Ken Young was quoted By Law.com in April,2021 regarding associate movement as a result of the Pandemic

Ken Young was quoted By Law.com in April,2021 regarding associate movement as a result of the Pandemic:

Ken Young, a Charlotte-based legal recruiter, said that some young lawyers’ dissatisfaction with Big Law life over the last year has been coupled with and likely exacerbated by dissatisfaction with big city life during a global pandemic.

Young said his recruiting firm, Young Mayden, LLC, is placing an increasing number of transplants from large law firms in New York and other big cities at smaller Southeast firms for just that reason.

“Many took their 2020 bonus and said ‘I’m out of here,’” Young said in an email. “Often it’s because it was so miserable in the pandemic in a big city versus midsize cities where it was easier to get outdoors, eat outside at restaurants, etc. It’s usually a combination of that AND they can’t stand working 24/7 in their tiny NYC apartment and always being on call when they can move south, buy a house, have a yard, etc.”

Young added that, in some cases, doing so hasn’t even required the young lawyer to take a massive pay cut, or any kind of pay cut at all.

“Charlotte is the second-largest financial center in the country and we have five firms paying the Cravath scale,” he said. “The regional firms pay
nicely as well. And there is a path to partnership for young lawyers who want that at many North Carolina firms.”