By virtue of having been hired by a major Manhattan firm, you have already demonstrated many of these attributes. The big shops don�t hire idiots or sleepers. They can pick the cream of the crop � brain-wise and motivation-wise. They have reviewed your law school performance, vetted your personality, assessed your potential and decided to lay out some very big bucks for the privilege of working you to death. Given the tendency of large firms to hyper-specialize young lawyers in order to enhance their billing rate, it is slightly unusual to have early assignments in both corporate and litigation (unless your firm uses a rotation system to orient new hires as broadly as possible). Is this a value-neutral reassignment, or does it reflect someone�s decision that you weren�t well-suited (or competent at) transactional work?

Assuming there�s nothing in these assignments that tarnishes your image, a decision to �get out of big firm life in a year or so� will surprise few people. It may even be viewed as a �flight to health,� as shrinks would call it. It�s no secret that even prestigious large-firm associate positions have lots of downsides these days: incredibly long hours, competitiveness with colleagues, overspecialization, marginal opportunity for judgment and experience-building assignments until you�re been working 4-5 years, isolation, etc. It�s also well-known that a lot of young lawyers grab at these positions because they can pay off student loans faster with those staggering large-firm salaries and getting hired by a large, prestigious firm provides some real marketing torque when/if you do move on.

However, your decision to move on so soon � in under three years � raises some concerns you�ll have to address when interviewing for a new job. First, you�re walking away from some really big money, and responsible people generally think twice before moving themselves downward on the ol� wage scale. Be careful that your decision does not look unduly idealistic or unrealistic: you�re unlikely to match your existing compensation level. Second, be careful your decision does not look impulsive. You�ll have to make it clear that yours is a mature, well-thought out decision and not just the product of sleep deprivation.

If your rap really is going to be , �I just don�t like big firm life,� then you should be marketable to smaller firms or boutiques, but it obviously will torch your marketability with any other large firm � Manhattan or not (unless you�re from some other area of the country and want to �go home,� or �have always been in love with Seattle�).

Equally important, be prepared to describe your employment objectives in terms of what you do want (or want more of), rather than in terms of what you don�t like. And these objectives should go beyond merely talking about setting; you should be self-aware enough to suggest the type of role, work content, relationships and work-related satisfactions that move you, rather than focusing solely on the most desirable sector or setting.

Sincerely,
Douglas B. Richardson
President, The Richardson Group