Attorney Salary Growth: The Strategic Guide to Moving Legal Markets

Today's webinar is a very important topic, and I'll start off with a few examples of myself and then also a few more later about why this is such an important topic for a lot of attorneys. I think the idea of moving markets and working in a different market is something that literally changed the course of my life and my career. A lot of people don't understand the power of being in different legal markets than the one you may be in right now, why it could be such a powerful thing that literally can change the entire direction of your career, because different legal markets stand for different things. They also have much different types of opportunities.

When I was coming out, I did a clerkship, and after my clerkship, I actually lost the job in the clerkship. I was in the Detroit area or outside Detroit, and at the time there were maybe five or six big law firms there, Honigman Miller Canfield, Dickinson Wright, and a few others. I was looking for a position at a time where there was a fairly massive recession going on in Detroit. When my clerkship ended, I was pretty confident I wouldn't get any jobs there either. I did get jobs in other markets. I got jobs in New York City. I got jobs in bigger cities Chicago and other places, and barely got an offer. I applied to different firms in the Detroit area, and didn't get anything, but then I was able to get positions in all sorts of different legal markets. The one that I ended up taking a position in was Los Angeles.

When I applied to firms in Detroit, I got a very average, not a very excited reception from the firms there. There wasn't a lot of interest in someone me even though I was coming out of a clerkship. I'd gone to a good law school, I was on law review, did a bunch of other things. In Los Angeles, it was completely different, so I learned pretty early on that the reception that you get from different markets will differ. Some markets are good markets, other markets aren't good markets, and some markets have access to lots of opportunities and others don't.
 

The Law of Supply, Demand, and Access to Work

When you're working, you may be in a position right now where you're not getting enough training, where there's not enough work, where there's not enough potential clients, or where the work isn't sophisticated enough. As an attorney, one of the rules when you're looking for positions or you're looking for clients is always the law of supply and demand. The law of supply and demand basically means in some markets there's a lot of jobs and demands for you, in others there's not going to be. Another thing you need to always keep in mind is the ability to have access to work.

Access to work is one of the most important things that a lot of attorneys don't always think about with their careers. Access to work means that there are employers and there are people that have work, and markets that have a lot of work, and then there are employers and markets that don't have as much work. Your success as an attorney is ultimately going to come down to your ability to continually have access to work. People don't really plan their careers that way. They don't think about having access to work to do. Because they don't think about having access to work to do, they often make a lot of mistakes in terms of the markets they choose.

• They may go to markets where there's not a lot of work and that holds them back in terms of their salary or their career stability.

• They may go to markets where there's a lot of work, but it becomes very difficult to stay employed over a long period of time.

• They may go to markets where there's not a lot of clients or there are a lot of clients.

One of the things I've noticed that's very interesting in the past several years of doing recruiting is there's a lot of markets, North Dakota and Wyoming, where there's very few attorneys there that are decent firms, so if people in those types of markets are moving, they get a very good reception. There's other markets where people are very much in demand where there's not enough attorneys doing that work. I was talking to a guy this morning, and he got an offer this morning. He was in Chicago and hadn't been working in six months, and he applied to firms in New York City where he doesn't really have any contacts or anything, and he got an offer with a great firm there this morning. There's just not enough trust and estates attorneys in New York City. I had another woman that was in her 70s and didn't have any work of her own and got 13 interviews. Someone in their 70s typically wouldn't get that many interviews. There's a lot of that work there. Different markets have different amounts of work.
 

Work Diversity, Geography, and Cultural Fit

Different markets also have different work. Some work there is going to be more specialized. If you're a corporate attorney and you move to a big market, you can work on only M&A or only capital markets. Where if you were in a smaller market, you might do all those different things. You can work for firms that work for bigger corporations and have bigger clients and pay more in certain large markets. In smaller markets, you might have a diversity of work.

