Don't Lose Sight of the Small Picture

by Jon Lewis, Managing Director, Michael Lord & Company

It goes without saying that the law firm job market in 2009 was one of the worst in memory. Numerous, heavy rounds of lay-offs coupled with a severe shortage of lateral opportunities in most practice areas created a challenging (indeed, depressing) landscape for both associates and legal recruiters alike.

Now that we are two months into 2010, candidates have repeatedly asked for my opinion as to whether "the market" is going to improve this year. The honest answer? I don’t really know, and anyone who says they do is most likely trying to fool their audience and/or themselves. The economy and job market are, I believe, far too uncertain to permit any realistically certain projections (or even well-educated guesses) about the near-term future. The good news, though, is that for many job seekers this is entirely the wrong question to be asking anyway.

I can best illustrate my point by referring to two associates who I spoke to last year. Jim and Len were very similarly situated. Both were mid-level corporate associates at Vault 100 firms with very low billable hours over the course of several months, and both were concerned that layoffs could be in the offing at their respective firms (as indeed they were). Both were also well aware that the market as a whole for associates with their experience was limited. The important difference came in how they reacted to my inquiry as to whether they might be interested in hearing about lateral opportunities. Jim replied that he was going to sit tight since there was "really nothing out there anyway," and if he were to move he would forfeit all the "good will" he had established at his current firm which he hoped would see him safely through any layoffs. Four months later, Jim had been laid off, and while he was of course then ready to look, his prospects were at that point greatly diminished by his unemployed status. Unfortunately, he remains unemployed today.

Len, on the other hand, though equally skeptical as to the prospects of success, decided it couldn’t hurt to submit his resume for some opportunities. Although the sledding was tough, within three months (and before the next round of layoffs at his old firm), I had placed him in a new position at a busy, smaller firm where I had previously placed two other associates from major, top 25 NY firms.

The moral of these two radically different outcomes for very similarly situated associates? Don’t worry so much about the state of the market as a whole; instead, focus more on your own situation and whether there is anything you can do to improve it. As I often advise my candidates in difficult times, even if there were only one job open in the whole wide world, that's all you need if it's the right job for you. To turn an old adage on its head, while it's good to keep sight of the forest, don't forget about the trees!

Jon Lewis is a Managing Director with Michael Lord & Company. Jon graduated from Yale Law School and Wesleyan University and was formerly a trademark lawyer at Seagram's. His direct dial is 646.431.3431, and his email address is jon@mlordco.com.

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