Legal job advice

What international department?

My limited experience with headhunters suggests that they are unlikely to be of much help finding a first-year job at a firm. They might -- although I don't know for sure -- be of some help in seeking out an in-house position, as some companies essentially delegate the initial stages of the hiring process to a particular headhunter firm.
From my experience in being on the hiring side, associates applying to a law firm (especially at a junior level where the hiring criteria have more to do with raw brainpower and trainability than proven expertise or a book of business) put themselves at a competitive disadvantage by going through a headhunter, because the headhunter's placement fee from the firm will make the up-front cost of hiring you much higher than that of hiring a non-headhunter candidate.

Unless you're looking in LA, I can't really give you any specific headhunter recommendations. If you go that route, I'd suggest that you carefully interview them as you would any other professional undertaking important work for you. There are good ones out there, and bad ones. A bad or merely mediocre one is probably worse than not having one at all. I'd also make sure you exercise tight control over who they submit your resume to, and understand why it's being submitted. You should nail down with the headhunter before agreeing to let them represent you a list of "excluded" firms and contacts that you are already aware of and can submit your application to directly. No point in adding the disincentive of a recruiter's fee to an application you'd be submitting anyway. If you're going to use a recruiter/headhunter, I'd make sure they're really adding value by opening doors that would not otherwise be open (or known) to you.

I think we actually have some people in the forum who work as recruiters, so they can probably give you some more specific (and perhaps more accurate in some respects) advice.

I'd echo lawyerdad's statements regarding legal headhunters. They're generally not interested in first years. Also, most in-house jobs are difficult to obtain just out of law school. Companies generally don't have the time or resources to train their attorneys from square one. They want attorneys who have enough of a skill set to allow them to hit the ground running. I'm sure there are exceptions to this, but my impression is that they're few and far between.

I imagine there are some large law firms that recruit on your campus and are looking for at least a few 3L's. In the event you're looking for something other than the big firm experience, your task becomes more difficult. Definitely visit your school's career services office, as they generally receive job inquiries from small or medium sized law firms (and many of these firms start looking for entry level associates now or even next spring, as they hire on an as-needed basis, unlike large firms). Also, set up an appointment with one of the folks in the career services office, as they should be able to assist you in devising a strategy for your job search.

I wish I had some bit of magic information to reveal, but finding that all important first job out of law school often takes a lot of leg work and diligence. The one thing to remember is that, eventually, you will find it.

Well, it's unlikely the same department/people would deal with both commercial transactions and litigation.

In my limited experience, you are more likely to get international experience at a firm which has offices abroad (or close relationships with foreign firms) than with a firm that has an "international commercial transactions" department, which is not an animal I've seen.

What international commercial transactions are you interested in?

Bear in mind that international arbitration is growing, more or less at the expense of international litigation. It's still done by lawyers, though...

If you want cool cross-border experience, join a firm with a track record of handling international cases, including antitrust.

--some disjointed thoughts

+1 I think you would have better results sending out a mass mailing of your resume. Although this is not what you want to hear, waiting until third year to start the job hunt has put you at a significant disadvantage. Particularly so given that you want to do international transactional work typically handled by large firms that hire out of their summer program. A headhunter for a first year position should be a last resort option.

I would do some research, find as many small to mid-sized firms that do international works as you can, and focus your efforts there. I would also be flexible as far as job location is concerned. The wider you cast your net, the more options you will find.

Do you have any skills that would appeal to a firm handling international work? Languages, contacts abroad, undergrad background in international relations or some kind of law school specialization in international law beyond just taking a class or two - anything?

If a firm does have an international transactional group or some sub-group that specializes in international work, I would think that it would be very tough to crack into that right out of law school without some kind of hook.

Insurance coverage litigation might be something to look into given the fact that American insurance companies insure interests abroad and foreign insurance companies insure interests in America.

Exactly what do you mean by an 'international department'? If you would be content working in the U.S. dealing with matters involving international parties, you could go to any large firm. Furthermore, the litigation practices of nearly all large firms deal with commercial transactions--after all, that's where the money and clients are.

