You’re less likely to work in the main office of a large, established law firm in a secondary market than you are in a primary market. Many lawyers who lateral from BigLaw to a secondary market either join a local midsized firm or a satellite office of a large, established law firm. There are pros and cons with each choice:
At a local midsized firm, generally the work is more local and less sophisticated and the salaries and bonuses are lower than they are at satellite offices of large, established firms. However, the lifestyle and job security tends to be better. Generally, associates at these firms get more substantive experience earlier on in their careers, are treated better, work directly with the most important partners, deal with far less up and out pressure, are encouraged to become involved in the community and begin developing their own book of business (which is easier given lower billing rates), and are more likely to make partner.
At a satellite office of a large, established firm, the salaries and bonuses are higher and the quality of the work tends to be higher. However, the most sophisticated, newsworthy cases generally come out of the larger offices and it can be challenging, but is by no means impossible, to get staffed on those cases from a satellite office. The work generated in the secondary market will more closely resemble the kind of work you’d be doing at a local midsized firm. As with a local midsized firm, since there are fewer associates in a satellite office, the local cases usually won’t have multiple layers of associates working on them, and associates will receive more substantive experience earlier on in their careers than they would at the main office. The main drawback of working in a satellite office is job security, since associates from satellite offices very rarely make partner, partners in satellite offices are not the ones making major firm decisions, and satellite offices are always in danger of closing down or laying people off.