Clerkship to Firm Questions

[123456789]

Hello all. I am finishing up a federal clerkship and I'm looking to return to biglaw. I took the clerkship to switch practice areas so I am not returning to my prior firm.

I had a number of interviews about 3-4 weeks ago - some were first-round interviews and a couple were callbacks. Unfortunately, my only experience with legal hiring is from 2L, and I am therefore not very familiar with the lateral hiring process. Should I be worried if I haven't heard back yet? If not, when should I start to worry? I have sent follow-up emails but received either silence or the usual "we will let you know ASAP."

Assuming a firm is interested, should I expect to have another round of interviews or is it normal for firms to hire laterals on the basis of one round of interviews?

Any information or anecdotal experience would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

[lolwat]

I wouldn't be too worried, but I'd keep looking. My impression is that firms tend to take a lot longer when it comes to lateral hires because it's more based on immediate needs rather than based on future projections. As far as interviews go, I would expect a usual screening interview with one person followed by a callback at most firms. If your "screening interview" is unorthodox or seems basically like a callback, then that could be enough.

Caveat that my experience is generally with boutique firms rather than biglaw.