The most important element of a fruitful job search (and, for that matter, of business development for career advancement) is effective and relentless networking. You need to look outside your circle of lawyer friends and acquaintances. Even if you are conducting a passive, or “stealth” job search, tell everyone you run across during the regular…
Many good attorney job opportunities aren’t advertised, so you need dig further. Obvious sources are online job boards and law firm and company websites. You also can pick up leads by reading legal and business trade papers, utilizing undergraduate and law school career services, and good old-fashioned networking. Mass mailings aren’t recommended. It’s much more…
When lawyers first adopted an hours-based billing model in the mid-twentieth century, most lawyers billed around 1,300 hours per year at modest rates. No one foresaw logging 2,000+ hours per year at fees of $500, $1,000, or more per hour, which has become the norm at most large and mid-sized law firms. There’s a limit,…
Most law firms, unlike other businesses, categorize associates by law school graduation year rather than level of expertise for purposes of hiring, compensation, and promotion. Until recently, the traditional lockstep model made some sense, assuming that associates who enter law practice at the same time gain like experience at similar firms. Class year designation, therefore,…
