You can get into Big Law from the firm you're at now.
Attorneys move into Am Law firms from mid-size and regional practices every year. Firms hire them for experience a short-handed group can use right away. We'll give you an honest read on where you stand, which firms are open to a background like yours, and what would make your case stronger. If the timing isn't right yet, we'll tell you what would change that.
- Where your background stands with Am Law firms, and which ones are open to it.
- Active searches with Am Law 100 and 200 firms, including firms with more than 1,000 attorneys.
- Confidential from the first message. Your current firm never hears from us.
- No cost to you, ever. The hiring firm pays our fee.
The firms we recruit for and associates we represent
ITG recruits for Am Law 100 and Am Law 200 firms. We represent associates, including associates from Am Law 100 and 200 firms.
- Am Law 100
- firms we recruit for, several in the top half
- Am Law 200
- firms we recruit for as well
- 14,000+
- lawyers at the firms we recruit for
- 45 states
- where the attorneys we represent practice
Mid-size and regional associates report medians of about $130,000 at 3 to 4 years and $150,000 at 5 to 7 years, with commercial litigation and corporate/M&A reporting more than insurance defense. At Big Law firms, the published scale runs $235,000 for first-years to $455,000 for eighth-years.
Big Law firms hire laterally from smaller firms far more often than the pedigree talk suggests. It happens most in the practices that stay busy: litigation, insurance-side work, labor and employment, real estate, and corporate. When a group is carrying more work than it can staff, an associate who has taken depositions or run a deal is worth more than a résumé that reads well. We represent attorneys at the country's leading national firms and run active searches with Am Law 100 and 200 firms, some of them well past 1,000 attorneys, so we know which groups are open right now. Once a firm finds the person it wants, our searches tend to close in about five to six weeks.
What firms weigh is specific. Practice depth comes first: the matters you've owned, and whether you carried real responsibility on a deal or in a courtroom. Writing samples get read closely, and credentials and class year still count, more so at the junior end. Timing matters as much as any of that, because a group with more work than bodies will consider a background a quieter group would pass on. The hours are real, so decide early whether you want that trade. Not every strong attorney at a smaller firm fits every Am Law seat.
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What makes you competitive
You're being compared against laterals coming from other Am Law firms, so the case has to rest on what you've done. Here's what we work through with you before anything goes out.
Practice depth and real experience
The matters you've owned, the deals you closed, the motions and depositions that were yours. Firms care far more about substantive work in a busy practice than about how long you've been sitting somewhere.
Writing and credentials
A clean, persuasive writing sample carries real weight, and it's the piece most attorneys underprepare. Law school, journal, clerkships, and bar admissions still factor in, especially for junior associates.
Timing and class year
Mid-level associates move most easily, because that's where firms have the biggest staffing gaps and the least retraining to do. Senior associates move when a group needs specific expertise. We'll tell you where your class year sits against what's open.
Positioning the move
Why this firm and this group has to make sense to a hiring partner. We map your experience to what the group needs and work out how you talk about leaving a smaller firm, so the story is clear and credible.
Common Questions
Can I move to Big Law from a mid-size firm?
What do Big Law firms look for in a lateral from a smaller firm?
What class years move most easily?
What does Big Law pay?
Is it confidential, and does it cost me anything?
Talk to a recruiter who knows your market
Tell us what you practice and what you'd want in a next seat. A recruiter will reach out, usually within one business day. It's confidential and free, and we don't share résumés or names without your permission.
It's great here. Very good work and extremely professional, intelligent people. This was the right call. Exactly what I needed for my current skills, with basically unlimited room to learn.
Real recruiters who know the legal market.
You work with one person who specializes in your practice and keeps your search confidential.
