The need for associates working with startups/emerging companies and venture capital funds is high, especially across the Bay Area, New York and Boston legal markets. Firms well-known for this type of practice, such as Goodwin, Wilson Sonsini, Cooley and Gunderson Dettmer, have offices in all three markets and open junior and mid-level associate needs across the board.

Startup businesses cross multiple industries - of course there are "apps" and related computing technology services, but there is also insurtech, fintech and block chain/crypto-currency, and startups in the health care and life sciences space. Lawyers at major law firms that work in an emerging company practice represent the growing number and variety of startups "from start to finish" - from the formation as a small company to the company's private sale or public offering. Similarly, major law firms are fighting for the legal work at \ of the venture capital funds that put rounds of funding into these emerging companies and need lawyers to run the agreements and represent their interests.

Many firms that have strong emerging company practices have relatively lean entry-level associate classes, so when the market is "hot" and there's a need for more talent, they look to the larger number of general corporate-trained associates in markets like New York City.

So how can you successfully lateral into the exciting world of working with startups and venture capitalists on their transactional issues? Here are some tips:

1. Get as much technology client experience as possible. If you're in a capital markets, M&A or banking and finance practice, chances are that much of your work is for financial industry clients (especially if you are in NYC). Take opportunities to work on deals that touch on the technology industry in some way, even if the client is more established and not a startup. Attorneys that work with emerging companies like to hire people that have a demonstrated interest and connection to the technology industry.

2. Focus on financing agreement drafting and corporate governance skills - the more experience, the better. If you are coming from a capital markets or M&A practice, the deals are large and the work is varied - diligence, prospectus drafting, dozens of ancillary agreements. Unlike many large public and private companies, emerging companies are in a constant state of structural change and rounds of funding. Focus on getting experience in drafting different types of financing agreements and answering governance questions, event if the assignments are "one-off" and separate from your day-to-day deal work.

3. Be prepared to take a possible "class year cut." Even if you focus on getting and demonstrating the right skills for an emerging company practice, a firm may ask that you take a "class year cut" if your previous corporate practice was too different. This means that if you were a 4th year associate at your previous firm, you may start as a 3rd year associate at your new firm. (Though firms can also offer the opportunity to "catch up" to your actual class year if you demonstrate your abilities.)

If you are a transactional M&A, capital markets or general corporate associate at a BigLaw firm and you're thinking about how you can expand your skill set or change some part of your day-to-day practice, you might consider a shift in focus to a finance or investment funds practice. The need for attorneys with an interest in these practice areas is very strong across the major legal markets. Many of the finance or funds associate openings do not require that you already have focused experience in these areas. Sometimes general corporate experience can be enough.

If you're a 3rd year+ deal lawyer in M&A or capital markets that is looking to stay in BigLaw but wants a practice shift, then finance or funds work might be for you.

Here are some what's and why's on finance and funds:

Finance law practice:

What is it? Simply speaking, "finance law" (or alternatively "banking law") concerns legal issues around the lending of money. You might represent a borrowing company, a lending institution or a "sponsor" (a private equity firm engaged in a debt-finance or leveraged transaction). Or you might focus on financing projects for a particular industry (like energy or health care), or assets for a particular industry (like aviation or financial services).

Why should I lateral into it from another corporate practice? The transactions involved in a finance law practice can vary widely in size. If you're working at a firm in a transactional practice that is driven by multi-billion deals that can take years or can disappear as quickly as they arrive, you may be looking for a less intense and more predictable pace. Some finance law practice groups have steady, predictable transaction flows that are more in the multi-million dollar range.

How do I position myself? If your transactional experience so far concerns due diligence and input on underwriting and other financing agreements, you may have the skills necessary to lateral into a finance practice. M&A and capital markets (especially debt-related capital markets) can provide this exposure after just a couple years. If you have worked on some transactions and have built some financial literacy over 2-3 years at a BigLaw firm, you might be able to make a move.

Funds practice:

What is it? When someone says they work in a "funds" practice, they usually say mean that they work in the formation of financial funds - private equity funds, venture capital funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, etc. The formation of a fund can be complicated from a tax law, corporate governance and/or general regulatory perspective, thus requiring legal advice.

Why should I lateral into it from another corporate practice? Some funds practices have a steady flow of work from a small group or even single client. This can lead to more predictable work and hours. Additionally, funds practices are often small groups, even at very big firms, so you can get a lot more responsibility earlier on.

How do I position myself? You should highlight transactional experience that shows your understanding of securities, tax or other regulatory issues. Focus more on deals where you helped interpret complicated regulatory concepts via formal or informal memoranda for your clients. If you have experience with corporate governance documentation, you should highlight that as well.

In interviews, a decision on your candidacy can be made within minutes. That first impression is crucial. Likewise, how you exit the room is the last impression you provide and the most recent interaction on the interviewer's mind when they write up their recommendation. Add in the uniqueness of the law firm environment and all of this can lead to anxiety for a candidate. But there's no need to be worried. Just keep in mind these simple tips when you enter and exit each interview during your visit:

The Entrance

1. Say a full proper introduction/greeting. Whether you are introduced by someone else are not, take a sentence to give a full "Hello." Say that you're happy to be there, or that you are looking forward to asking the person some questions about their work, etc. Just make sure you say something. This forces you to make eye contact and shows you are ready to engage. If you stand there silently waiting to receive direction and your first question, you will not make a confident first impression.

2. Don't get thrown off by delays, changes, interruptions, etc. When you meet with a lawyer for your interview, they may have been preparing to meet with you for days or they may have just learned they are interviewing you moments ago. As you know, lawyers are busy people - schedules change, calls run over, deadlines come up last minute, etc. So don't be upset or surprised if an interviewer changes or if an interview doesn't start on time. Instead, think about it from the other side: If you were scheduled to interview someone for a position that day and an urgent client deadline came up, which would you prioritize?

3. Have materials at the ready, but wait to be asked for them. You should have a professional portfolio with you that contains all the materials you were asked for by the firm - resume, cover letter, transcript, writing sample, etc. Have a packet ready for each interviewer. But keep your portfolio closed on the desk and only provide materials when asked. Don't worry if the interviewer doesn't already have a copy of your resume at the ready (see point #2 above :-).

The Exit

1. Run out the clock. It's not your responsibility to know when the interview should end. You should be doing everything you can to use all of the time that you have with your interviewer. There's always another question that can be asked about their work, how they use attorneys at your level, what they are looking for in a team member, etc. While you think you're being respectful of time when you end the interview on your own, your interviewer may perceive this as disinterest.

2. Take the time for a closing sentence or two. No matter what. When your interview ends or a recruiter comes in to take you to the next attorney, you may feel you need to rush out of the room ASAP. Don't. It takes less than a minute to reach out for a handshake, say thank you for their time and, ideally, to say something about why you are a good fit or want the job. This is crucial for ensuring the interviewer sees you as a confident, engaged candidate that really wants the job.

Your entrance and exit to a law firm interview matters as much as what you say in-between. Push through your nerves to remember these tips for each interview.

I've written before about changing markets as a corporate associate. This article looks at the broader movement of law firm associates that have changed geographic markets and moved to new law firms, looking at data from 2018. Here are some findings regarding some of the key "destination markets" for associates last year:

Lateral data copyright 2018 Firm Prospects, LLC. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Not for redistribution. Graphic by DuelingData.

• The Bay Area and New York lead the pack for destination markets, driven by high corporate needs. Attorneys that do some type of transactional work flock to the San Francisco Bay Area and New York City markets. Even though the Bay Area is generally a smaller legal market than NY and DC, the needs for corporate attorneys to service tech companies, their buyers, their targets and their financiers. This need will likely grow in 2019 (see here).

• DC transfers were diverse in original location and practice. The DC market had 160 transfer associates in 2018, which excludes the number of associates coming to firms from judicial clerkships (significant in the DC market). These associates came from all over the country. This can partly be attributed to the fact that the DC bar has a much easier admission process for laterals than, for example, California. Practice areas were similarly diverse with DC drawing in associates to fill corporate, litigation, real estate, tax and IP needs, amongst others.

