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San Antonio Legal Job Market

San Antonio’s market for law firm and in-house job opportunities

The San Antonio legal job market is well established. While regional and national firms have opened new offices in San Antonio, they have done so at a slower pace than the other Texas cities. However, firms still have a growing demand for recruiting junior associates and legal partners with portable business. A major benefit for partners looking to change firms in San Antonio is that required portable business is less than in the other major Texas cities. San Antonio firms often only require $300,000-$500,000 in portables, while the other major metropolitan cities in Texas usually require over one million. Additionally, many firms in San Antonio provide attractive compensation packages for associates in addition to shorter partnership tracks in order to make up for lower base salaries.

Certain practice areas thrive in San Antonio, such as real estate, general corporate, and litigation. San Antonio is a hidden treasure, as many attorneys outside of the city do not realize the size and sophistication of the corporations and firms in the area.

The legal market in San Antonio has not expanded much over the last ten years, though Thompson & Knight has recently opened an office. San Antonio currently has only two national firms – Akin Gump and Fulbright & Jaworski. It has a few large regional firms: Jackson Walker, Bracewell & Giuliani, Haynes & Boone, Strasburger & Price, Winstead, and Thompson & Knight.

The corporate in-house job market provides many attractive opportunities. For example, many attorneys don’t realize that energy is a very strong practice area in San Antonio, as they gloss over its significance and instead focus on Houston. However, San Antonio has several Fortune 1000 energy companies such as Valero Energy Corp., Tesoro Petroleum Corp., and NuStar Energy. Aside from the energy sector, there are quite a few major corporate headquarters including Clear Channel, Advantage Rent-A-Car, H.E.B., USAA, EyeMasters, Rush Enterprises, and Kinetic Concepts Inc.

Attorneys choose San Antonio for a variety of reasons. San Antonio typically has lower billable hour expectations than its Houston and Dallas counterparts, and has a more relaxed attitude and environment. Additionally, San Antonio provides a rich culture, historical significance, a low cost of living, a beautiful downtown with the River Walk, multiple theme parks including Fiesta Texas and Sea World, and good roads with very little traffic. It is home to Fiesta, a city wide festival of parades and parties, and to a nationally recognized rodeo. San Antonio has been ranked the third fastest growing city in the US. Its economy is strong, fueled by Mexican and American tourism. San Antonio restaurants and night clubs are excellent, and the large diversity in the city offers a multi-cultural experience.

Securing a position in San Antonio is not like getting a job in a major market. This is simply a function of the size of the market in a larger city such as Dallas or Houston. In San Antonio an attorney should expect that the hiring process could take several months. There may be only one position open at a firm at any given time. If that position is not suited to the candidate, then it may be a month or more before another position becomes available. Only the aggressive candidate accompanied by a savvy recruiter has a reasonable prospect of success in this situation. Moses Legal Search has established client connections with major San Antonio corporations, small companies, and law firms of all sizes. The small number of job openings per year in San Antonio makes working with recruiters critical to get a resume noticed by the hiring partner or company. Working with Moses Legal Search will get your resume the attention it needs to secure your next position.