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If you knew my career path, you’d know anything is possible. Went to a rinkydink law school (full ride) in a recession. Small town law firm. Big law few years later. Top practice groups in my field. Time off. In house. Partner at major firm. Took awhile to sort it all out. But gotta shoot for the stars otherwise why don’t this.
Chief
Of course it can be a stepping stone. I’ve seen people go from being a legal assistant at a two-person firm to a V20 associate (through a series of successive upward moves), so I never count people out based solely on where they start.
That said, whether your specific goals are achievable depends on factors no one here can really assess, like your work ethic, drive, ability to network, judgment, and maybe a bit of luck.
Friend. You can do whatever you want so long as you make the right connections and do good work. It’s hard but not impossible. Might even take a couple of years. But not impossible. The advice you are going to receive here is based on typical outcomes.
It’s usually a dead end but it can be a stepping stone in rare occasions if a partner likes you and needs you. Where I am, many staff attorneys hope to clerk and be rehired as associates. It has happened, but without an Article III clerkship it’s rare. One group at the firm occasionally turns a staff attorney into an associate when it has urgent hiring needs and the staff attorney has a proven track record of doing amazing work, but the same group also expects their staff attorneys to work nights and weekends with no added benefit. Overall, if you went to law school abroad, this may be a good opportunity to get a legal job in the US.
Typically no; but there are some instances where people have moved from a staff attorney role to associate so not impossible.
Pro
You can ask them. Express that you would ideally like to be on the associate track and tell them you would like the opportunity to prove yourself. Ask whether that’s something that is potentially on the table, down the road.
For a foreign law school graduate, this seems like a good option. Most associate positions go to US law students through on-campus recruiting. There are opportunities for lateral moves for sure, but tougher to get in this market.
If you can swing having yourself labeled associate on the firm website (which partners might prefer in order to bill you out higher) it’ll increase your lateral opportunities. Much better odds than just trying to convert internally.
that’s basically what I am (came from a boutique and work here) and I have lateral offers from prestigious boutiques (not taking cause I’m pregnant tho)