New York City (Photo by David Lat)
After freezing up a bit in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, the market for legal talent is starting to warm up. Here at Lateral Link, a national legal search firm, we’re seeing increased activity in multiple markets. My colleague Abby Gordon recently evaluated the state of the Boston market and my colleague Jesse Hyde did the same for the Chicago market, and both noted opportunities in select practice areas.
As a former Biglaw litigator in New York, I work with many litigation candidates, and I have a number of them interviewing with firms right now. I’ll talk about the types of associates who are getting traction with firms right now and the types of partners that firms are seeking.
On the associate side, Biglaw firms aren’t doing much hiring right now, but elite litigation boutiques are quite active. Litigation hasn’t slowed down as much as transactional practice during COVID-19, so many boutiques are busy — and looking to add to their ranks.
The tough part about the elite boutiques is that they’re more selective than many of their Biglaw counterparts. The candidates that I have in play with the boutiques have these credentials:
- Very good grades from a top 14 law school, or excellent grades from a non-T14 law school (e.g., Latin honors or Order of the Coif).
- One or more clerkships with federal district or circuit judges — the more prominent the court or the judge, the better (e.g., S.D.N.Y. or E.D.N.Y. for district judges, SCOTUS feeders for appellate judges).
- Between two and four years of experience at a top Biglaw firm — the more prestigious the firm, the better.
If you have all of these credentials and would be interested in exploring opportunities at boutiques — where you can get comparable or better compensation, greater and earlier responsibility, and better partnership prospects compared to Biglaw — please email me at dlat@laterallink.com.
On the partner side, it’s all about books of business these days. There’s no shortage of seasoned litigators with superb credentials and experience, so mere skills won’t pay the bills. In the coronavirus pandemic, firms are being fiscally conservative and conserving cash, so they aren’t in the mood to invest or take risks. Instead, they want partners who will be accretive, who will improve the firm’s bottom line, and who will take the firm’s average profits per partner up, not down.
If you have at least $3 million in portable business, I have two searches right now that could be of interest:
- An Am Law 100 firm with profits per partner well north of $3 million is looking to add an international arbitration partner or group of partners, in either New York or D.C.
- A superb litigation firm is looking to add partners in Westchester County. If you’re a Biglaw partner who lives in Westchester, works in Manhattan, and is tired of the commute, this could be very appealing.
If you’d like to learn more about either of these opportunities, please email me at dlat@laterallink.com.
Not surprisingly, given what’s going on in the world, the lateral market isn’t nearly as active as usual. But for the firms and the candidates who are willing to look, it’s a time of great opportunity.
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..
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