The ad is brazen, almost taunting, targeting the wounded ego of the thwarted associate.
“So they promised to put you on the fast track, huh? That you’d make partner six years out of law school?” it reads. “Yeah, right. The last time someone made partner at your firm, Reagan was president.”
At a time of year when partnership promotions are being announced and bonuses doled out, it’s the kind of pitch that’s bound to strike a nerve.
That’s the point, according to Carl Reece, the Los Angeles-based legal recruiter behind the ad. Reece says that many of the passed-over senior associates he advises feel duped by their firms. “They’re shellshocked,” Reece says, and still feel they “are the best of the best.”
For Reece and dozens of other recruiters, this is high season, as a whole crop of senior associates who didn’t make partner are mulling whether to take their bonuses and hit the road — preferably for firms that offer either better hours or a real shot at the brass ring. But even for graduates of top-tier law schools who have toiled at the biggest or whitest shoe of firms, the opportunities can be surprisingly narrow.
Details here from Legal Times via Law.com. (Hat tip to the WSJ's Law Blog)