How To Make a Lateral Move

How To Make a Lateral Move Articles

• Firm Hopping

  Most attorneys from large firms move at least once or twice during their first three to five years of practice. However, if you are looking at your third or fourth firm in your second year of practice something is wrong.

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• Distinguishing Among the “Big Firms”

  When faced with a career move, choosing among the "Big Firms" may be akin to playing the dating game, wherein you usually have two choices: presume they are all the same and blindly pick one, or take so long to decide that you end up missing out on the best choice.

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• Where to Practice? Law Firm, In-House, Government?

  Read on for a discussion of career alternatives: plublic interest, corporations, government, and law firms. What are the upsides and downsides to each one?
  

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• What Is the Outlook for the Field of ADR and Mediation?

  What is the outlook for the field of ADR and mediation? In the long-term, the outlook for this field appears excellent.

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• What is a Good Job for a Great Researcher, but Slow Writer?

  What fields should you consider if you are a great researcher, but are a slow writer? Does this drawback preclude you from working in litigation?
  

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• What if You Don’t Make Partner After Seven Years? What’s Next?

  What if you spend 7 years at a law firm and don’'t make partner? What are your options at that point?
  

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• The Path Through Private Law Practice

  Whether you are beginning in private practice or are more advanced, you may want to take the following steps in analyzing the process and content factors in your work, looking at your firm's ability to supply and nourish the skills and values important to you.

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• Advice About Becoming a Military Lawyer

  Thinking about becoming a military lawyer? Will such an experience the ability to return to the private sector later?

   

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• CEO Dreams With Lawyer Aspirations

  Will going to law school help achieve the goal of becoming a CEO? Find out what our expert has to say.
  

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• Find Satisfaction in Law: A Firm Choice

  When faced with any issue, dilemma or conflict, she makes an affirmative choice even by inaction; i.e., "not to decide is to decide."

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• Finding Opportunities In International Law

  I'm a '99 graduate, practicing with the federal government (administrative, employment, and civil rights law). However, I want a job where I can build on my academic background in international law.

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• Should I Leave When Projects Are Over My Head?

  I work for the rainmaker partner in our firm. He chews up so many associates that our practice has experienced 100 percent turnover in about a year. It’s a very successful transactional tax practice, and I am constantly challenged.

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• Gold Star Candidate Wants Out

  I am an attorney 3 years out of an Ivy law school who recently left a position as an associate at a large NYC corporate lawfirm to seek an alternative career path and better lifestyle . . .

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• Building a Network in a New City

  Relocating to an area away from your law school? What is the best approach to building a network of contacts?  

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• Thinking About Leaving Your Legal Position?

  There may be times in your career when you wonder if your best option is leave your current position. When that happens, what should you consider?
  

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• Would a Couple of Years As A Prosecutor Make Me More Valuable To A Firm?

  I just graduated from law school and passed the bar. Currently, I am clerking for a federal judge in Virginia. I have an offer for a lucrative associate position in a large law firm, but I’d really prefer to work for a Commonwealth Attorney’s office.

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• Melissa S. Norden on the Dog-Eat-Dog World of a Nonprofit

  A 1999 Brooklyn Law School graduate, Ms. Norden demonstrated her dedication to social causes by volunteer work and internships for nonprofits and charitable organizations while in college and law school. As one of 10 ASPCA in-house counsels, Ms.

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• From Public Defender To Private Practice

  I joined the Public Defender's Office to obtain trial experience. Seven years and some 50 felony jury trials later, I am ready to make more money. What are my chances of getting hired as a civil litigator in a major law firm?

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• How to Get the Job You’re Trained For

  How can I be sure that I get the job that I am trained to perform, although I have no experience?

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• Career Choice and Satisfaction in the Legal Profession

  This article reviews the motives for choosing a life in the law and the pattern of satisfactions and discontents that pervade legal practice.

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• Through the Looking Glass: Your Options in the Law

  In this column, we take a look at the many career possibilities and offer you a Career Options Exercise to expand your horizons.

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• Should I Leave The EPA To Work At A Firm?

  I am a 33-year-old night law student at a good school and a full-time manager with a strong history of advancement at the Environmental Protection Agency.

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• Should I get out of my boutique?

  I need to know when to stay or go. I have been working in a boutique litigation firm in New York City for the past year and a half. The firm is small (six attorneys) and generally focused on securities class actions and commercial litigation.

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• Living for the City: Michael J. Mais On Working as a Municipal Attorney

  As head of the city attorney's departmental counsel division, Mr. Mais provides legal advice to city boards and commissions. In addition, one of his favorite parts of the job is working with the community.

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• How Do I Become a Law School Professor?

  I am interested in possibly becoming a law school professor. What resources do you recommend to help land a law professor job?

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• Is Part-Time On Your Side?: A Look at Flexible Work Arrangements

  Increasingly, firm policy on alternative work arrangements has become a hot-button issue. Even attorneys who do not necessarily have children, or even expect to have any, find it an important indicator of a firm's culture.

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• Should I get an LLM?

  I am writing for guidance as to whether I should go to tax school (L.L.M.). I am looking to create the most opportunity for myself. I am currently finishing a federal clerkship.

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• How to Tell if Your Intended Career Path is Worth It

  How do you figure out if the career you are planning will be worth all of the work needed to get there?  

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• How to make the switch from small firm to powerhouse firm.

  I am about to make the switch from a medium sized firm (one copy machine, no support staff, cheap, cheap, cheap) to one of the country's powerhouse firms.

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• The Path Through Private Practice

  Our experience has convinced us that lawyers derive much satisfaction from becoming lawyers and using their legal training.

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• How To Break Out Of Litigation And Move Into Another Area

  You've reached a point where you've decided that your job is not working for you. How do you break out of litigation and move into another area of practice or another field?

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• Leaving the Law and Maintaining a Standard of Living

  Looking to leave the law and need tips on what to consider? Read on to learn more about getting out of practicing law, working part-time while you do, and how to figure out the right path for you.

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• Leaving Your Law Firm

  Thinking about leaving your firm, or have you already decided to? Our experts address two common dilemmas associates may face when deciding whether a firm is right for them, and what to expect in making the change to a different style firm.

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• Angelica “Meli” Carrion: On Fighting Crime as an ADA

  Learn what it's like working as an Assistant District Attorney, from Bexar County ADA Angelica "Meli" Carrion.  

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• A “Firm” Choice

  While there is some truth to the observation of Henri - Frederic Amiel "The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides", she must also recognize that when faced with any issue, dilemma or conflict, she makes an affirmative choice even by inaction;

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• Does Higher Pay Mean a Higher Number of Hours?

  How much time does a new associate spend at the office every week? Do the higher paying firms require a higher number of hours, and how many more hours does that mean?

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• Getting An LLM Degree

  When does it make sense to go back to school and earn an LLM degree?

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• How Can a Recent Grad Become a Professor?

  How do you break into the academic world as a recent graduate?  

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• A Career in Bankruptcy Law

  Choosing what area of law to specialize in is often a difficult decision to make for law students. But for those leaning toward specializing in bankruptcy law, early preparation and understanding of what the practice entails is key to what could prove a promising career in that field.

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• Is a Career in Intellectual Property Law for You?

  Probably the hottest practice group in all respects for the past several years has been intellectual property law. However, many attorneys have little idea (1) what intellectual property law is, (2) why intellectual property is so popular and (3) the types of intellectual property attorneys that are most marketable.

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