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How Do I Get My Dream Job in a Law Firm in a Tight Market?

How can you achieve your dream job in a tight legal market? Find out in this article. READ MORE >

How Long Will It Take to Hear Back from Firms?

Ever wonder how long it will take a law firm to respond to your application? Find out how long it typically takes and the six main factors that affect a firm’s response rate. READ MORE >

Will Law Firms Even Consider Me If I Don’t Have Any Local Ties to an Area?

I’m considering moving to a smaller market like Portland or Seattle. Do I need to have local ties to get into firms in these areas? READ MORE >

Should I Submit My Resume through a Recruiter, a Referral, or On My Own?

What is the best way to submit your resume to a law firm? Find out in this article. READ MORE >

Why the Solution to Being Happy as a Law Firm Attorney Does Not Involve Making Any of the Changes You’ve Thought of Making

Find out how you can be a truly happy law firm attorney without making a move or career change in this article. READ MORE >

How Can I Make Partner or Make a Move without a Book of Business?

Are you stuck at a firm that doesn’t encourage business development? Are you not gaining the experience you hoped for? Learn what your options are in this article. READ MORE >

Is an LL.M. a Good Idea for Everyone?

Will getting an LL.M. improve your marketability as a lateral law firm hire? READ MORE >

How Important Is Having a Representative Transactions or Representative Matters List When Making a Move?

Find out why law firms are interested in much more than just your resume in this article. READ MORE >

Should I Lateral to a Secondary Market? 5 Factors to Help You Decide

Are you considering leaving the big city for a secondary market? Find out the 5 factors you should consider when deciding if making the move is right for you. READ MORE >

How Long Will It Take before I Hear Back from a Law Firm?

Why haven’t I heard back yet from a law firm after a recruiter has already sent my materials to them? READ MORE >

How Should I Best Prepare for a Law Firm Interview?

Learn what you must do to get ready for a law firm interview in this article. READ MORE >

Changing Practice Groups: Mission Impossible or All The Right Moves

Find out the steps you must take if you want to switch practice groups before you decide to make the switch. READ MORE >

Law Firms and Conformity

Every attorney that works in a large law firm is expected to conform to their rules. Find out why law firms expect a high level of conformity in this article. READ MORE >

Another Lawyer Suicide: How the Psychology of Being a Big Firm Lawyer Can Tear You Down

Find out why being an attorney causes many to be depressed and feel like they are never good enough. READ MORE >

Why Your Ego Is Making You Unhappy Practicing Law and with Your Life

Find out why so many attorneys are unhappy and what can be done to bring happiness back into their lives. READ MORE >

How Should I Answer Questions about Salary Expectations from a Law Firm?

Before or during the interview process, here’s what you can do if a law firm asks about your salary expectations. READ MORE >

What to Do If You Lose Your Job as an Attorney

Many attorneys will at some point lose their job. Find out what you should do if this happens to you in this article. READ MORE >

Showing Up: The Difference between Those Who Get Hired and Advance in Law Firms and Those Who Do Not

Learn 10 things that separate successful law firm attorneys from all the rest in this article. READ MORE >

Why Big Firm Attorneys Are So Likely to Get Divorced

Attorneys working in big law firms are much more likely to get divorced one or more times in their life than those in other professions. Find out why in this article. READ MORE >

Why Law Firms Are Very Reluctant to Hire Unemployed Lateral Attorneys

Discover the top 10 reasons law firms are often reluctant to hire unemployed lateral attorneys in this article. READ MORE >

Top 10 Reasons Attorneys Should Look at Multiple Markets in Their Job Search

The most successful attorneys are those who don’t limit themselves to just one market in their job search. Find out why in this article. READ MORE >

The BCG Attorney Search 2018 State of the American Lateral Law Firm Legal Market Report

The 2017 legal market was one of the better legal markets on record. We placed 30% more attorneys in 2017 than we placed in 2016—and 2016 was a very good legal market.
While the partner market was healthy, the associate market was far healthier than it has been in a generation. The market is doing well in every part of the country.
Provided there is no crash, the 2018 market should be an even better market than 2017.
Litigation was surprisingly active in smaller to midsized law firms and very slow in the largest law firms. Large law firms have continued to have reduced hiring in 2017. Large law firms have also started creating more and more staff attorney roles for litigators. We saw numerous law firms do this in 2017 that formerly would have hired regular associates.
Niche practice areas remained very popular and the easiest to get jobs in. The more “niche” an attorney’s background, the more marketable they are likely to be. Attorneys in the most niche practice areas that are geographically flexible were almost always able to land positions.
For many niche practice areas, it became easier for attorneys to get hired at top law firms than it has ever been. Large law firms are finding a lack of talent for attorneys in many niche practice areas and hiring more and more of them.
Corporate generalist hiring was much less robust than it was in the previous years; however, corporate finance has gotten busier.
Overall, corporate was extremely competitive to get positions within the largest law firms, but smaller to midsized firms were hungry for attorneys in corporate.
Real estate was very slow. There was hardly any activity in real estate all year, and real estate attorneys had a difficult time.
More and larger law firms are moving away from employment-related work. Many of those that are not are hiring “staff attorneys” to do the day-to-day related employment work. In an interesting twist, many employment-only firms did a lot of hiring in 2017 and were increasingly demanding the best talent.
Trademark is traditionally a “barometer” of a healthy economy with new businesses being started—we saw more trademark jobs in the last month of 2017 than we have ever seen. Many large law firms are hiring staff attorneys to do trademark work, however.
Senior level litigators had a very, very difficult time getting positions in larger markets. Litigation is increasingly becoming a dangerous practice area for large law firm attorneys with few opportunities for advancement.
More and more millennials seem to be interested in smaller law firms and unconcerned about compensation and leaving large law firms than ever before—many are simply quitting.
Diversity has become something that is extremely important to law firms. This has become so important that this year I wrote a book about diversity for law firms and applicants that can be found here: Law Firm Diversity: How Race, Gender, Age, Social and Economic Divisions Impact the Hiring, Retention and Advancement of Law Firm Attorneys