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Getting a Big Law job as a Columbia LLM is very difficult even during “normal” years. Getting a job in the current climate will, without a doubt, be even more challenging. You should assume that you will have significant difficulty in finding employment in the US after graduation.
Thanks, that’s the impression I have as well. Have firms seen a slowdown in hiring in the past few months?
LLM hiring is a crapshoot in normal years. Many firms will not sponsor a foreign student, so unless you independently have work status (like a green card through a US Citizen spouse) your options are limited.
This is not a normal year. People with legal status are being snatched off of the street by plain clothes ICE agents. Why on gods green earth would you want to gamble $100k on this country right now? You’re a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. Don’t do an LLM, stay in Canada and work instead.
As a Canadian we have a slightly easier time as we are eligible for the TN visa formerly under NAFTA and now under the USMCA, although the agreement is up for review next year. With Canada/US relations as they are today, who knows what will happen. You can obtain the TN with a job offer and simply showing up at the border crossing and doing a quick interview, no prior application necessary.
You’re absolutely right that this is a crazy time to gamble $100k in the US but I’m hoping to use the LLM to pivot from litigation to corporate/in-house practice, and most of the top schools for the degree are in the US. I’m okay with returning to practice in Canada if necessary but staying in NYC or moving to a third country are preferable and those doors simply don’t seem open to me as a mid-level litigation associate unless I do the LLM. It would be great to wait until “normal” times but it also seems doing a career pivot like this is only going to get harder the more senior I become.
For US big law, LLM hiring is usually targeted based on specific needs and the profile of the candidate. It is always crapshoot and at least at my firm, a completely different process with few (if any) hired.
If you have a Canadian law degree, the LLM adds a negligible benefit to you being hired in NYC. This is because you can write the NY bar with only a Canadian law degree, so unlike other foreign lawyers, you don’t need the LLM to practice. If you do, will suggest you start networking directly with firms now, even without the LLM.
A move like that isn’t easy - but my opinion (as a litigator in NY big law with a Canadian law degree and no LLM), would still suggest the LLM doesn’t add much. Especially since you’re trying to pivot to transactional work - my sense is that my transactional colleagues will not care about your LLM either. Unless it’s a tax LLM?
With the caveat that this move is not easy, would suggest you cold email the same way you did as a law student. Email anyone in a group you’d like to work in, note that you are an employed lawyer who has experience working at a corporate law firm, but are looking to pivot to their practice group and ask for a call. You can also talk to corporate recruiters, I have friends who got hired this way, since a good recruiter will usually be honest about your prospects.
I’ve seen Canadian associates move even without LLM, albeit more did so when the market was hot and transactional work was busy. Right now, bankruptcy and litigation is more slammed, so YMMV.
And good luck! If you’re deadset on this, I’m sure you’ll end up where you need to be, it will just take a lot of elbow grease and months of patience.