Moving From Government To Private Practice? Start Your Search Before Midterm Elections

// For government lawyers interested in a transition to private practice, timing can significantly influence the range of potential destinations. If you want to maximize your opportunities (and compensation), you need to test the market, and timing your exit optimally can provide a major advantage.

Unfortunately, many government lawyers do not consider the importance of timing until it is too late. They wait until what seems like a natural moment to make the transition: the end of a congressional or presidential term. Only then do they confront the challenge of trying to move right when the supply of government lawyers hitting the market is reaching its peak.

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If you are a government attorney considering a move to private practice within the next year or so, it would behoove you to take a more strategic approach. Specifically, you should explore the market in the first half of 2022, when the supply of candidates will be lower. The best time to secure a premium law firm position is before the post-midterm rush.

Midterm elections create a surge in demand for legal services

The benefit of securing your law firm job before a flood of government candidates hits the market is compounded further by an uptick in demand for legal services due to the midterms. The razor-thin margin in the House means that any change — and there will be change — can shift agendas and priorities. This will influence which new laws Congress enacts, as well as which they roll back; clients will need to hire effective legal counsel for advice on how to navigate those changes. Former government attorneys at all levels are uniquely positioned to help capture that business.

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Given the surge in demand for advice from attorneys with unique insight into how changes in Congress might influence operations, an election year could be an optimal time to start building a practice as a lawyer with recent government experience. Having just exited public service, your experience will be especially fresh and relevant. And by beating the rush to enter Biglaw, you will give yourself a leg up in launching a practice before your peers with comparable government experience start competing for the same clients.

The high demand for former government attorneys in the period prior to an election is reflected in data from before and after the 2020 campaign cycle. Lateral Link analyzed 2,495 attorney moves from government to law firms in the two-year period encompassing 2020 and 2021. Our analysis found that there were 43% more moves in 2020 than in 2021. The lesson is: do not delay. By waiting until after the 2022 midterms, you risk a decrease in demand, as compared to the current robust level.

Strike while the Biglaw market remains exceptionally hot

The case for making an early move is especially compelling this year because law firm lateral hiring has reached record heights. The latest rounds of Biglaw base salary increases in January and February confirm what we at Lateral Link are seeing in the lateral market: firms are struggling to attract and retain top-quality lawyers, and they are prepared to pay for talent.

As with every hiring boom, the current hot market will not last forever. Although nobody can know for sure when lateral hiring will decelerate, it would be a shame to wait until the end of the year and find that not only are many government candidates entering the market at once, but also that the pace of law firm hiring has softened overall.

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Your government experience is marketable, even if your tenure has been relatively brief

Some potential candidates who are Biden administration political appointees may worry that now is too early to move to private practice. Individual circumstances will differ, but at least some attorneys in this administration have already gained sufficient experience and connections to strengthen their skills and marketability, despite having been in government for little more than a year. This is especially true in the context of a robust broader law firm hiring environment.

Initiating early discussions is a no-regret move

The best way to find out how marketable you are now is to test the market. Remember that exploring your options does not commit you to an immediate departure from government. It simply makes you more informed. You have nothing to lose, and potentially much to gain, from an initial conversation with a recruiter who specializes in government-to-law firm transitions and who is well placed to advise on your unique circumstances.

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Amy K. Savage is a Principal and the National Chair of the Government Transitions Group at Lateral Link, where she has a special focus on government and environmental hiring. Amy has placed government attorneys of all levels, from junior associates to practice group chairs and high-level officials.

Lateral Link is one of the top-rated international legal recruiting firms. With over 14 offices world-wide, Lateral Link specializes in placing attorneys at the most prestigious law firms and companies in the world. Managed by former practicing attorneys from top law schools, Lateral Link has a tradition of hiring lawyers to execute the lateral leaps of practicing attorneys. Click here to find out more about us.

Topics

Amy Savage, DC, Government, Government Attorneys, Lateral Link, Legal Recruiting, SOTU, State of the Union