I tell this story a lot in webinars, it's funny. We used to receive calls, I used to sit in a room with all the recruiters in our company, they would receive calls at least once a year from attorneys in very small markets, desert towns in California that might be almost in the middle of nowhere, of attorneys that are retiring and don't have anybody to take over their work because there are just no attorneys there, so they're looking for people to move there. I've noticed that recently with even trust and estates attorneys, where a lot of attorneys that are trust and estates attorneys are getting ready to retire, and they literally want to hire people to give them the work. There's all sorts of reasons that you might want to move markets. If you go to a large market, it's much easier potentially to get an in-house position than it would be in a small market.

People also move for cultural reasons.

• The culture of firms in New York is different than the culture of firms in North Carolina, and it's different from the culture of firms in Florida, Texas.

• Los Angeles is different than San Francisco, and some of the Pacific Northwest, and Chicago, and Cleveland.

• Every market has different cultures of what the people are.

When you're looking at different markets, it's also important to think, "Am I comfortable with these types of people? Is this a market where I'm more likely to find people that are me? Is it in a market where the people love the outdoors?" Every market is different, and different markets will have things that can match your personality. I see people move markets all the time because they're uncomfortable with the personality of the people that they're with. There's also a lot of reasons that people move, they move because they want to increase their salary, that's important to a lot of people. Other people want to move because they want to get more work-life balance, which you can do by moving markets. Other people move because of the religious and cultural issues, certain markets have different cultures of different types of people. There's markets where someone that's Muslim is more likely to be comfortable than not, or someone that's Mormon is more likely to be comfortable or not, or people from different religions. Markets also have religious and cultural overtones. All those things working together are one of the reasons why moving markets is really important for a lot of people, and it can really change the direction of your career and life.

Just right at the beginning, I told a story about when I was looking for jobs in Detroit versus California or Los Angeles. Had I not moved to Los Angeles, I never would have gotten access to very sophisticated work the firm I started at was doing. I never would have gotten that type of training, because the training at the major law firms is much different often than the training at smaller, regional law firms. They just have more work. They can work harder and more on matters. I never would have gotten that. I wouldn't have been working around people that were as smart as the people that were at the firm I started, and I picked up their habits and ways of thinking about the law. I also never would have been introduced to the profession I'm doing right now, because there just weren't people in that market that I could have learned what I'm doing. All these things work together to really create some of the reasons that, in my opinion, are extremely important when you're looking at where you want to work. You can literally figure out where you potentially could work at all sorts of different points in your career.

I've also seen people completely resurrect their career based on moving markets. I had a guy that was 65 years old, and he was in Denver, and he was at a major US law firm, and he was a patent attorney, and he was getting pushed out because I think they were just pushing... if you were 65, I think they wanted you to retire. He had to retire, and when he was looking for a job, when he was getting close to retirement, I noticed that he did a certain type of patent prosecution involving optical lenses. I did a search of all the positions that we'd had at BCG over the past 20 years that may have had people looking for optical lens patent experience. I found one firm, and it was in Texas, and I sent him there, and they couldn't believe it. They were excited, he was excited, and he'd never even been to Texas, and he ended up getting a job there. You can get access to different opportunities when you move markets.

• There's certain markets for patent attorneys, Silicon Valley or Austin or Boston for people that do life sciences patent work.

• Entertainment people often benefit from being in Los Angeles. Financial services attorneys in New York.

• Energy attorneys in Houston.

Often in smaller markets, it's much easier to become a partner than it would be in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago. There's less competition. The lifestyles, the shorter commutes, lower housing costs, schools time with your family and working with clients as opposed to being on the outside of larger law firms. The cost of living is much different. Being around different types of industry to get clients. If you're a technology attorney or you want to work for technology clients, Austin and San Jose are good, and energy is good in Denver, and logistics in Miami, and aerospace. There's all these different types of markets that could be better and where you can develop business or you might not be able to in another one. These are some of the reasons that I think it's important to really think about markets when you relocate.
 

