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Jobs
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Austin Legal Job Market
Austin's market for law firm and
in-house job opportunities
Austin is a strong and vibrant legal market with growing law firm and in-house positions. The primary practice areas in Austin are as diverse as the city including: corporate & securities, corporate finance, commercial litigation, IP litigation, ERISA, labor & employment, tax, environmental, estate planning, and health care law. There is a specific focus on technology related positions such as venture capital, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, patent licensing and cross licensing, and patent prosecution. Recently, there has been an upsurge in national, regional and local law firms opening offices in Austin including Dechert, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based international firm; Greenberg Traurig, a Ft Lauderdale, Florida based firm; Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP, a San Francisco, California based firm; Lee & Hayes, a Spokane, Washington based IP firm; and Fee Smith, a Dallas, Texas based firm.
Austin in-house legal jobs are plentiful for a city of this size, and there are quite a number of large public and private corporations that have their home in Austin. A lot of the work is venture capital or technology focused. Dell, AMD, IBM, Freescale Semiconductor, Intel, Temple-Inland, Samsung, and National Instruments all have a major presence in Austin.
It is unavoidable to question that there has been a downturn in the job market globally, and although the Austin legal market has been hit in some practice areas, others remain extremely strong and are growing, such as IP litigation, IP prosecution, environmental, and bankruptcy. It is important for attorneys seeking employment to analyze their strengths and determine the involvement they have had cross training in various practice areas and use those skills to their advantage. Although tort litigation has slowed down as a result of tort reform, general commercial litigation remains strong.
Although Austin contains a very sophisticated legal practice, many attorneys choose Austin for its relaxed social and professional lifestyle. Austin firms typically have lower billable hour expectations than their Houston and Dallas counterparts and tend to have a more relaxed attitude, environment and dress code. Many people choose to move to Austin to enjoy the quality of life outside the workplace. Austin’s Eanes school district is one of the highest rated school districts in the US. Socially, Austin is a fantastic city with highly intellectual people, a temperate climate, abundant live music, active social scene, relaxed dress code, and of course it has the Texas Longhorns! Many visitors to this city end up making it their home.
In a down economy where job openings are few and far between, competition for positions is inevitable. Firms posting opportunities on their web sites can receive hundreds of applicants for each legal job. Thus hiring partners and General Counsel reach out to recruiters to streamline the process and make it less time consuming for the law firms and corporations. Moses Legal Search has established relationships with the top firms and hiring counsel in the city, and stays informed of openings that do not make it on the public job boards or firm web sites. Our recruiters’ connections with managing partners and corporate counsel can provide candidates with a strategic leg up, presenting a candidate as a person rather than just another resume. We work with candidates to bring out their experience in various roles to determine if the position is a fit, and then present this experience directly to hiring partners and counsel to get to the interview stage.
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Looking for Austin Legal Jobs?
Austin is a strong and vibrant legal market with growing law firm and in-house positions.
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