Why is Too Much Experience Held Against an Attorney When they are Looking for a New Job?

1. Why is Too Much Experience Held Against an Attorney When they
are Looking for a New Job?
Question: Can too much experience be a bad thing? I recently interviewed with a large firm for an
associate position. I met with 2 partners and an associate. The firm was interviewing quite a few
candidates and told me I could expect to hear back from them in 4 weeks, at which time they would
either make a written offer or send a rejection letter. I sent thank you letters to everyone with whom I
interviewed and waited eagerly for their decision. I really believed that this firm was a great fit for me.
After the 4-week deadline passed, I called to follow up. The recruiting coordinator told me they would not
be offering me a position because I had more experience than they were looking for and they had
decided to go with someone with less experience. She asked me if the partners had indicated to me that
they were looking for less experience. I said not really. (One partner had indicated that compensation
was based on class year and asked where I saw myself. I indicated that I was flexible, that I believed in
proving myself. He seemed satisfied with my response).
I was disappointed, but I asked her to keep me in mind for any future openings that might arise. I also
indicated that I am flexible as far as class year and would always be willing to consider an offer
whatever it may be. She indicated that she would pass this info on to the partners in charge. Is there
anything else I can do? How could I have better handled this situation? Please help.
Answer: Okay, let's try to take this step-by-step. I do not think that there is anything else you can do vis-a-vis
this particular firm. I do not think you could have handled this situation any better. In fact, in my opinion, you
did everything right! You sent thank you notes to everyone with whom you interviewed and then you made a
follow-up call to check on the status of your candidacy.
Quite frankly, I think that if there is any fault in the way this particular interviewing process went, it is with the
law firm. If they were rejecting your candidacy, no matter what the reason, they should have called you long
before that absurd four-week deadline. And at that point, they should have lived up to their promise that
either you would receive a written offer or a letter of rejection. You received neither, and you had to chase
after them to find out that they were not interested. This was rather inconsiderate of them, wouldn't you
agree?
Now to your main question . . . can too much experience be a bad thing? When you interview with one of the
city's large law firms, they are looking for lawyers in very specific class years to fill specific positions. If they
need a litigation associate with three years of experience, they are not going to hire someone with seven
years of experience. The principal reason is that the firm does not want to upset its loyal associates who are
already on partnership track.
By the time a litigation associate, for instance, reaches his or her sixth year of practice, there will only be
perhaps three or four other litigation associates in the same class who are on the partnership track. And, as
we all know, probably only one, or two at the very most, will be asked to join the partnership. Now, all of a
sudden, even though the firm is looking for a junior associate, they make an offer to a seventh-year
associate. This individual will be considered for partnership either one year ahead of these long-term sixth-
year associates or in the same year as the sixth-years.
Can you imagine what would happen to associate morale in this situation? These associates were on the
partnership track and honestly believed that they knew their competition. Now another associate has been
thrown into the mix. This obviously changes everything. The sixth-years recalculate the odds of ever making
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2. partner, and may leave the firm sooner than they otherwise would have. If this firm is a loyal and decent
employer, they will be sensitive to this. Naturally, it is to be expected that the firm will hire associates who will
compete for these partnership slots if they need more lawyers in a certain class. But the firms are loathe to
hire a more-senior associate when their needs call for a much more junior attorney.
Your willingness to be flexible about what class you are hired into, strange as it may seem, could also
potentially have disastrous effects on attorney morale. Law firms have learned that a senior associate hired
into a more junior class can easily become bored with their assignments and start asking for work that is
more sophisticated. This sends up a red flag for associates in more-senior classes who, after years of
spending all-nighters at the printers, are finally enjoying the fruits of seniority. If the firm's plum assignments
start going to you, an associate in a more-junior class, the morale is going to plummet.
But having said all of the above, I suspect that the real reason your candidacy was rejected was not due to
you being too experienced. If this had been the case, why would they have brought you in for an interview in
the first place? Surely they saw your class year on your resume before they arranged for you to meet two
partners (and an associate as well). Something happened during the interview stage of the process. It might
be something as simple as they had a candidate who was stronger than you and they decided to pass on
your candidacy.
But you should stop fretting about what happened with this firm. They were wrong not to contact you to tell
you that they were going to pass on your candidacy. Don't worry; someone out there is certainly going to
appreciate your experience, your professionalism and your attention to detail. Best wishes!
Summary: Learn if it is possible to have too much experience when applying for a specific law firm position.
See the following articles for more information:
Why Attorneys with 5+ Years of Experience Are in Serious Trouble (and What They Can Do to Save
Their Careers)
Does 10 Years of Associate Experience Make a Lawyer Too Old in NYC?
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