The Challenges of Moving Legal Markets

What I'm going to talk to you about today are some of the misconceptions that people may have when they're thinking about moving. It's not always easy to move, and you have to realize what the limitations are. As you realize the limitations, you'll also realize some of the reasons that moving can be a really good strategy as well and that you may not be limited necessarily by that. I talk to attorneys every week. I usually talk to at least eight attorneys per day or maybe more. A good proportion of those want to move. Not all of them but a lot of them. When I say move they're willing to move markets. Most are looking for compensation reasons to make sure that they're getting access to more opportunities and have better career prospects. That's also one of the things that's important to understand.

When you're looking at different markets, if you look at one market, there's that many opportunities there, but if you look at two, you could be doubling the number of opportunities or tripling if you're a small market looking at a bigger market. Every additional market that you look at and every additional opportunity you have to get a job is smart because every firm you talk to in an interview room, they have a different culture. They may compensate better. They may have more clients, fewer clients. All these things are extremely important.

I was working with a guy this morning, he's in Mobile, Alabama or something and he does trust and estates litigation. We found a firm for him that is in Pacific Northwest and specializes in trust and estates litigation. There are no firms in Mobile, Alabama, or probably anywhere in Alabama that do mainly trust and estates litigation. He found this firm, and the firm has a lot of work. He can double his salary or how much he's making there. They have a lot of work to give him, so he doesn't need to worry about that. Just being able to be flexible and look at firms in a market that's that much different than where he's at culturally, everything, and he hasn't spent time in that market, can change the direction of his career and put him in a position where a lot of good things can happen in terms of his salary and access to work and all that sort of stuff.

Other attorneys want to move to these certain markets, New York is one of them. Texas is another. Some markets in Texas. Very often one of the markets that people mention to me the most is Washington, DC. They're often moving because they want to make more money, and then they think they'd become more successful. A lot of people in smaller markets will see large cities as the next step forward, where they want to be. They feel that this is going to give them more prestige and options. The issue usually is whether or not the resume is really going to support something that. Moving to certain markets can be a lot harder than you would think. The most competitive markets are often not easy to enter. Sometimes they are for people to want better opportunities. Often you'll need a lot more than ambition to move successfully. Not always but often.

When you're trying to relocate you have to realize that your resume needs to look really good. The largest employers and the largest markets usually have a lot of options for people that they can hire when they have positions. Unless your resume looks really strong it's often quite difficult. It can be very difficult to stick out. In other markets, it's important to have local connections. If you don't have any connections there then the law firm will often not be interested in you. It's often that that can be important.

This is just an example of someone I was talking to recently, a litigator in Salt Lake City working for a middle market firm. The person was intelligent dedicated personable makes a good presentation and wants to move to a larger market. He does have a history of upward mobility. He started at a smaller firm, then he moved to a regional Utah firm that does work in Utah and some other states around there. He still wasn't at a major platform. His career has progressed, but he hasn't been able to get into a major national market or elite firm. At the firm he's at is actually going very well. He has a couple of mentors. His work's been well-received, but he's just someone that really wants to be in a much larger market. The challenge for someone that is if you went to local law school, Brigham Young you work in a middle market firm and that's regional. Are you able to relocate to places New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, or Washington DC without any meaningful contacts there? For someone that it can be extremely difficult because most larger markets, unless there's a dearth of people that can do that sort of work they usually require the kind of firms that people want to work in very much stronger credentials often the connection to that market and then experience. Just because someone says they want to go to one of these major markets it's not actually that easy. It can be actually extremely difficult in situations that. Not always, but often.

This particular attorney that I was speaking to wanted to go to these markets but had no connection. He was a young attorney that hadn't done anything with the New York Bar. He was a litigator, which it's actually a little bit more difficult to relocate as a litigator because law firms there's local rules in different states and so forth. If you're doing things in state court, you don't have that. Litigation is the largest practice area. There's a lot of litigators and usually there's a lot of litigators in every market. That's compared to transactional attorneys where there's usually fewer transactional attorneys, so it's often easier to relocate as a transactional attorney than it is for example a litigator. The markets that you start your career in will often limit you. In this guy's particular case it was limiting. He actually was able to get some interviews in Texas, but ultimately wasn't able to get a job or he gave up before he could.
 

