Market

Feel stuck in the Bay Area legal market? Here’s what you need to know.

  • On August 20, 2025
Feel stuck in the Bay Area legal market? Here’s what you need to know. You are not alone in feeling like the market is paralyzed. WSJ reports “Americans are stuck in place.” (https://www.wsj.com/economy/american-job-housing-economic-dynamism-d56ef8fc?mod=hp_lead_pos7) Entry level jobs are hard to come by. Those gainfully employed aren’t changing jobs. And housing is getting even more difficult. (In […]
Read More
Market

Which industries pay lawyers best? Tech of course!

  • On August 2, 2025
Which industries pay the best? Tech. The top 5 best paid legal heads are all at tech companies. At #1, Alphabet paid Kent Walker $30.2M (compared to $27.3M in 2023). Broadcom is second, paying Mark Brazeal $29M (compared to $15.5M in 2023). (See https://www.law.com/corpcounsel/2025/07/28/2025-gc-pay-report-at-top-of-rankings-techs-rising-fortunes-crowd-out-other-industries/) Of 544 legal heads tracked by Corporate Counsel, the majority (56%) […]
Read More
Market, Offer

Can you actually negotiate a “best and final” offer in this market?

  • On June 1, 2025
WSJ recently addressed whether candidates can actually negotiate offers described as “best and final.” The answer is surprisingly yes, even in this market where the employer holds the power. What’s the state of the market? Fewer people are negotiating offers now. ZipRecruiter reported 31% of recent job changers negotiated their offers this past quarter, down […]
Read More
Market

Job Numbers Up in April but Market is Still Down

  • On May 11, 2025
The US economy is up 177,000 jobs as of April, but employers are not bullish, the WSJ reports. In fact, “[m]ajor U.S. employers are slowing or pausing hiring to cut costs amid economic uncertainty… Companies are wary of layoffs, but are more cautious about bringing in new workers.” What’s giving companies concern? “Stop-start” trade wars […]
Read More
Market, Uncategorized

Pendulum Swinging Back Towards In-Office

  • On May 5, 2025
While the pendulum is swinging away from remote work and back towards in-office, the Bay Area still “lags significantly behind” almost all other major metro regions. The national average is 32.2% fewer office visits in March 2025 compared to March 2019, pre-pandemic, but San Francisco is tied in last place with Chicago at 44.6%. On […]
Read More
Market

What’s Going on with the Market?

  • On April 13, 2025
As a recruiter I’m often asked what I’m seeing. What I am seeing is not good. I appreciated this Bay Area news summary of ongoing tech layoffs where “nobody is safe.”  While better than last year, times are still tough. Meta is closing three offices in Fremont, and Block (formerly Square) is laying off 240 […]
Read More
Compensation, Market

What’s Going on with Startup Comp?

  • On March 30, 2025
Carta just reported on the state of startup compensation! The good news: Average salaries and equity grants rose slightly. Layoffs are at the lowest point in 3 years. These industries grew headcount: energy, hw, med device. Ready for the bad news? Startups “haven’t been this reluctant to hire in at least 5 years.” Net headcount […]
Read More
Career Management, Career Tips, Market

2025 Recruiting Take-Aways

  • On January 19, 2025
I spoke on AABA’s recent career panel addressing the Bay Area in-house market with talent acquisition experts Angela Cheung (ex Uber) and Herman Gee (Exelixis). Here are 5 takeaways: Pay for top in-house lawyers has generally been trending up, despite recent layoffs. This is in line with Levels.fyi’s report on tech/engineering comp. Compensation is made […]
Read More
Market

Jobs Taking Longer to Land

  • On January 12, 2025
No, it’s not your imagination. WSJ reported this week that white collar jobs, including legal jobs, are taking longer to land.   What’s going on now with the economy? It’s complicated. Over 2 million jobs have been added to the US economy over the last year, but “more people who are out of work are having a hard […]
Read More