Is Taking a Step Back in Class Year Enough to Make a Move?

Question:

I'm a senior litigator, 2006 graduate, with solid law firm experience. Most of the law firms are seeking mid-level litigators. I'm amenable to taking a step back in class year and feel this would be a benefit for the firm, since I have more experience than they are seeking. Shouldn't they be happy with someone with more experience for their opening?


Answer:

Thanks for the inquiry. It is still a difficult time for litigators and you are absolutely going in the right direction by advising firms that you are willing to step back in entry year level. As a candidate, you need to stay as open and flexible as possible.

However, even if a firm were to, hypothetically, bring you in as a class of '09 and pay you the correlating salary, this is still not an ideal situation for the firm and many would prefer not to do this. Here are a few things to consider:

Firms are looking at a particular level for a certain reason, usually to fill a gap in their hierarchy. Maybe they don't need someone that is used to running cases or has first or second-chair trial experience. The firm may believe that person will not be happy with the type of work they will be expected to do in the new position.

Even if an attorney claims to be fine with a "salary cut" or okay to be making on par with other attorneys that are more junior than him (even if it's a salary bump from the prior position), firms feel that this will eventually become a problem. As this individual settles in to the new position and sees attorneys to his junior or at his actual level making more money, the attorney will start to feel resentful and eventually unhappy with this circumstance. If this is the case, it's likely that this attorney will soon be on the market again, or at the very least, not as enthusiastic and inspired by his work.

If the firm decides to hire someone more senior than the original targeted parameters, this could also upset the morale of the other associates in the group. Other associates may be threatened by this individual's experience level, especially if they are someone that is more junior and are supposed to be senior in the hierarchy. This is particularly true for associates with their sights on partnership. Will anyone in the group see this incoming attorney as a threat to their own trajectory? Firms do not want to take this chance.

I'm not writing this to discourage you. Please do continue to submit to firms that have mid-level openings, especially if the practice closely matches that of your own. You never know how things will fall out, and perhaps the firm will consider a more senior attorney for the role. Continue to advise them that your entry year level is negotiable, because you want to seem as flexible and agreeable as possible and acknowledge the fact that you are more senior than the ideal candidate they are seeking. This is the best way to go about your search.

As a 2006 graduate without business (business origination changes the game, of course), you need to cast as wide a net as possible. Know that there are solid reasons why a firm will not consider your application, even if you are "negotiable," and understand this is not a reflection on you or your experience.

Your job search, especially as you become more senior, is much less about fitting in a year-level box and more about creating and sustaining relationships.