• Why Moving Legal Markets for a Better Salary Is Harder Than You Think
• The Top Fifteen Reasons Why You Should Not Be a Litigator
• Choosing Between Corporate and Litigation Practice Areas
• How Attorneys Can Switch Legal Practice Areas

Why Law Firms Make Exceptions and How They Evaluate Candidates

Here's some of the things to think about when you're trying to relocate to a market. When you're trying to relocate to a highly competitive legal market the firms that you're trying to speak with will often have a large number of people that they can choose from. One of the markets where that's almost always the case is Washington, DC. Washington DC has a huge number of people, attorneys working there. It's got the highest proportion of attorneys to the population by far, multiple times compared to any other city in the country. People love to say they want to relocate to Washington DC because they know it's easy to wave in there. If you're trying to relocate to that market, you're always going to be compared to people that are local. Law firms are always going to prefer to hire people that are local compared to people that are outside, unless there's some huge demand. A market that is going to be saturated with really good attorneys. In order to get a position there it can be extremely difficult compared to if you were already there.

New York City and Chicago are two more examples. They're among the most competitive legal markets in the country. Attorneys looking for jobs, especially in large law firms, are going to be able to see attorneys that are already practicing in the area, meaning they're already in New York. There's tons of graduates of top national law schools with great grades. That is even difficult for a lot of them to get jobs. There's a lot of associates from the top firms and the best boutiques competing for the same job, and then there's candidates that show a lot of stability. If you're a fifth-year attorney looking for a job and you're competing against someone that's been at the same firm for five years and you've been to two firms or three firms, they're going to look better on paper than you. There's all these things that are going against you. If you're trying to go to New York and you haven't gotten admitted to the New York Bar, taken the bar exam, that will hold you back as well.

In most large coastal markets, the markets on the coast you're going to be competing for, at least for the large law firms, against graduates of top law schools. It's much more difficult for you to relocate to at least for the top firms in the legal markets. I'll tell you a story because I've seen this happen a couple of times, and I want you to understand this. At about probably three times in my legal career, I've had people that have sent their resume to BCG and they've been graduates of Columbia Berkeley top law schools, and for whatever reason they didn't get summer positions in law firms during law school. They'd gotten positions just maybe an in-house position or something, but nothing in law firms, and they went to these top law schools. I would invite them into the office, and I would give them a list of all the law firms in LA County, which was, at the time, might not have had 2,000 in the database. I would help them print letters and contact and send letters with a revised resume to those 2,000 plus firms. These people might have been out of school at the point where I started talking to them over six months. They sent out these letters and nothing happened. They didn't get any interviews. They were sending it out to firms that did company facing practice areas corporate and commercial litigation things and not personal injury. They were trying to get positions and didn't get anything. That's because they were trying in Los Angeles, which is very competitive. The law firms that were getting the resumes were decent law firms, but at the same time no one was interested in interviewing them.

Summer associate programs are used to see what kind of people are likely to fit in, so they're looking at your work ethic, they're looking at how you get along with people. They also show how competitive you were during law school recruiting, you were able to get a position. If you don't have that, it can weigh against you very early in your career. People will assume that you got interviews but you weren't able to turn any of those into jobs, and so it makes you not as sought after as other attorneys might be. Everything in hiring is really about the law of supply and demand. All that means is that in the largest markets there's often far more qualified attorneys than jobs. Law firms have the power to be highly selective.

A lot of people also will move markets because they want more money. Sometimes they don't understand that even if they're getting more money, their cost of living is going to be a lot higher, so it doesn't balance out. Law firms care about your credentials, but most decisions are business related. When a law firm's looking at you, they're trying to decide the main thing they're looking at is if they believe that they can be profitable with the type of work that they have? They're looking at you as a business would. They're looking at you can they pay you a certain amount and then of that amount that they're paying you based on what they think the revenue you're going to generate, is that enough? Are they going to make money? And is it going to be a good business decision?

