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You just have to stand out when crafting your pitch to associates. They are getting slammed with calls and e-mails all day and stressed by work. Know exactly what you are talking about and ready to highlight the firms’ draws up front. They can detect bs pretty quickly. Genuinely caring about helping associate find something better will never steer you wrong.
I’d consider tapping into the alumni networks (especially young alumni chapters) of the 4 Philly schools (listed in order of what I perceive to have the most students that come from or end up in NY): Penn, Villanova, Temple, and Drexel. Most tend to understand that Penn students often move on to significantly larger markets (namely, NY/Chi), so Villanova tends to have pretty decent placement rates at competitive Philly firms. But a lot of these Philly firms aren’t on an NY scale— save for those larger firms that did away with regional differences.
You might also have luck focusing specifically on regional young alumni chapters for the schools listed above. There are plenty of reasons why one might want to leave NY (either culture or too expensive). Many of their law school peers likely ended up staying in the Philly market. I’d imagine that the thought of moving from one market to another, where the associate has some sort of existing institutional network, sweetens the sell a bit.
Finally, a fair amount of Philly law school grads end up working for firms in Wilmington, DE. Some of the allure is developing a sophisticated corporate legal practice. And a large part of staying is that many DE firms are either at or right below NY pay. Many of these attorneys either live in Phila. or spend most of their time socializing there. If you can connect with those associates and promise a pay raise with matters at the same level of (perceived) prestige— I think you’ll be in good shape. A major roadblock here is that DE offers no reciprocity. So the attorney must either be licensed in PA or willing to sit for PA (or another UBE).
I hope this is useful!
For what it’s worth, as someone who went to Penn we were basically told that most firms would not accept living in Philly for law school as a strong enough tie to be hired in Philly, which is part of why so many Penn grads go to other markets.
You are right but because the market is so nuts and we love and always need super credentialed attorneys, that is not as important as it used to be, especially with Big Law firms
Sadly, I can't access the alumni groups because at Penn specifically there is no way to get to those. I do have a software program that gives me names individually but I am trying to make a more global reach :)
Couldn't agree more. Thankfully we are also slammed and truthfully I'm looking to help people make the transition here rather than necessarily talk them into it. I just want people to know that I'm out there and have both big firm and boutique interesting opportunities. I am a solo who has owned her own company and worked in legal recruiting for 25 years but am small and just trying to make myself known. Thanks all!