute is difficult, people will ask why you moved where the commute was difficult. Why aren’t you relocating closer to the office? Shouldn't your job come first? Employers expect you to put yourself first, so when you put them first, they'll raise a Pandora’s box of criticisms. These are valid reasons for relocating, but not useful in your current market. They’ll penalize you when you're looking in one market and not others, only in your existing market. Law firms look for reasons you could be trouble. In their experience, and they have every right to think this, when they hire an attorney from their existing market, that attorney will end up with some hidden problems. They're buying someone else's problems because people don't leave unless they have issues with their current firm. If they're moving to a more prestigious firm, that’s a good reason to hire them. But many leave for the wrong reasons and become a problem at the next firm. Law firms are trying to run a business, just like you, and be successful. They have to protect themselves, and you have to see things from their point of view.
In conclusion, as a legal recruiter and in this placement business, one thing that makes me very sad is seeing attorneys remain tied to a market with few opportunities. They go on interviews and don’t get the job because they give the wrong answers and don’t look good to the firms. You need to broaden your horizons by applying to more firms. It doesn’t matter where you went to law school or your background. I'll tell you one quick story. I used to run this business, and I don't know why I'm not running it anymore because it was so helpful. It was called Legal Authority. The website's still up, but we're not offering the service anymore for various reasons. This business would send out letters and redo resumes to all the firms in a given city someone wanted to work at. Law schools around the country used it to find jobs. If you wanted to be an entertainment attorney in LA, the service would research and send letters to 500 law firms in LA that do entertainment law. It would send to the best firms, the smallest firms, the biggest firms, or whatever kind of search you wanted. People would use it and get jobs. It was crazy.
About Harrison Barnes
Harrison Barnes is a prominent figure in the legal placement industry, known for his expertise in attorney placements and his extensive knowledge of the legal profession.
With over 25 years of experience, he has established himself as a leading voice in the field and has helped thousands of lawyers and law students find their ideal career paths.
Barnes is a former federal law clerk and associate at Quinn Emanuel and a graduate of the University of Chicago College and the University of Virginia Law School. He was a Rhodes Scholar Finalist at the University of Chicago and a member of the University of Virginia Law Review. Early in his legal career, he enrolled in Stanford Business School but dropped out because he missed legal recruiting too much.
Barnes' approach to the legal industry is rooted in his commitment to helping lawyers achieve their full potential. He believes that the key to success in the legal profession is to be proactive, persistent, and disciplined in one's approach to work and life. He encourages lawyers to take ownership of their careers and to focus on developing their skills and expertise in a way that aligns with their passions and interests.
One of how Barnes provides support to lawyers is through his writing. On his blog, HarrisonBarnes.com, and BCGSearch.com, he regularly shares his insights and advice on a range of topics related to the legal profession. Through his writing, he aims to empower lawyers to control their careers and make informed decisions about their professional development.
One of Barnes's fundamental philosophies in his writing is the importance of networking. He believes that networking is a critical component of career success and that it is essential for lawyers to establish relationships with others in their field. He encourages lawyers to attend events, join organizations, and connect with others in the legal community to build their professional networks.
Another central theme in Barnes' writing is the importance of personal and professional development. He believes that lawyers should continuously strive to improve themselves and develop their skills to succeed in their careers. He encourages lawyers to pursue ongoing education and training actively, read widely, and seek new opportunities for growth and development.
In addition to his work in the legal industry, Barnes is also a fitness and lifestyle enthusiast. He sees fitness and wellness as integral to his personal and professional development and encourages others to adopt a similar mindset. He starts his day at 4:00 am and dedicates several daily hours to running, weightlifting, and pursuing spiritual disciplines.
Finally, Barnes is a strong advocate for community service and giving back. He volunteers for the University of Chicago, where he is the former area chair of Los Angeles for the University of Chicago Admissions Office. He also serves as the President of the Young Presidents Organization's Century City Los Angeles Chapter, where he works to support and connect young business leaders.
In conclusion, Harrison Barnes is a visionary legal industry leader committed to helping lawyers achieve their full potential. Through his work at BCG Attorney Search, writing, and community involvement, he empowers lawyers to take control of their careers, develop their skills continuously, and lead fulfilling and successful lives. His philosophy of being proactive, persistent, and disciplined, combined with his focus on personal and professional development, makes him a valuable resource for anyone looking to succeed in the legal profession.
About BCG Attorney Search
BCG Attorney Search matches attorneys and law firms with unparalleled expertise and drive, while achieving results. Known globally for its success in locating and placing attorneys in law firms of all sizes, BCG Attorney Search has placed thousands of attorneys in law firms in thousands of different law firms around the country. Unlike other legal placement firms, BCG Attorney Search brings massive resources of over 150 employees to its placement efforts locating positions and opportunities its competitors simply cannot. Every legal recruiter at BCG Attorney Search is a former successful attorney who attended a top law school, worked in top law firms and brought massive drive and commitment to their work. BCG Attorney Search legal recruiters take your legal career seriously and understand attorneys. For more information, please visit www.BCGSearch.com.
Harrison Barnes does a weekly free webinar with live Q&A for attorneys and law students each Wednesday at 10:00 am PST. You can attend anonymously and ask questions about your career, this article, or any other legal career-related topics. You can sign up for the weekly webinar here: Register on Zoom
Harrison also does a weekly free webinar with live Q&A for law firms, companies, and others who hire attorneys each Wednesday at 10:00 am PST. You can sign up for the weekly webinar here: Register on Zoom
You can browse a list of past webinars here: Webinar Replays
You can also listen to Harrison Barnes Podcasts here: Attorney Career Advice Podcasts
You can also read Harrison Barnes' articles and books here: Harrison's Perspectives
Harrison Barnes is the legal profession's mentor and may be the only person in your legal career who will tell you why you are not reaching your full potential and what you really need to do to grow as an attorney--regardless of how much it hurts. If you prefer truth to stagnation, growth to comfort, and actionable ideas instead of fluffy concepts, you and Harrison will get along just fine. If, however, you want to stay where you are, talk about your past successes, and feel comfortable, Harrison is not for you.
Truly great mentors are like parents, doctors, therapists, spiritual figures, and others because in order to help you they need to expose you to pain and expose your weaknesses. But suppose you act on the advice and pain created by a mentor. In that case, you will become better: a better attorney, better employees, a better boss, know where you are going, and appreciate where you have been--you will hopefully also become a happier and better person. As you learn from Harrison, he hopes he will become your mentor.
To read more career and life advice articles visit Harrison's personal blog.