The way most salaries work, say you bill out at an hour, and they expect you to work 2,000 hours a year. You bill out at $300 an hour, and they expect you to work 2,000 hours a year. If you're working 2,000 hours a year at $300 an hour, that's $600,000. If they believe that you will work those 2,000 hours, and they will collect on those 2,000 hours, then that means that the way they're typically going to evaluate your compensation is they would pay you $200,000. They might pay you a bonus if you go over 2,000, but they pay you $200,000. The other $200,000 goes for overhead, meaning secretaries, paralegals, office space computers all that sort of stuff, and then the other $200,000 is profits for the partnership. The compensation almost always breaks down in thirds.

If you're relocating to another market, they're always going to be asking why you want to work there. They're also going to be concerned about whether or not you have ties to the market, and then they're also going to be concerned about whether or not you're going to stay. When I'm trying to have attorney relocate to another market, I will often put right at the front of my cover letter to the firm, I'll say the person's parent, they're from there, they grew up there. Or the person's spouse is from this area, and they're relocating to be there because they have children and they need people to help watch their children. Some sort of connection to that market is extremely important because that's how law firms are evaluating. They want you to come to that market, and they want to believe if you come to that market that you're going to stay there and you're not just going to leave. Money is usually not the best way to the market. It can often raise a lot of red flags because if you're trying to move from money to one firm to another, then obviously if that's your biggest motivation, then they often think that you'll leave if something better comes along.
 

• 6 Things You Should Consider Before Making a Lateral Move to a New Law Firm
• How to Advance Your Career By Relocating to Another Area of the Country as an Attorney
• Why Relocating to Another Area of the Country is a Good Career Strategy for Attorneys

Strategic Approaches to Relocating: Beyond Job Boards

One of the things I recommend, this is one of the most important things you can ever learn about looking for a job, is most people will apply to positions that are LinkedIn and Indeed. That's the most common way for people. One of the things that is important is you do not have to wait for job postings. You should be, anytime you want to find a position, you should be looking for employers that just do the kind of work you do. If you do corporate work, if you do real estate, if you do whatever it is you should be sending a resume, especially if you're trying to relocate. You should be trying to network and send a resume to firms and people that do that sort of work in the market you want to be in, because waiting for openings is often really dumb. Most jobs are filled with people making sort of informal contacts with different employers, not job postings.

You should always be trying to research firms in those markets because law firms will hire people all the time if there's a strong fit. At BCG, more than 50% of our placements are with firms that didn't have openings at the time, but they saw someone's resume and then they said, "Hey, we have enough work for this person to be profitable. We like it that this person applied to us without us necessarily having an opening." They are actually much more it's easier to get jobs when you apply to places that don't have openings. The reason is because if a law firm doesn't have an opening then you're the only applicant.

Questions and Answers

Disclosing Disciplinary Issues

Question: Should I disclose a past bar complaint or disciplinary issue when applying for a change of address?

Yes, you should. If there's anything that someone searches for you on the state bar and can find and locate, and if it says something on the state bar, then yes, you should disclose it. Do you have to put it in your application? No. You don't have to put it in your application, but you need to tell people about that if they're interviewing you because they will find it. If someone made a complaint against you, that's much different than a disciplinary issue. A complaint don't worry so much about if there's nothing that comes up. If there's something on your license and the record, then yes, you need to make sure you disclose that.
 

Starting in a Lower-Paying Market

Question: Should law students be cautious about starting their careers in a lower paying legal market if they want to move to a larger market?

Yes. Typically in your first jobs, you want to try to get a position in the largest and best law firm you can. It's much easier to move to a smaller firm often than it is to move to a bigger firm later. There's two types of work: consumer-facing work (personal injury, workers' compensation) and company-facing work (corporate law, commercial litigation). Anytime you want to work in a larger market you're always better off getting a job for your first job doing company-facing work if that's what you want to do, rather than consumer-facing work.
 

Prioritizing Market Changes and Building a Book of Business

Question: Should changing markets be prioritized early in your career? And also, how can you weigh changing markets when you're also trying to build a book of business?

