Job-Hopping By Associates Is Now Accepted Practice

By Stephanie S. Skinner

Young lawyers in Missouri are much more willing to move from job to job than were their counterparts just a few years ago, say trend watchers.

Sky-high salaries are not the only reason-experts say mega-mergers and lay-offs have reduced loyalty and have conditioned associates to look out first for "number one."

"When the legal practice began to see itself as more of a business than a profession, loyalty decreased to the point that now attorneys do not see themselves staying in one firm for life," said Bob Tomaso, recruiting partner for the St. Louis office of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin.

He said job-changing accelerated about eight years ago when law firms fell into recession and began to let attorneys go.

"If we hired eight attorneys tomorrow, I would expect about half of them to stay until they made partner," said Tomaso. "Fifteen years ago the expectation would have been that all of them would have become partners."

Andrew Koshner, who is the president of Juristemps, a legal staffing company in St. Louis, confirmed that younger lawyers are more apt to make a move today.

"A lot of associate attorneys say they are talking to friends and interviewing just to test the market, but more than ever they are following up on that interest with actual movement," he said.

"There is a significant amount of movement from firm to firm in St. Louis and a lot of movement from firms to in-house positions."

Koshner said Missouri attorneys, especially experienced associates, are job-hopping for increased opportunities in:

High Demand

According to experts, many of the attorneys making job changes fall into two categories: corporate attorneys at the senior associate level and intellectual property attorneys at every experience level.

"Of course the number one reason corporate attorneys are moving is money, and since a handful of firms have raised all levels of salaries, associates who have gathered several years of experience want to go there," said Koshner.

And Koshner said demand for intellectual property attorneys continues to be strong.

"Everyone is looking for the three-to-five year IP associate with a science background. They are incredibly marketable and they know it, so they are taking advantage of the demand," he said.

Recruiting partner Tomaso also noted that firms are far less reluctant than they used to be when it comes to luring talented attorneys away from other firms.

"It used to be unseemly for attorneys to make inquiries about jobs opportunities but now it just comes up in conversation," he said.

Firm Wars

Springfield attorney Brian Malkmus has twice been lured by one firm to another. And he's worked at for firms since he graduated from law school eight years ago.

Malkmus practiced at Hinshaw Culbertson in St. Louis for two years, then he moved to Daniel Clampett Powell & Cunningham in Springfield to be closer to his family. Three years later, the Springfield office of Shughart Thomson & Kilroy recruited Malkmus as a senior trial associate, a move he said gave him more resources for his growing client base.

"More and more Springfield associates are moving around for bigger and better opportunities and more lucrative pay scales," he said.

"Even though local firms may raise their eyebrows when you move to a Kansas City-based firm, he clients have been supportive," Malkmus said. He is now with the Springfield office of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin. The firm approached him with a lucrative offer as well as the opportunity to help mentor new associates.

"The legal field is like any other type of employment-good lawyers gravitate to the opportunities to expand their options and those of their clients," he said, noting that firms never questioned him about his tenure since they were doing the recruiting.

"Our predecessors worked at one firm from the cradle to the grave; that is the exception rather than then rule now," he said.

The debt load of new attorneys is another reason why attorneys might feel compelled to look for more lucrative opportunities, added placement director Gerald Beechum of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.

"The focus isn't as much on getting that gold watch," he said. "Sometimes it is on paying off the average debt of $56,000 that leads to job hopping. The associates have to go where the money is."

Other Factors

Attorneys are increasingly considering non-economic factors such as lifestyle and mentoring opportunities when they decide to jump ship, experts say.

"Once associates have reached a certain economic status and they're billing 2,200 hours, they often want to step back, go in-house, or look at non-legal opportunities because they just want more time," said Koshner.

"Also, if two firms are similar in terms of salary, the associates are becoming more sophisticated at considering where they will have better training and mentoring opportunities-even younger attorneys are looking for firms with a reputation of counseling," Koshner said. And he noted that associates also enlist his placement services when they are concerned about being pigeon-holed into one area of practice. He helps them find firms that will allow them to gain wide-ranging experience.

Job Security

Associate job security is also influenced by firms adding practice areas, consolidating and disbanding, said Gottlieb.

Columbia attorney Marjorie Lewis found that out after she landed an associate position at Woolsey, Fisher, Whiteaker & McDonald, at that time one of the largest firms outside of St. Louis and Kansas City. The firm broke up suddenly about a year later.

Lewis moved on to handle transactional matters at Schmidt Kirby & Sullivan for a year and a half. After meeting her future husband, she moved to the Columbia law firm of Brown Willbrand Simon & Powell.

Lewis, who graduated from law school six years ago, noted that many of her classmates moved around a lot in the first few years but seemed to be settling down now.

"The volatility of the legal market sometimes leaves you no choice, but often it is just hard to judge what type of law you want to practice until you actually get some experience and find out what you like and start making connections," she said.

She noted that interviewers asked why she switched jobs, but were satisfied with her solid reasons. "They're very curious until you can show them you have no deep dark secrets," she said.

Legal recruiter Koshner agreed that tenure is still an issue but noted that three jobs in ten years would not be unusual. "A job a year would be a concern," he said.