Thinking about trading BigLaw for legal recruiting? The folks at Lateral Link give you the lowdown on life after billable hours.
In the legal world, landing a job in BigLaw is often treated as the golden ticket. The salaries are eye-watering, the offices are sleek, and the prestige is undeniable. But behind the polished glass buildings and six-figure pay checks lies another reputation the industry is known for: long hours, high pressure, and a lifestyle that can quickly lead to burnout. “I loved the firm, I loved my team, but at some point, I started to get burnt out and a bit frustrated with the protracted nature of litigation,” highlights Marion Wilson, managing director and regional leader for the Southeast markets at Lateral Link.
For decades, the typical escape route from BigLaw has been kind of predictable: senior associates who don’t want to make partner often leave the practice for in-house roles, trading billable requirements for the hope of something closer to a work-life balance. Moving into legal recruiting is a far less common path, but we spoke to four former BigLaw attorneys who made the leap of faith and are now legal recruiters themselves. They gave us some top tips and information for attorneys who are thinking of making the big move.
When BigLaw Stops Calling
For many attorneys, there comes a moment where work stops feeling like a calling and starts feeling like a cost, and that moment often marks the beginning of their pivot.
Andrew Clyne, principal and former leader of Lateral Link’s Northeast team, notes his unique circumstances around his BigLaw exit. His firm went bankrupt in 2012 which forced him onto the lateral market scene. “I was on the lateral market for a short time and it was a tough market back then,” he reflects. Ultimately, Clyne’s foray into legal recruitment was “a happy accident. I wasn’t certain,” he notes, “but I knew my own experience with the lateral market would make for helpful reference points.”
Marion Wilson, Maggie Finnegan, and Nick Pappas, on the other hand, made the leap after beginning to experience burnout.
Nick Pappas, senior director at Lateral Link, explains, “I had been thinking of making a change for a while,” seeking out options that would afford him the freedom to work remotely and the time to pursue interests outside of practicing law.
Maggie Finnegan, a Lateral Link director who focuses on placements across the Northeast, explains she’d already gone down the in-house route, and was still looking for a career change. “I think a lot of people leave BigLaw with the end goal of going in-house,” she considers, noting “I had already reached that goal and still felt that from a career longevity standpoint, it wasn’t going to work for me – from a family and goals perspective.”
For the interviewees in this article, the reality of BigLaw began to raise questions about whether practicing law was the only option available to them.
“It was a big decision to walk away from likely partnership at a firm to a complete career change,” notes Wilson, “but I must say it’s been very rewarding.” Ultimately, “if you would have asked me eight years into practice, I would have never thought about it, but the last two years were more challenging, so I made the leap.”
“I felt like using my degree in a different way, but in a way that still felt very satisfying and goal orientated.”
Finnegan explains she was looking for a career change where she could still use her law degree for good: “I felt like using my degree in a different way, but in a way that still felt very satisfying and goal orientated.” For many lawyers, the early years of BigLaw are a period defined by long hours and intense workloads, which for some is easier to sustain than others. “It’s easy to be in that churn when you’re in your late 20s, just out of law school; you have time to be billing crazy hours and having your weekend blown up and to answer emails at the drop of a hat,” she contemplates, “but I think as life gets more complicated, so do your exit opportunities… you have to be really intentional about your next role.”
BigLaw Foundations That Make Great Recruiters
You may think that the jump to legal recruiting from BigLaw is a big one where a whole new skillset is needed, and our four interviewees confirmed it’s not as easy as it seems. But there are skills you learn as a BigLaw attorney that can give you the upper hand when transitioning into legal recruiting.
One of the most transferable skills is managing a million different workstreams at once. “At any given moment I have candidates that are in the interview stage, I have candidates that I’m onboarding, I’m doing outreach, I’m managing ongoing interview processes. There is just a lot going on at all times,” Finnegan lists. So much of being a lawyer involves keeping the ball rolling and not letting things fall by the wayside, which Finnegan explains is “basically what recruiting is: it’s pushing the ball forward on all fronts at all times.”
With many years of experience as a litigator, Wilson also highlights how oral and written advocacy skills lend themselves well to advocating on behalf of firms when trying to sell the firm to candidates, and vice versa. However, he notes, “There’s more communication with recruiting.”
Clyne reiterates the importance of communication skills: “You have to be comfortable talking to people; often it’s straightforward, but some conversations require more tact in getting a lawyer to be candid about where they are – or more often, are not – in their career.” Essentially, you have to be “a people person.”
Research also plays a large role in a legal recruiter’s day to day. “I spend a lot of time researching firms on sites like Chambers,” Wilson notes (not to toot our own horn). “If I had a dollar for every time I went to Chambers, I may be able to retire from recruiting,” he laughs.
From Paperwork to People Work
A common misconception about recruiters our interviewees were keen to dispel is that they’re email blasting machines.
