Biglaw

Discussing Experiences At Law Firms That No Longer Exist

Such discussions can be valuable when securing future opportunities.

By  
on

Just like companies in other industries, it is common for law firms to go out of business or to change their names due to a merger or other circumstances. Legal professionals usually rely on their work experiences at name-brand law firms in order to seek jobs and other opportunities within the legal industry. As such, it can be difficult for attorneys to have work experience at law firms that no longer exist since lawyers may have trouble judging such experiences against work at law firms that are still operating. However, with some practice, discussing experiences at firms that no longer exist can feel more natural, and such experiences can still be valuable when securing future opportunities.

I used to think that only older attorneys needed to deal with discussing experiences working at firms that no longer exist. Indeed, the first time I remember someone reflecting on working at a long-gone law firm was when I interviewed for my first job after Biglaw, and the partner talked about working at an elite Wall Street firm decades earlier. I had never heard of the shop, but my research indicated that this firm was a premier shop in its day, and I was impressed that this partner had experiences there. Moreover, I remember another lawyer (now judge) discussing her experiences at a predecessor firm that merged into a large Biglaw shop which eventually went under. Both of these individuals had been practicing law for several decades, so it made sense that they had experiences at firms that no longer exist.

However, I have only been practicing law for around a decade, and I worked at a large firm that went bankrupt and no longer exists in any form. Additionally, I worked at another shop that merged with another firm and now goes by a different name. I also worked at another shop that changed its name due to partnership changes at the firm. Sometimes, it can be exhausting to recount my work experiences since many of the law firms at which I worked no longer exist in the same form as when they employed me. However, I usually employ a few methods to accurately discuss my work experience.

In conversations or in writing, I primarily use “now known as” or “n/k/a” whenever discussing the firms at which I worked. Usually, I will state the name of the firm as it existed when I worked there and then state the name of the shop as it exists today. Fortunately, the names of the firms at which I worked that changed their names still incorporate substantial elements of the names of the shops I worked at in the past, so it is not too difficult for people to make connections between the firms at which I worked and the shops that exists today. More information is usually key when discussing experiences at firms that no longer exist, and this provides a lot of information with a small amount of effort.

With the one firm that no longer exists in any form, I usually just relate that the firm declared bankruptcy and completely shut down. When people ask me what happened to the firm that it went out of business, I usually just refer them to one of the many articles on the subject (including some amazing pieces published on this website) so I can avoid making opinions about what caused the demise of that shop. I am also quick to relate that I left the firm almost a year before the lights were turned off, which helps explain why I do not know too much information about why the firm was shuttered or the last months of the firm’s existence.

I also usually provide objective information about these firms so that people can make their own judgments about the shops and my experiences there. Lawyers usually evaluate a number of objective factors in order to compare firms and the experience of the people who worked there. This includes the number of offices a firm maintains, how many attorneys work at a firm, the profits per partner, and other metrics. By providing these details, people are usually able to stack those prior firms against similar firms with consistent statistics and make accurate judgments.

Moreover, I also discuss the types of work that were handled by the shops so that individuals can make an assessment on how the firms operated. In addition, it is often helpful to discuss some major cases that were handled by prior firms, especially if these matters were high-profile and generally known throughout the legal industry. All of these details ensure that individuals within the legal profession can get a sense of these past shops even if they do not have firsthand familiarity with the firms.

Sponsored

All told, discussing experiences at a firm that no longer exists can be a confusing process, and both younger and older attorneys may face these challenges. However, by conveying objective metrics and other details about prior shops, attorneys can more seamlessly discuss their work experiences at long-gone firms.

Jordan Rothman is a partner of The Rothman Law Firm, a full-service New York and New Jersey law firm. He is also the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a website discussing how he paid off his student loans. You can reach Jordan through email at jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

Sponsored

Topics

, ,