Q: I am an attorney working in a major market, and am looking to return to my hometown area. Is it best to keep my current job while I look, or will I have a better shot if I leave my current firm (that has no offices where I am moving) and move home so that I can focus on my job search and be there in person?
A: Of all the reasons to make a lateral move, the most well-received reason from prospective new employers is that you are relocating because your spouse got a new position in your new target city, or that you are moving back “home.” Especially if your home is in a smaller market and you are currently in a major market or at a large, prominent firm, your hometown firms will be particularly interested in your skill set as smaller markets typically lack these types of highly-trained, big firm attorneys (not always, of course – you may encounter some pushback or resentment from smaller firm/town attorneys with a chip on their shoulder).
Firms have a consistently strong bias in favor of currently employed attorneys. There are a variety of reasons for this, the most important being that there are no questions about your departure from a previous firm. I have known hundreds of attorneys who have left their firm voluntarily, in good standing, and who had stellar performance reviews and high billable hours throughout their tenure, but firms looking to hire are still suspicious that there was something “wrong” that caused the departure, whether personality clashes, being pushed out for performance reasons, lack of business generation (particularly for partners and more senior attorneys), etc.
- See Legal Career Suicide: Quitting a Job without Having another One Lined Up for more information.
- See Why You Can Never Stop Practicing Law for More Than a Few Weeks Once You Start for more information.
With that being the case, will it still balance things out to be there in person and be able to focus 100% on your job search? There can be a small advantage to already being “local” and available for immediate interviews and employment. Some firms in smaller markets will not have relocation budgets for lateral hires (or even to fly attorneys out for interviews), and so may turn down an otherwise qualified non-local candidate in favor of someone who is already local. But this problem can be remedied by simply recognizing that you may not receive relocation expenses, letting the prospective firm know you are fine with that, and scheduling interviews on either side of a regular weekend trip back home.
The other thing is timing of interviews, or finding any time, when you are in a busy active practice. But as I mentioned at the outset, firms in smaller markets will be highly intrigued by a “big market/big firm” skill set, so they will likely be accommodating in terms of finding a schedule that works for both parties. Unless they have an astonishingly urgent need to hire someone within a week or two, most firms are willing to be a little patient for the best candidate.
Long story short, you will be in a much stronger position to make a move home if you stay with your current firm during the job search process and wait to make that move until after you have already landed a new position. If you are worried you will not have enough time to focus on your job search, a good recruiter will be able to do a lot of the legwork for you. If you are thinking about moving back home to a smaller lateral market, let us know by giving us a call at 800-298-6440 and we will be happy to assist.