Early in your career it depends on what your goals are. Your goals could be to work in a smaller market where it's easier to bring in business or your goals may be for work-life balance, or to try to make more money. It's much easier to build a book of business in a smaller market than it is a larger one because the clients may be smaller and it's easier to network. It can be very difficult in some of the largest law firms to build a book of business because the clients that they expect you to bring in are just so massive.
 

Accepting Lower Titles

Question: Should I accept a lower attorney title to join a better law firm?

No. You always want to have if you can, you always want to have a position as a partner or an associate and not something lower than that. If you join a better law firm and you don't have that title, then you're not going to be given work that's as sophisticated, and you're also not going to have as much employment stability as an associate would have. You're better off working in a law firm that gives you a title that has the potential for upward mobility than one that doesn't.
 

Post-Interview Response Time

Question: How long should it take for you to hear from an employer after you've completed the interview process?

It just depends. When you're interviewing with a firm, the law firm may be interviewing multiple people at the same time. Sometimes I've seen it take months, and sometimes you might be the only person interviewing. Every employer is different, and you just don't know what's going on behind the scenes.
 

Following Up After an Interview

Question: How long should you wait before you follow up with an employer if you have completed the interview process?

Often you don't necessarily need to follow up. You have to appear that you're in demand. Usually the best way to follow up with a firm is if you get another offer. You can follow up after a few weeks, or you can follow up after a week if you want.
 

Multiple Follow-Ups

Question: Should I follow up more than one time or do multiple follow-ups usually make me look desperate?

I think one follow-up is okay. You have to look like you're in demand and you don't want to necessarily look like this is your only option. The more the law firm thinks that a lot of people are after you, that you're a hard person to get in the market, the better off you are.
 

Reasons for Late-Stage Rejection

Question: I have specific training in a narrow area and interviewed with several large organizations that requested a professional with specific skills but rejected me at the very end. What are some reasons for being on a no-hire list?

You never know why organizations are rejecting you. Sometimes it could be because they think you're too senior. For most positions, a lot of times firms will interview multiple people and then will hire just one, because they may have five or six candidates. People misthink that people are hiring them based on just their skill set and the type of work that they can do. Law firms and companies can always find people with a certain skill set. They can't find people that they're comfortable with, that make them feel comfortable, that they believe will do good work and will commit. Ultimately most hiring decisions are made based on who people like.
 

The Market for Remote Entertainment and Fashion Roles

Question: How is the market currently for remote attorney roles in entertainment or fashion?

Anything involving entertainment or fashion is extremely competitive. The problem with entertainment or fashion generally is that the work can be sporadic because actors, film companies, and other people in entertainment businesses often do not spend a lot of money on legal services. Remote work works for lots of different practice areas and lots of different firms, and some firms now are almost completely remote. The market for remote attorneys is good, but at the same time the thing to remember about remote work is if a law firm has work, most law firms in most areas want people that are going to come into the office at some point.
 

Transitioning from In-House to a Law Firm

Question: How can I transition from an in-house counsel role back to a law firm?

The easiest way to transition is usually to transition into maybe a law firm that was working for you when you were in-house counsel. It's difficult to transition from an in-house counsel role back to a law firm because you already made the decision that maybe the law firm practice setting isn't for you. When you're in-house counsel, there's no billable hour and the accountability is different. You're working for one client, usually with the same set of problems over and over again. You have to apply to lots of places. You have to do it in an unsolicited fashion usually.
 

Explaining a Departure Due to Harassment

Question: I've been at a law firm for one year but experienced harassment and would like to move to a different firm. How do you handle interviews with a new firm if asked why I'm leaving my current firm?

You could just say, "This firm is not a good fit for me". You don't have to say anything about harassment, just say it's not a good fit. You can say you want to work on larger clients, more clients, or maybe the firm you're in doesn't have enough work.
 

Building a Book of Business

Question: When should lawyers have a book of business?

It depends on what level of your career you're at. For most attorneys, it's important to learn a practice area before you bring in clients so you become an expert in a practice area. It typically takes about five years to become an expert in a practice area. Developing a book of business doesn't happen instantly. The second you arrive in law school you should be networking with people and meeting people.
 

Searching for Entry-Level Positions and Internships

Question: As a law student, should I rely on legal job boards alone when searching for internships and entry-level positions?

No. As a law student that's actually the last place you should be looking. You should basically be researching firms that you want to work at and sending them unsolicited applications.
 

Restarting After Failing the Bar Exam

Question: How can I restart my legal career after failing the bar exam or passing later than expected?

You just start. If you had a gap maybe you weren't doing anything and you say, "I didn't start my career when I wanted to". You don't have to give an explanation. Lots of people fail the bar exam, especially in California. There's nothing wrong with failing the bar exam, and lots of really good attorneys have failed it.
 

Early Warning Signs of an Attorney Leaving

Question: What are the early warning signs that suggest an attorney may be preparing to leave our law firm?

The warning signs are typically going to be that the attorney may not be showing up as much and may not take things as seriously. Unexplained absences or more absences, as well as having not a great attitude are some of them. Usually, people will start withdrawing, not connecting as much, and not going out of the way to be friendly.
 

The Architect of the Hidden Legal Job Market

For most lawyers, an attorney job search begins with public job postings, law firm websites, and job boards. Harrison Barnes knows that the best opportunities are often found elsewhere—in the hidden legal job market, where confidential firm needs, quiet practice expansions, and customized roles are never publicly advertised.

As the Founder and CEO of BCG Attorney Search, Harrison has spent more than 25 years helping attorneys access opportunities before they reach the public market. He understands that law firms often hire strategically and confidentially, especially when seeking highly marketable lateral talent, replacing underperformers, or expanding key practice areas.

Harrison’s insight into law firm recruiting comes from firsthand legal experience. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, a former federal law clerk, and a former associate at Quinn Emanuel. Early in his career, he saw that traditional legal recruiting was often reactive and overly dependent on posted openings.

To change that, Harrison built BCG Attorney Search into one of the most comprehensive legal recruiting platforms in the country. Over the past two and a half decades, he has invested heavily in proprietary law firm intelligence, attorney market data, and a nationwide recruiting team. This infrastructure helps identify legal career opportunities before they become visible to most candidates.

Harrison and his team do more than match resumes to job descriptions. They help attorneys understand their legal career options, improve their marketability, and position themselves as solutions to a law firm’s specific needs. Whether advising a junior associate, a senior associate, counsel, or a partner, Harrison focuses on aligning each attorney’s strengths with the right firm, platform, and long-term career path.

Through this approach, Harrison has helped place attorneys in thousands of law firms nationwide, from Am Law 100 firms to specialized boutiques and growing regional practices. His work has helped attorneys make career moves that many believed were impossible.

Today, Harrison Barnes is recognized as one of the legal industry’s leading recruiters and career strategists. His legal career advice, articles, webinars, podcasts, and resources such as The Legal Career Insider Substack are followed by attorneys across the country.

Harrison believes the best legal careers are built by finding doors others cannot see. Through BCG Attorney Search, he gives attorneys access to the hidden market—and helps them move toward the career they truly want.

This breadth of placements is unheard of in the legal recruiting industry and is a testament to his extraordinary ability to connect attorneys with the right firms, regardless of market size or practice area.

Proven Success at All Levels

With over 25 years of experience, Harrison has successfully placed attorneys at over 1,000 law firms, including:

• Top Am Law 100 firms such including Sullivan and Cromwell, and almost every AmLaw 100 and AmLaw 200 law firm.
• Elite boutique firms with specialized practices
• Mid-sized firms looking to expand their practice areas
• Growing firms in small and rural markets

He has also placed hundreds of law firm partners and has worked on firm and practice area mergers, helping law firms strategically grow their teams.

