Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every week.

Q: I am a first-year associate at a top-tier Wall Street firm. I would like to make a move (maybe to an overseas office). As people are saying the market is not good and firms have a rigid head count/budget, I am wondering if I should turn to professionals like you for help or simply submit my CV to the firms I am considering, since apparently, there would be no fees incurred by the potential employer for this lateral hiring if I do it on my own.

I know this might be a stupid and basic question, but I really appreciate your insight.

Lost Junior

Dear Lost: I believe there is no such thing as a stupid (or basic) question, and I am always happy to answer any and every question.

Actually, the market is quite good in certain areas right now and, as you have been told, not good in other practice areas. So, to begin answering your question, depending on your practice area, a recruiter may or may not be a good idea for someone like you.

It is always difficult for a first-year associate to try to make a move, especially to an overseas office. However, I suspect you must have excellent credentials, even though you have not told us anything about yourself, simply by the fact that you are working at a top-tier Wall Street firm. Nevertheless, first-year openings are few and far between at the top firms, and those plum positions in the overseas offices are even fewer and farther.

Consequently, there are many pros and cons for using a headhunter at this point in your career. If you are, as I suspect, from a top law school with top-flight grades and your reasons for wanting to leave are anything other than being forced out of the firm, you might want to contact a recruiter, one who has been around for a number of years and has good, sound contacts at the law firms. If you don't fit into that description, you might want to start networking and answering ads in the papers of record, although I would strongly suggest that you try to hang in at your firm for at least one more year.

For those of you with the credentials that may be of interest to a recruiter, you will find that he or she will be able to ask around as to which firms might be interested in a top-drawer first-year associate looking to make a move to another first-tier firm. If you want to market yourself, it becomes a bit more difficult since all you are really going to do is send your resume to the recruiting department of law firms. A seasoned recruiter is going to be speaking to hiring partners or the heads of departments who might very well be interested in a very junior associate to round out their department.

I will say that for the most part, it is not the norm for a recruiter to collect a fee for a first-year attorney, but it certainly can happen at this point in the year when you have close to 11 months experience and other first-years have left firms already and there are holes in departments.

I would advise you, if at all possible, to stay at your current firm for at least one more year. It is always best, whenever you can, to have at least two years under your belt at your first firm.

As far as the overseas opportunities are concerned, those jobs are plum assignments and, generally, go to associates lobbying for them at their current law firms. However, there is no question that there are occasionally openings for associates at foreign offices. If there aren't any such opportunities available through recruiters right now, make certain that you check the classified ads in the papers of record as well as the Web sites of the firms with foreign offices. You never know when an opportunity in one of the foreign offices might crop up.

Best wishes!

Sincerely,
Ann Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates