Why Fall Is a Great Time to Make a Move

Every year, there are certain windows in the legal market when timing seems to work in a candidate’s favor, and September through early November is one of them. By the time we get into fall, OCI is over and summer associates have gone back to school. Recruiting teams and practice groups have a much clearer picture of what their actual associate needs look like heading into the end of the year.

At a lot of firms, the answer is that they need people. Some firms under-hired earlier in the year, while others have seen workloads increase or associates leave unexpectedly. Either way, we’re seeing plenty of groups that are understaffed and need experienced associates who can come in and contribute quickly. Firms with an immediate hiring need may also move faster this time of year because they have fewer options and don’t necessarily want to wait until January to fill an important opening.

There’s another piece of the fall hiring market that doesn’t always get talked about: the incoming first-year associate class. As first-years start at firms, they naturally require mentoring, training and supervision, and much of that responsibility falls on mid-level and senior associates, as well as partners. Good mentoring takes time, and every hour an experienced attorney spends training a new associate is time away from his or her own workload and billing responsibilities.

The year-end bonus also creates an interesting dynamic. A lot of associates who are thinking about leaving decide to wait until their bonus hits before beginning a search. That’s understandable, but it also means there may be less candidate competition right now. For someone willing to move before bonus season, that can be an advantage. Depending on the firm, practice and candidate, a signing bonus may sometimes be available to help offset a year-end bonus the associate would be walking away from. It’s certainly not guaranteed, but it can be part of the conversation.

For anyone who already knows they want to make a move this year, September, October and early November can be a particularly good window to hit the market hard. Wait too long, and you start running into the natural holiday slowdown. Partners travel, interview schedules become harder to coordinate, people take time off around Thanksgiving and the December holidays, and hiring decisions can start taking longer. Then January arrives along with many of the associates who deliberately waited for their bonuses before beginning their searches.

That doesn’t mean anyone should rush into the wrong opportunity. The right move is still more important than the fastest move. But if you’ve already been thinking about leaving your firm, changing practices, relocating or simply seeing what else is available, this is a very good time to start having conversations. You don’t have to accept a job just because you explore the market, and sometimes the best first step is simply finding out what’s out there before everyone else decides to start looking too.