Law Firm Recuiting

E and I are still living it up in DC. I'm in the homestretch of my clerkship, which ends in mid-August. At that point I'll likely return to my old law firm here in town and stay for at least 3-4 years. That is partly enforced by finances; E and I bought our first house last May, and we just can't afford to sell and move anytime soon. But we like DC a lot, too. Even Seattle-is-the-only-city-for-me girl, E, says DC is growing on her.

The future though isn't 100% certain. E would eventually like to move back to Seattle, which I will admit is a really nice town. Not much of a legal market for patent litigation, strangely enough, but that could change. And I might want a break from big firm life by that time. I have a tentative lead on a possible teaching gig at University of Washington School of Law, which would be an interesting switch. But for my career, Seattle surely won't be the top choice.

Plus, my parents and my sister are in Philly. Considering they are my only family for seven thousand miles, adding three thousand between me and them doesn't sound spectacular.

We do have to think about this at least a little right now because recruiting is happening now. For the uninitiated, the process basically consists of the clerks going to near-nightly cocktail receptions and dinners at fancy restaurants, hosted by big law firms that want to hire us and pay us a ton of money. Sound good? Well, it also means you are spending virtually every weeknight hanging out with no one but lawyers who are all trying so hard to convince you to pick them that they end up acting like a cross between a used car salesman and Al Pacino making you an offer you can't refuse. The good food makes up for, oh, the first 10 to 12 hours of this. But after a while, even eating a free $60 porterhouse steak sounds like the kiss of death when you have to do it sandwiched between two of these people.

Fortunately, a few of the firms seem to be peopled with lawyers who you can have a normal conversation with despite the meat market setting. This is where the utility for us clerks comes in. Finding at least one such firm in the city you want to live in is the holy grail of recruiting season. Add to that finding a firm with the right characteristics (for me, things like early responsibility, sufficient patent work, understanding about family obligations, etc.). Easier said than done. My old firm is one, so that's a nice safety net for me. But if we're moving to Seattle or elsewhere in 3-4 years, I need to figure out what other options there might be (in case my firm doesn't have an office).

After the first two events, no luck. We haven't used up the 10-12 hours of blissful non-jadedness yet so that's ok. But something tells me that's not far off.