• Boston's lateral associate needs were significant compared to the city size. Boston attracted about 100 new associates to the market last year. This is the 6th largest transfer destination market, even though the metropolitan area is only the 10th largest in the country. New firms along with active financial services and life sciences industries keep the needs for associate talent high, especially for corporate practice.

Expect the trend of lateral associate geographic movement to increase in numbers over the next few years for a few reasons:

1. Large firms will continue move into new markets (see Boston) and partner groups will continue to move as firms compete for books of business.

2. Some practice areas like tech transactions, real estate and data privacy are in such high-demand for trained talent that firm offices will have to look out of their geographic areas to find the talent.

3. The liberalization of state bar admission via adoption of the UBE will make it easier and easier for associates to make themselves marketable to a new firm in a new market.

Law firm interviews are very conversational. You could talk about one deal you did for an entire interview. You could end up talking about your favorite sports team or hobby for awhile. You could have an interview where they just answer your questions the whole time. You could spend half the time on small talk about the weather and how you got to the interview that day. As a result, candidates often think they don't need to (or worse, shouldn't) prepare. "I can't expect what exact questions they will ask, so better to not prepare and seem natural and unreharsed, right?" Wrong.

There are ways to strategically prepare for a conversational interview while making sure you don't sound rehearsed.

Here are three essential tips:

1. Annotate your resume with brief outlines of your professional stories. Much of the conversation in a law firm interview requires that you speak articulately about the work that you have done. Even if someone asks you a behavioral question like "What's your biggest weakness?" or "What role do you take on group projects?," you should answer with an example of a professional story. By writing out your work as individually outlined professional stories, you help ensure that you will stay focused in an interview while not sounding like you are reading from a script. Each story outline should have three components: (i) the headline summary and objective of the project you were working on, (ii) the specific tasks that you completed in order to finish the project, and (iii) the ending/result of the project. Outline a bunch of stories underneath a variety of categories - a personal failure, a group failure, an entreprenuerial success, etc., as well as stories that match the qualifications saught in the job description.

2. Write a paragraph on why you want the job. This may sound unnecessary or duplicative of a previously submitted cover letter, but it is essential. Interviewers want to know why you want to work with them; they want to see your drive and passion for the job. Write down what draws you to the new opportunity as specifically as possible (and not what is pushing you away from your current job, as going negative rarely wins over an interviewer). If you don't get a question where you can convey this sentiment, find the time to do it. When your time is up and you have to leave, don't just say thank you and rush out - take a moment to say something like "Before I go, I want to say that I have been looking for an opportunity that offers frequent opporunities to appear in federal court. So this position is exactly what I am looking for, and I am confident I will be an asset to your team."

3. Think of one good work-oriented question for each interviewer. If an interviewer asks you if you have any questions, you should always have something prepared. But instead of going through a list of logistical questions about the search timeline, benefits package, etc., think of one good work-oriented question that will kick of a new conversation. Even something simple like "Can you tell me a little bit about the most recent deal you closed?" can be a great way to start. Listen to your interviewer's response and think of good follow-up questions to keep the conversation going. It's another way of showing that you are genuinely interested in the work and the job.

Of course, when it comes to conversational law firm interviews, there's no way to anticipate every question that can come your way. However, if you follow these prep essentials, you'll be ready to go into that interview with the most important interview essential: confidence.

The need for experienced corporate and transactional associates in San Francisco and Silicon Valley is high. If you're practicing law at a big firm in New York or elsewhere in the U.S., consider exploring the market. As previously written, the Bay Area is the top legal market for working with clients in the technology industry (as well as their bankers and investors).

Using job listings collected by Firm Prospects, LLC, here are some of the trends that I am seeing for Bay Area lateral associate hiring at the start of 2019:

• High need for tech trans associates with 2+ years of experience. "Technology transactions" attorneys advise on agreements related to the development, licensing, sale and purchase of intellectual property. Unlike other types of intellectual property work, a technical undergraduate degree is not usually a requirement (though firms do want attorneys that have experience working with tech companies). If you are someone that has "deal experience" working with tech companies, this may be something you want to focus in on in the Bay Area market. It's also one of the best paths for going in-house to a tech company (thus the high need on the firm side).

