Senior Associates In High Demand Amid Staffing 'Scramble'
It's rare for something like this to happen, but more senior associates than usual are being sought out by law firms for lateral opportunities.
Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
For the first time in a long time, there is a preference for associates with six-plus years of experience, due to an understanding or a misperception that junior associates may not have been as well-trained during the pandemic.
— Ru Bhatt, a New York-based associate recruiter at Major, Lindsey & Africa, in comments given to the American Lawyer, on the state of legal hiring at the moment, with firms showing a preference for more senior attorneys with “transferable skills” (i.e., the ability to run cases or deals), as partners are reportedly “scrambling” to appropriately staff cases. Bhatt did say that such a demand for senior associates is unusual, but that “[g]iven how strong of a need there is, it’s a bit of a unique situation this year.”
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