Given all this, and that you're a 3L, your best shot is to aim for a spot at any big firm in a major U.S. city. To do any 'international' work or work internationally, you're going to need a big firm. Big firms care about whether you were employed right out of school or not. Best to get your foot in the door somewhere as soon as possible.

It's late October of your 3L year. If you're looking for employment I would assume that the 2L summer associate position gig didn't pan out for whatever reason. Given that dynamic, it is imperative that you kick things up a notch, because it's getting dangerously close to crunch time in the process.

Does your law school have on-campus recruiting visits from law firms? If so, those are my first best option. Mass mailings are hardly as successful as interviews on-campus. Hasten down to your career planning office and find out what you need to participate in the process. Depending on how the pre-screening at your school works you still may be able to get in on a few last interviews!

As stated above, I would not utilize a headhunter. I would also not bother with in-house positions. I have been in-house for the last five years; in-house counsel positions are not open to fresh law school grads.

It is not impossible to find a big firm position as a 3L. My roommate worked for a big NYC firm during his second year, was extended an offer but declined. It wasn't a good fit for him so he decided to go elsewhere. He ended up at another big NYC firm. So things worked out.


Big plus one to the above.

Add me to the chorus of "do not use headhunters."

If you are serious about doing international/transnational practice, you really need to land at a Biglaw player, and if you can't get there you need to be at a really top notch mid-sized or boutique firm that will give you a shot at building some skills and then lateralling to a Biglaw shop with an international reach.

If you do not have fluency in a foreign language, you need to get there, as fast as you can, in the language of whatever country/region you intend to work in. Some Biglaw firms will send junior associates overseas to do grunt work, but you will not be able to compete seriously in business development (hence partnership) in international work unless you have local language fluency and/or a really good set of contacts in the local or expat business communities.

Try to target alums of your law school at whatever firms you are going after, and enlist the help of faculty or your placement office to get introductions. Untargeted mass mailings will land on the desk of a recruiting staffer who may end up screening you before you ever get to talk to a hiring attorney. OCI is good, but finding personal angles in the door is really the best way to get noticed and hopefully hired.

On the other hand, insurance coverage litigation is deadly boring. Just my opinion, of course.

Yeah, but not any more boring than the "international transactional work" that he would be doing if he were able to find a job in that field. The title sounds sexy, but I bet what a first year associate does on any kind of international transaction is mind numbing.

I'd rather be litigating a $10,000 PI case than working on a $100,000,000 international transaction. But, that's just me.

Not just you. I'm with you on that. Transactional lawyers do work that is important and, I'm sure, interesting to them. But it's never been to my taste.

From what I understand, insurance coverage litigation is soul-suckingly boring. A first year associate doing "international transactions" can be pretty painful if all they're doing is due diligence work, but it doesn't necessarily have to be if they get to participate in the calls and other negotiation points. The thing with international transactions is that it's only a label, and doesn't mean it's that different from a domestic deal. Usually, you have a few more legal hurdles that you haven't encountered during a US deal, but particular jurisdiction-related legal issues are handled by foreign counsel and/or the foreign office at your own firm (usually, they handle all the foreign matters). So what you're doing, as a US lawyer, is working on the US aspects of the transaction. This isn't to trivialize a cross-border transaction, but it is much more fancy sounding than what it actually is, which is managing foreign counsel and coordinating with them to get the deals done.

Oh, and no one ever talks about this, but international transactions suck because you have time differences. Last June I had a closing for a deal in London at 4am (EST), a NY closing at 9am, then a LA closing at noon on the same day; and having calls with your clients in HK or Australia means that you are doomed to kill your nights/early mornings on most days. Frankly, I think it's grossly overrated. If you really want to do international stuff, work for a large firm in NYC for a few years, then go to a London or Asia office of a Large US/London based firm (or offices where you have language fluency) afterwards. But don't expect to practice real exotic "international law" at a large firm in a US office as such things are rather rare.