• Need for public capital markets associates with 3+ years of experience. Firms across the Bay Area are looking for mid-level public capital markets attorneys. People who know the BigLaw legal market tend to think that New York is the primary market for advising on IPOs and other public equity and debt offerings. But in recent years, Bay Area-headquarted law firms have moved to become more full service, while New York-headquartered law firms have opened up offices in the area to leverage strong reputations in areas like public capital markets. The result is growth all around with everyone strategizing to advise on the "next big tech IPO in 2019."

• Need for M&A associates with 3+ years of experience. M&A legal practice has long been a mainstay in the Bay Area legal market. Whether you are an attorney that advises startups, small tech companies, established tech companies, private equity firms, venture funds or all of the above, there is a lot of work to do. If you're an experienced M&A deal attorney that likes that pace and life, but wants to dig into the tech industry world, then a Bay Area move might be right.

• General need for general corporate attorneys of different levels of experience. If part of the appeal for making a move is to find a firm that will allow you to have a more general corporate practice that includes a mix of finance, capital markets, M&A and others, then the Bay Area has opportunities in this space. Firms that have this need often want attorneys that can be full service to clients in a particular industry such as life sciences or tech.

Ultimately, whether you want to build a path to in-house or partnership, or just want a West Coast change of scenery, the time to lateral to the Bay Area may be now.

Legal resumes need to be concise and well-organized, but they also need to be written and customized strategically. Don't assume that anyone will read a cover letter in detail. The resume should tell the whole story about who you are, what relevant experience you bring, and ultimately, whether you are a good fit.

Recruiting staff may look at your resume for just a few seconds before moving on.

Given this fact, you need to make sure that your resume leaves a positive impression quickly and efficiently.

Below is a sample resume for a lawyer named Joan Elliott with two years of corporate law experience, annotated beneath with my suggestions on what is important for a legal resume (and what's not):

1. Perfect formatting: This is priority #1. Think of your resume like a formal memo or brief. It should look neat. Start by clicking Select all > Paragraph and then making sure the line spacing is consistent. Afterwards, manually (but carefully) make formatting customizations as needed. Readers can tell when a resume is not properly formatted. It looks sloppy.

2. Simple style: For font, use serif or sans serif font, but it doesn't have to be Times New Roman or Calibri (the sample above is Arial). For punctuation (like dashes, whether or not you use periods, etc.), just make sure you are consistent throughout.

3. Give the important stuff the most space: Joan worked for a school for a year and a major law firm for two years; still, the law firm gets more than double the space (as it should). When it comes to a resume, real estate = visibility.

4. Be clear and specific about your legal experience: Don't assume that every reader will understand acronyms or know your practice. Joan makes it clear what her corporate practice looked like, and how it progressed. This makes it an easy read from the recruiting coordinator all the way up to the practice group head.

5. Save the project/deal/case listing and other details for a separate page: Always try to keep your resume as one (1) page. If you want to share additional details of cases, deals and projects that are public and high profile, save it for a second page. Same goes for any presentation or publication lists.

6. Show people who you are as a person: This is why you leave on old jobs and have an Interests section. People want to know a little about your life and your story, particularly in interviews. Make it easy for them to inquire.

If you’re a corporate or transactional associate that feels stuck, maybe you need a change - not just of firm, but of location.

Different legal markets in the U.S. can offer different opportunities for corporate associates. Here are some examples on what different legal markets have to offer corporate associates looking to make a lateral move:

• The Bay Area - for getting in-house at a tech company. Obviously the Bay Area is most known for its ties to the technology industry, and it’s what drives legal services as well. When I was a career advisor at Harvard Law, one of the most popular long-term career goals was: “I’d like to be in-house at a start up or established tech company like Google.” These types of positions are competitive and increasingly require more and more firm experience. But the best way to lay the ground work is to do company-side work at the firms that are in the tech companies’ backyard.