Unmatched Commitment to Attorney Success - The Story of BCG Attorney Search

Harrison Barnes is not just the most effective legal recruiter in the country, he is also the founder of BCG Attorney Search, a recruiting powerhouse that has helped thousands of attorneys transform their careers. His vision for BCG goes beyond just job placement; it is built on a mission to provide attorneys with opportunities they would never have access to otherwise. Unlike traditional recruiting firms, BCG Attorney Search operates as a career partner, not just a placement service. The firm's unparalleled resources, including a team of over 150 employees, enable it to offer customized job searches, direct outreach to firms, and market intelligence that no other legal recruiting service provides. Attorneys working with Harrison and BCG gain access to hidden opportunities, real-time insights on firm hiring trends, and guidance from a team that truly understands the legal market. You can read more about how BCG Attorney Search revolutionizes legal recruiting here: The Story of BCG Attorney Search and What We Do for You.

The Most Trusted Career Advisor for Attorneys

Harrison's legal career insights are the most widely followed in the profession.

• His articles on BCG Search alone are read by over 150,000 attorneys per month, making his guidance the most sought-after in the legal field. Read his latest insights here.
• He has conducted hundreds of hours of career development webinars, available here: Harrison Barnes Webinar Replays.
• His placement success is unmatched-see examples here: Harrison Barnes' Attorney Placements.
• He has created numerous comprehensive career development courses, including BigLaw Breakthrough, designed to help attorneys land positions at elite law firms.

Submit Your Resume to Work with Harrison Barnes

If you are serious about advancing your legal career and want access to the most sought-after law firm opportunities, Harrison Barnes is the most powerful recruiter to have on your side.

Submit your resume today to start working with him: Submit Resume Here

With an unmatched track record of success, a vast team of over 150 dedicated employees, and a reach into every market and practice area, Harrison Barnes is the recruiter who makes career transformations happen and has the talent and resources behind him to make this happen.

A Relentless Commitment to Attorney Success

Unlike most recruiters who work with only a narrow subset of attorneys, Harrison Barnes works with lawyers at all stages of their careers, from junior associates to senior partners, in every practice area imaginable. His placements are not limited to only those with "elite" credentials-he has helped thousands of attorneys, including those who thought it was impossible to move firms, find their next great opportunity.

Harrison's work is backed by a team of over 150 professionals who work around the clock to uncover hidden job opportunities at law firms across the country. His team:

• Finds and creates job openings that aren't publicly listed, giving attorneys access to exclusive opportunities.
• Works closely with candidates to ensure their resumes and applications stand out.
• Provides ongoing guidance and career coaching to help attorneys navigate interviews, negotiations, and transitions successfully.

This level of dedicated support is unmatched in the legal recruiting industry.

A Legal Recruiter Who Changes Lives

Harrison believes that every attorney-no matter their background, law school, or previous experience-has the potential to find success in the right law firm environment. Many attorneys come to him feeling stuck in their careers, underpaid, or unsure of their next steps. Through his unique ability to identify the right opportunities, he helps attorneys transform their careers in ways they never thought possible.

He has worked with:

• Attorneys making below-market salaries who went on to double or triple their earnings at new firms.
• Senior attorneys who believed they were "too experienced" to make a move and found better roles with firms eager for their expertise.
• Attorneys in small or remote markets who assumed they had no options-only to be placed at strong firms they never knew existed.
• Partners looking for a better platform or more autonomy who successfully transitioned to firms where they could grow their practice.

For attorneys who think their options are limited, Harrison Barnes has proven time and time again that opportunities exist-often in places they never expected.

Submit Your Resume Today - Start Your Career Transformation

If you want to explore new career opportunities, Harrison Barnes and BCG Attorney Search are your best resources. Whether you are looking for a BigLaw position, a boutique firm, or a move to a better work environment, Harrison's expertise will help you take control of your future.

👉 Submit Your Resume Here to get started with Harrison Barnes today.

Harrison's reach, experience, and proven results make him the best legal recruiter in the industry. Don't settle for an average recruiter-work with the one who has changed the careers of thousands of attorneys and can do the same for you.