Moving to ATL - Job Hunt Help Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hoping to get some guidance on my situation.

Graduated in 2017, top 15% from a T1/T2 borderline school, editor on law review, published note. Been practicing in a midwestern regional office of top 200 firm. Since the office I work in is small, think 20-30 attorneys total, my experience has been very diverse, 40% general business lit, the rest a mix of real estate, some small M&A, and trust and estate planning work.

My husband recently accepted a new job in Atlanta and now I am on the hunt for a job there. Curious to people's thoughts on the best way to find a job there. My ideal job would be anything but litigation, think commercial, corporate, or real estate. Open to firms or in-house. A couple of items that worry me are my limited experience, how diverse my experience has been, in that it makes it hard to pitch a niche/expertise, and limited ties to the area.

Appreciate any thoughts/suggestions!

[Anonymous User]

There's a lot of corporate/real estate work happening in Atlanta, and there are a lot of really great small/mid-size firms in the area that have been growing in the last couple of years. Many of the local bar associations are really active and put on a decent number of events, and those are a great way to meet people. A lot of the advice that applies to law students can apply to you too - reach out to alumni, and see if any of your current colleagues in the Midwest known of others in Atlanta and might be willing to connect you.

Also since you're a recent grad, you could look into clerking - there are quite a few state judges in GA/Atlanta (and even a couple federal) who like clerks with some work experience under their belt. Even though it's litigation, it's another way to help you get your foot in the door somewhere, and the local judges down here have a lot of sway in terms of placing their clerks somewhere good.

[Anonymous User]

A friend of mine works at Morris manning and Martin doing corporate work and he mentioned that they have been hiring a lot lately. If you want to do corporate I would first just look at all the websites of the medium to large firms in atlanta. I would think you will see a few openings for corporate laterals. I would blanket apply for those positions first.

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for the suggestions!