"...you’re kind of acting as a therapist.”
Finnegan notes, “People think recruiters are just indiscriminately blasting emails into the void and trying to just take what they can get.” However, the job involves more of an emotional aspect than one may think. “It’s much more of a human endeavor than legal work where you are kind of hiding behind your computer and pushing deals forward. Instead, you’re kind of acting as a therapist,” Finnegan reveals.
Clyne notes his ability to relate to his candidates as he too was on the lateral market when his law firm went bankrupt. He highlights his ability to connect with his candidates as he got exposure to the way the market works, and even to working with recruiters.
Emotional resilience was highlighted as another key trait a recruiter needs to possess, particularly when handling the fall through of a deal. As Finnegan explains, “I’ve been in positions where we’ve gotten offers, we’re on the one-yard line, and for whatever reason it falls through, and you just have to pick yourself up again, and start over the next day and be unbothered by it.”
Wilson adds to this, highlighting that one of the most frustrating things about legal recruiting is “we can do our jobs perfectly, and there’s an element of it that’s completely out of our hands.” As Finnegan underlines, “you have to get very comfortable with a 50% hit rate.”
Another key consideration when making the switch is, undoubtedly, compensation; it’s one of the main concerns many of our interviewees had. As Clyne explains, “A lot of us who came from BigLaw were well compensated. With recruiting you can make a lot of money, but a lot of it is contingent. You can do everything right and if the placement doesn’t close, for whatever reason, that’s it.” He adds that particularly “in the beginning, the all-or-nothing nature of a commission-based job can be tough to navigate.”
The transition into legal recruiting also requires a shift in mindset. While legal work is often reactive, with your days full of responding to emails, deadlines, and client demands, recruiting is far more about building and maintaining connections.
As Pappas put it, “I want to get emails as a recruiter, whereas as an attorney I was hoping for no emails!” Active communication is key, as Finnegan underscores, “You have to take time every day to do outreach because you always want to make sure you have a pipeline.”
The Good, the Bad and the Unexpected: Work-Life Balance
The daily routine of recruiting can be very different from life in BigLaw, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the job is easier. What it does offer, however, is a different kind of control over how your time is spent. For former lawyers who are used to unpredictable client demands and late-night drafting, that shift can have a noticeable impact on work-life balance, though not always in the ways initially expected.
“My work life balance is so much better now,” says Clyne, noting “when I got laid off from my firm, I was on track to bill 2600 hours that year – which I doubt would have been sustainable for me.” He adds, “It’s been almost 13 years, but I can still remember what billing that many hours a year feels like! So I can certainly relate to many of the overworked associates I talk to.”
For Finnegan, it’s a similar story. “The hours are a huge change,” she emphasizes; however, “the flexibility is very different,” particularly when it comes to knowing when to take a breather when you’re at the mercy of your own timetable. “Any moment of the day has the potential to be productive, and that can be a toxic attitude to have,” she cautions.
While interviewees appreciated the flexibility afforded to them, as well as the lack of a helicopter micromanager, they did heed caution that the lines between being on and off can quickly become very blurred. “When I was in BigLaw and when I was in-house, there was a separation of church and state where I got home and could hang up my work hat and put on my mum hat. I think with recruiting, it’s all the time,” says Finnegan. Agreeing, Wilson notes, “You have to be flexible and make yourself available at the times that work for the lawyers.”
Pappas also highlights that although the hours are similar, the stress level is completely different. “When you’re in BigLaw, you’re stressed about work and are always focused on your clients… but you don’t have any financial stress on the surface,” Pappas notes. The compensation structure in legal recruiting means commission on placements is where the real money is made.
In many ways, the move from BigLaw to legal recruiting represents a shift in focus, from cases and clients to being more people-focused. For attorneys who make the leap, the reward often lies in the conversations and the chance to guide someone toward a new opportunity.
"It’s amazing how rewarding it is when you’re able to change people’s lives.”
As Wilson highlights, “The most energizing and rewarding aspect is certainly when you’re negotiating an offer and getting someone an interview for the first time. It’s amazing how rewarding it is when you’re able to change people’s lives.”
Our four interviewees demonstrate that leaving BigLaw is rarely a simple decision, and the path forward is not always obvious. Ultimately, as Pappas notes, “being personable” and “being able to talk to people and being a good listener” are key traits a good recruiter will have. “You also have to understand that part of it is having fun and adding value at the same time; if you can do those things you’ll do really well,” he concludes.
For lawyers who thrive on conversation, connection, and helping others navigate their careers, recruiting offers a different type of reward. And as many in the industry start to question the sustainability of life in BigLaw, it raises an interesting possibility: maybe the next step for some BigLaw attorneys doesn’t lie in another legal role, but in helping others navigate the profession.
