When Lawyers Choose to Relocate

There are many reasons why anyone working in the legal profession might want to relocate. It’s mostly down to personal circumstances but we see people doing it for career development, too. And while the pandemic has opened the doors to a more flexible means of working, relocation has been prolific as people look for more semi-rural or rural living.

We explore what happens when Lawyers choose to relocate, for whatever reason, and share how we can help with guidance through the process.

Be Sure of Your Reasons

First and foremost when considering relocation, it’s important to understand the drivers behind your move. These will lead to the strategies behind what happens next with your work and the routes on offer to you. For example, if your family have made the decision to move away from a city and somewhere more rural, can you still manage a commute to your current place of work? After all, this might be reduced to only a few days in the week now that you have remote working in place.

Will moving mean finding a new firm to transition to? A lateral move? If you have a good few years’ experience under your belt, it could actually be the chance for you to kick-start something new and go down the Consultant Lawyer route. If a move is on the cards, then know your reasons and spell them out clearly to a Recruitment Consultant who can help you with the next steps.

Have the Conversation

If you are working for a national firm with several offices, have the conversation with your team about relocation opportunities. Perhaps the firm has ambitions to grow teams in different parts of the country and you can help spearhead the success of these.

Find out from your current employer where you stand and what they can offer. This will give you a full overview of your options before you look at others. And when you are ready to, reach out for impartial help to give you an overview of not only the market in the region you are hoping to move to but also the best options for your career and legal future.

Where are the Opportunities?

At the moment, we’re seeing more opportunities for more Senior Lawyers, certainly those with more than four years' PQE. And geographically, the options are good as more cities are growing legal services hubs than ever before. There are options above and beyond the traditional epicentres of law, such as Leeds, Bristol and Liverpool. For anyone looking for a ‘lifestyle overhaul’ without too much compromise on the quality of work, then you’ll be interested to know there are openings available, especially for experienced Lawyers.

What is important is to discuss your options with a recruitment professional who can offer impartial advice. Here at Interlink we really do work to marry your needs and personal circumstances with those of a firm.

Our Experience in Helping People Move

We have good experience in helping Lawyers who choose to relocate and make those bigger moves. We’ve helped ambitious professionals start afresh in new cities, to tap into new markets and to grow their workflow and client base, all successfully. And that’s been whether they were moving for professional or personal reasons.

We aim to take some of the stress away from the move, from a career perspective. We know you will have enough to contend with worrying about homes, schools, etc, so we focus on proactively researching the market for you. Once we know what you do, your previous successes, what motivates you and what you want to achieve in your legal career, we can start to evaluate the options available to you. 

Know Your Value

We know that as a Lawyer you have your very own USP (unique selling point) and so we take this and look at where we see the best fit for you. You might have done your own research for job openings and found nothing being advertised to match your skill set or been unable to find a firm you can see yourself working at. What we bring to the table are the connections within firms and the ability to open doors for you.

As legal Recruiters, we always know of those firms who are looking for a ‘this’ or need to hire a ‘that’. And we know firms are always keen to hear about a significant talent that has become available. Especially if you have significant experience in growing transactional areas like disputes, litigation, corporate and even family law.

In the end, our day job involves us talking to both parties and bringing the two together to make the perfect match. From individual moves to team moves, we are often called upon when legal professionals are considering relocation because we know the market and listen. These are two key factors for success when Lawyers choose to relocate.