Why You Shouldn’t Rule Out a Law Firm Before You Interview

In a lateral job search, it’s easy to start eliminating firms before ever speaking with them.

Maybe a colleague had a bad experience there. Maybe you heard the culture is difficult. Maybe someone told you the hours are worse than at a competitor. Or perhaps the firm simply doesn’t have the reputation or name recognition you had in mind when you started your search. That information can be worth considering. But it shouldn’t necessarily determine whether you take the interview.

One person’s experience at a law firm will not necessarily be your experience.

A Firm’s Reputation Only Tells You So Much

An associate working with one team may have a completely different experience from an associate down the hall working with another. That matters because some of the biggest factors affecting an associate’s career aren't things you can determine from a firm's website, rankings, or what you've heard through the grapevine.

Who will you actually work with? Will those partners invest in your development? Will you receive meaningful responsibility and client exposure? Is there someone willing to mentor and advocate for you? Do you genuinely enjoy talking to the people who may become your colleagues? And if partnership is your goal, are the partners in your group people who will actively support you in getting there?

Those answers are highly personal — and you usually can't get them without having the conversation.

The Interview Can Completely Change Your Perspective

We see this happen regularly in recruiting.

A candidate interviews with what they believe is their dream firm. Everything looks perfect on paper, and they've heard nothing but great things about it.

Then they interview.

The conversations don't click. The practice isn't quite what they expected. The personalities don't feel like a match. They leave wondering why they were ever so convinced it was the perfect opportunity.

We've also seen the exact opposite.

A candidate reluctantly agrees to interview with a firm they are almost certain they'll turn down. Maybe the firm wasn't originally on their list, or they had heard something that made them skeptical.

Then they meet the partners.

The conversations are excellent. They connect with the team. They learn things about the opportunity they couldn't have known from the outside. Suddenly, the firm they nearly eliminated becomes one of their top choices — and sometimes the firm they ultimately join.

You Can't Evaluate Chemistry on Paper

You can research compensation, billable-hour expectations, rankings, clients, practice strengths, and partnership structure. You can talk to friends and former colleagues. A good recruiter can also give you valuable insight into a firm's history, hiring patterns, and culture.

What none of those things can tell you with certainty is how you will connect with the specific people you'd be working for and alongside. That's something you have to experience yourself. An interview isn't an acceptance. It's an opportunity to gather information. Taking the meeting doesn't mean you have to take the job.

Don't Make Your Decision Before You Have the Information

Candidates should absolutely have standards and know what they're looking for. Being thoughtful about your next move is particularly important for attorneys because every lateral move becomes part of your professional story. But there is a difference between being selective and being so selective at the beginning of a search that you eliminate opportunities before you've gathered the most valuable information.

If you're considering a lateral move, give yourself permission to have conversations.

Meet the partners. Ask the difficult questions. Learn about the practice. Pay attention to how people interact with you and with one another. Find out who would actually be investing in your career.

Then decide.

Because sometimes the opportunity that looks perfect on paper isn't the right fit at all. And sometimes the firm you almost didn't interview with turns out to be exactly where you belong.