• Boston - for wealth and investment management. At large law firms across the country, lots of private client, wealth and investment management practices have moved to smaller and midsize firms. In “old money” Boston, these practices still exist at some of the most prominent firms in the market. The practices are great for corporate attorneys that like to work directly with clients and enjoy relationship-building.

• New York - for being a Big Deal Lawyer. There’s no other legal market in the world that will provide the opportunity to work on big capital markets and M&A deals like New York City. If you enjoy the rush that comes with quick turnarounds and same-day pricing decisions (as well as seeing your name attached to big deal announcements) then New York is the place to be or stay.

• Chicago and Atlanta - for working with particular Fortune 500 companies. There are some major Fortune 500 companies based in the Midwest and Southeast. Some companies started there, while others strategically chose their headquarters in these regions for cost and/or tax reasons. When they need help on a major financing, purchase or sale, they look to those big firms in the nearest cities with big legal markets: Chicago and Atlanta.

• DC - for being everyone’s financial regulatory expert. If you are a corporate associate that enjoys getting in the weeds and staying up-to-date on federal securities law and other financial regulations, you may need to be a lawyer in the D.C. market. The demand for specialized financial regulatory experts is always high. And lots of firms looks for corporate associates trained on “deal work” who are now looking for a tighter focus.

Your next move as an associate should be one that furthers your long-term career goals.

Ultimately, a physical move may provide you with the best opportunity for long-term career satisfaction as an attorney.

Even if you're doing great at your law firm, there are always perfectly valid reasons to consider a lateral move:

1. To move locations (even if your firm has an office there).

   When I advised Harvard Law students, they often thought they should pick a firm that had offices in all the locations they might be interested in one day. What if they wanted to move offices down the road? Well, that's not so simple. Law firm offices can be so different from each other that they can be like different law firms. Plus, if someone in another office never worked with you, who will help you make the move? And certainly, if you're doing well, the team in your current office won't want to see you go. Instead, a new firm might make the most sense. You can keep the credit for your years' of experience while excelling at a firm that is a better fit for this point in your career.

2. To shift practice areas (even if your firm has the practice).

   Since law school does not expose you to the ins and outs of most law firm practice specializations, you may not realize you don't like a practice area until you try it. At the same time, from a business perspective, many law firms are pushing new lawyers to decide on a practice specialization as soon as possible. It may take a couple years until you realize: "I don't really like this. I want to do that." Your firm may allow you to shift to that work, or they may not. But even if they do, is it the right fit? Are the people in that practice the people you want to work with? Maybe you want to braoden and shift your practice, not change it completely. In these instances, you might need a firm that has a different model when it comes to how attorneys are grouped into practice areas.

3. To set yourself up for a better in-house move.

   The most common way to move in-house is to do so with a client of your law firm. Maybe you have years of experience working "underwriter-side" in a corporate practice, but have no interest in going in-house to an investment bank. A lateral move to a firm that works more with clients in other industries that have strong demand for in-house talent (like health care or tech, for example) might make sense for you.

4. To make equity partner.

   You can be doing great at your law firm and feel really supported, but still know that making equity partner will be a longshot. Maybe you are in a practice area that does not promote a lot of equity partners. Maybe your firm has a small number of true equity partners, many of whom are not planning to leave or retire anytime soon. In these cases, it could be time to move to a firm that will reward your work and business-building with a clear path toward equity partnership.

5. To find a better personal fit.

   The #1 thing Harvard Law students would ask me about when picking their first law firm was: "How do I know if the firm is a good "culture fit"? Will I like the people that I work with?" The answer I often provided was not super-satisfying: "Unfortunately, you might not know until you get there." Large law firm offices are made up of so many departments, practice groups and working groups that it can sometimes feel like you work at a very small firm even in an office of 500+ lawyers. Over time, you start to understand what you need from the people in your law firm working environment and that a change may be necessary.

The legal market remains strong at the start of 2019 and there are lots of opportunities.

Photos courtesy of unsplash.com. Credited photographers are Jose Csunyo, Jon Tyson, Dylan Nolte, Alexander Pembe and rawpixel.

