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Are you planning on getting barred in NY or CA before applying?
I've worked Canadian and US biglaw. You need to have *very* high grades for top-tier biglaw firms to consider you at all, let alone as a brand-new lawyer.
Most biglaw firms hire their first-year associates out of law school, as in Canada, so there's not much of a market for international first years.
This post is about a first-year NQ graduate, so it would be good to be clear in responses. UofT is very difficult to get into, so the view is that a non-top-of-class grad from UofT is equivalent to the same of a T-14 school in the US.
For OP, it's unlikely he will have much success as an NQ, with no bar call in the relevant state, and average grades.
Don’t hire a recruiter. Worst thing you can do tbh. Speaking from experience as someone who made the move after articling and has since lateraled a few times within the states.
Your best bet is to network. Figure out where the demand is and what you want to do. Then just reach out to folks for coffee. Law school alumni, other Canadians, etc. Don’t ask for a job. Share all that you’ve done so far and what you are looking to do in the future. Ask them for advice and then end the chat by asking to stay in touch. Keep them posted on your milestones. If something comes up, they will keep you in mind.
Rinse and repeat. Go to events. Follow up with people.
Do your best to do the chats in person. Has better impact.
You should aim to pass NY bar. I have a few friends working in NY firms after law school and they all passed NY bar, and have above average grades. One of them moved back to Canada after 5 years, still need to do articling but the NY experience helped him landed a Bay Street job easily.
I’m a Canadian law school graduate who clerked at the Canadian federal court and who did big law in NY for 2.5 years in corporate. Finding a job in big law is really dependent on timing, networking and which Canadian school you graduated from. If you didn’t get hired as a summer from law school then your best bet would be to start in big law in Canada.
I graduated from a regional law school in Quebec so I did an LLM in NY so my circumstances are different. Most of my Canadian friends found their big law jobs in NY by lateraling because they joined Canadian big law first.
Hey, can someone also suggest if the strategy would be different if a recent Canadian NQ (BC) was seeking to move to say LA or Seattle, basically anywhere it doesn’t snow. Also, not seeking big law at all. Done that before. Gave me life-long health issues. For background, worked in another country as a lawyer before moving to Canada, hence, not a Canadian law school grad. Fortunately or unfortunately, all opportunities available for now in BC (Vancouver) are family, immigration or criminal, is that something transferable?
Off topic, but I thought it was so much better in Canada. Why do you want to come here?
Pay is a third and the economy is worse with arguably worst cost of living if you look at it holistically
Couple things I haven’t seen mentioned yet you need to be aware of. You will need to check into the requirements to take the bar in CA. Depending on the school and accreditation status you may need to sit for the baby bar prior to being able to take the bar in CA. Note that immigration policies in the US are very different and making it even more difficult to gain work authorization and many firms are limiting their exposure by avoiding candidates that don’t come to the table with work authorization. Your only real access point at this place in time is through networking as has been suggested and I’d caution you that it will be an uphill battle so be prepared to be extremely proactive.
For NY you can write the bar anytime after graduation, for CA you can write the bar once you are called to the bar in your jurisdiction. For Canadians, the visa process appears to be straightforward (from what I've heard). The networking part I agree does seem like an uphill battle, but I'm willing to try and see how it goes.
It is about finding the right recruiter. Most recruiters do not add value but some really do because the good ones spend a lot of time gathering intel from firms to understand the current market--and the current state of the market plays a bigger role in your ability to do this than you probably appreciate. I am former Biglaw and then did recruiting for a bit and now in-house so I have a sense of what recruiters do what well.
Matt Rosenberg in New York is a Canadian lawyer and as a recruiter has moved tons of Canadian lawyers into Biglaw in the US. He know how this works and will know what the current firm appetite (need) is, and what your profile needs to look like to make it happen. https://www.rosenbergls.com/international-candidates/
Talk to Matt and if he cannot help you he will tell you that, and then you know you are on your own and need to network as your only option (or he will help you understand how to better set yourself up to do this down the road).