The 2019 annual advisory on the state of the legal market from the Law Firm Group at Citi Private Bank and Hildebrandt Consulting was just released. The report is an authority on demand for legal services from major US-based law firms.

The report projects a 6-7% increase in the demand for legal services in 2019. But not all firms will benefit equally from this growth.

The report identifies higher performance at the biggest law firms (the AmLaw 50) and firms outside the top firm rankings (“niche” law firms).

In terms of findings that may be of interest to potential lateral attorney candidates at large law firms:

1. Expect M&A to remain the main “practice area driver.” That being said, the survey also found that other major practice areas should have a good year, including BigLaw standbys like finance, capital markets, white collar, investigations, IP and real estate.

2. Surveyed firms plan to grow their income partner, counsel AND associate counts. This is good news for associates looking to move up the ladder or move to a new firm.

3. Increased equity partner turnover and retirement in 2019. The survey noted a recent shift from survey firms for lateral equity partner hires over internal promotions. And when it comes to retirements, Baby Boomer demographics work in the favor of associates from other generations; the survey notes that the average mandatory retirement age for firms is at 67.

A recent article in the Financial Times discusses the increase in demand for “business crime” lawyers in the US and UK over the past decade. In the US, “white collar” attorneys are concentrated in the New York and Washington, DC markets due to the focus on the financial industry and federal regulation, respectively.

Only 99 white-collar specific positions were posted in NY and DC between 2015 and 2018, according to data from Firm Prospects, LLC.

This represents just 10% of the total litigator job postings in NY and DC during the same period. This does not necessarily mean that white collar is not a “hot” practice area. The relatively low number is probably the result of a couple factors:

• A lot of white collar attorney positions aren’t posted. Firms in NY and DC typically desire experienced white collar attorneys with government or regulatory experience (e.g., US Attorney’s Offices, the DOJ, the SEC, etc.). White collar litigators at firms interact with attorneys at these government agencies frequently enough that it may be easy to identify candidates through referrals, thus making a job posting unnecessary.

• Some firms may hire “general litigators” to do white collar work as part of their practice. Some firms may not be able to rely on white collar work on its own to support their litigation practice. Therefore anyone hired to do white collar work may also practice in other types of litigation and regulatory work.

Political Law is a very broad term, but it most commonly refers to lawyers that advise the government and candidates on issues related to political campaigns.  Election law, campaign finance law and lobbying regulations are most relevant to the practice.

Lots of students I know are interested in practicing Political Law at a large law firm after graduation.

However, Political Law is a relatively small practice. It can be very difficult to find a way in as a new lawyer.

I took a look at the web biographies of 52 private practice Political Law attorneys that work in the Washington, DC office of large international law firms. Here are some interesting trends I found:

1. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is a popular previous employer. Of the attorneys that I researched, the FEC (see picture above) was the single most common prior employer. (And this does not include attorneys that continue to work for the FEC while in private practice.) This is not surprising. The FEC is an independent federal regulatory agency that was created to enforce federal campaign law.

2. Campaign work is common, with specific firms often aligned with one party more than the other. Many of the attorneys I researched worked as field organizers, communications experts, interns or attorneys prior to their work in private practice (and sometimes while working for the law firm). Firms may have a connection to one particular party.  For example, most political lawyers at Perkins Coie worked with Democrats; political lawyers at Jones Day often worked with Republicans.

3. Associates typically have interned for Congress or the White House in the past. With respect to the 28 political lawyers that are Associates at their respective law firms, it was very common to have worked as an intern at some point for a Congressman or at the White House. Work experience as a legislative assistant in Congress was not as common.

I offer these insights to reveal other avenues and ways into a Political Law practice at a top law firm. Campaign work and government experience offer other entry level avenues. While these positions may not pay as well in the short-term, they may produce the connections and experience you need for long-term success as a Political Law attorney.

Author’s note: To conduct this research, I looked at 52 law firm website biographies and public LinkedIn profiles for attorneys listed in the “political law” practice of the Washington, DC offices of these international law firms: Perkins Coie, Allen & Overy, Skadden, Jones Day and Covington.