Investigating Law Career Openings in Connecticut

Most Sought-After Law Firms Hiring in Connecticut

Connecticut is home to several law firms known for their competitive working environment and diverse practice areas. Such firms include WIGGIN AND DANA L.L.C., ROBINSON & COLE LLP, and HINCKLEY ALLEN.

1. WIGGIN AND DANA L.L.C.

The Connecticut branch of this prestigious law firm is located at One Century Tower 265 Church Street, Suite 404. Ranking within the top one hundred law firms in the United States, Wiggin and Dana is well-respected for its clientele and for having a relatively high associate satisfaction rate. It has a total of eight offices spread across the east coast.

2. ROBINSON & COLE LLP

Robinson & Cole’s headquarters are at 280 Trumbull St. Hartford, CT 06103 . This firm is known for its variety of practice areas including business transactions, product liability, real estate, employment relations, and litigation. With a manageable work-life balance and diverse clientele, its ability to keep its lawyers happy is one of the reasons Robinson & Cole is one of the top law firms in Connecticut.

3. HINCKLEY ALLEN

Located at 20 Glover Ave. Norwalk, CT 06850. Hinckley Allen is also one of the largest law firms in Connecticut with three offices located within the state. Practice areas include intellectual property, construction, litigation, real estate, and trust and estates. The firm has large IT and IP departments and is currently looking for tax and trusts & estates associates.

Law Jobs in Demand in Connecticut

According to law firms, in-house people and legal departments, these are the positions that Connecticut law firms, corporations and legal departments are looking to fill: corporate lawyers, litigation attorneys, paralegals, etc., and what they’re paying.
In-house Legal. Corporate Counsel – 5-10 years. This well-recognized corporation has an opening for a corporate counsel to handle a variety of legal matters such as contracts, employee relations, internal investigations, compliance, trademark and copyright, new product development, and misc. litigation matters. The position requires approx 5+ years substantive corporate counsel experience with a large manufacturing company or equivalent legal experience with a reputable law firm in corporate representation.
Corporate Associate. 5-6 years. To provide the highest level of professional services and the highest client satisfaction, this firm seeks an associate to join its corporate department practicing in general corporate law at its Hartford office. Included among other things, the associate will work with senior lawyers with respect to mergers and acquisitions, private offerings and public company reporting on behalf of national and international clients.
Corporate Associate: Must have 2-4 years experience in commercial and corporate lending transactions including examination of title, insurance and surveys, review of entity formation documents, title policies, confirmation of liens and judgment searches, opinion letter drafting, surveys, UCC and Uniform Commercial Code searches and security opinions, both debtor and creditor side, and related due diligence matters such as negotiating customer and supplier contracts. Must possess superior academic credentials (Top 15% of graduating class), strong commercial and corporate closing and transactional abilities, work well with all levels of the firm, and work well with non-attorney staff and legal assistants on a pro-active basis.
In House Corporate Counsel. 6+ years. Growing legal department for a large international company seeks qualified individual with at least six years of experience to work in its corporate group. Candidate must have top academic credentials and experience working in a small or large law firm. Prior experience working in-house is a plus.
Litigation. Litigation Associate. 4-7 years. Busy litigation practice seeks an Associate Attorney with four to seven (4-7) years of litigation experience. Candidate must be highly motivated and hardworking, and have strong research and writing skills. Experience in insurance litigation a plus. Candidate should have graduated from a top 20 law school with a top 10% GPA and ranking.
Litigation Associate. 3- 5 years. Top tier firm seeks a civil litigation associate attorney with 3-5 years of litigation experience. Candidate must have excellent academic credentials, strong writing and researching skills, and must be deeply interested in commercial litigation and trials.
Health Regulatory Partner. 10+-12 years. This firm seeks a partner with experience in healthcare law, including regulatory compliance, professional licensure and credentialing, and professional liability and claims defense to join its Health Care Practice. Must be a member of the Connecticut Bar or qualify to sit for the Bar.
Litigation Associate. 5+ years. This large firm seeks to add multiple litigation associates for various office locations. All are lateral and experienced, 5+ yrs., non-equity partner track. These associates will be hands on litigators representing insurers in complex large scale litigation. Substantial experience in litigating complex commercial and coverage cases in state and federal courts mandatory.
Healthcare Practice Associate. 3-6 years. This busy and high profile healthcare provider seeks a healthcare regulatory attorney with 3-6 years of experience. The attorney must have significant experience counseling clients on health regulatory compliance issues, evidence of direct client contact and management, and strong legal research and writing ability. Top ten schools, top ten percent preferred.
Paralegal. Health Care Paralegal. This busy and high profile healthcare provider seeks an experienced paralegal with 7-10 years experience in health care with focus on corporate and regulatory issues.
Corporate Paralegal. 5-8 years. This busy and high profile healthcare provider seeks a corporate real estate paralegal with corporate and real estate experience.

Skills Necessary for Law Jobs in CT

The skills that will make you desirable to Connecticut law firms and other legal employers have a lot in common with what will make you attractive to many other employers. You need to be able to think critically and analytically. You also need to be articulate, in both speech and writing. That means getting to the point quickly, but also developing your thoughts as fully as necessary for the legal and business issues you are dealing with. You must also fit the model of a dependable, hard worker, while also being able to adapt effectively to changes, sometimes on very short notice.
Some specific skills will help you stand out to Connecticut legal employers:
• Analytical skills – These abilities are critical to many aspects of legal work, and will often be tested directly or indirectly on the job. For example: Are you able to follow a line of reasoning to its logical conclusions? Can you analyze a fact situation to develop a persuasive legal argument? Are you able to identify the core legal issue in a dispute easily?
• Communication skills – Considered one of the "basic skills" domestic employers desire, communication is valued particularly in Connecticut. Being literate, clear and concise, and relatively free of errors, is the goal. If you are a strong communicator, the most likely interpretations of your written work product will be the ones you intended.
• Legal research – This is essentially the same skill as "research" in other walks of life, but when it comes to the legal profession, research skills take on some additional complexity. Legal research requires you to not only find the right law to back up your arguments, but also to interpret the law correctly and accurately.
Some other skills employers consider valuable include interpersonal skills, analytical reasoning, logical thinking, and an ability to pay close attention to detail. It should be obvious that all these skills are highly interrelated.

Understanding the Connecticut Bar Exam

For those who wish to practice law in Connecticut, passing the Connecticut Bar exam is the next step after graduation from the state’s law schools or one of the ABA-approved law schools. Historically, the bar exam was an intense, grueling experience of two-day examinations on complicated and arcane law. Now it is administered online, which makes it a more humane event. Registration for the bar exam begins in February of each year, and the application must be received by May 1 (earlier deadlines apply for foreign-trained applicants). Prospective test takers must register first with the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee’s office. You can find useful directions on their web site. First-time applicants are required to pay a $500 fee with the application. Exam fees must also be paid. Connecticut law schools provide a wealth of study resources, including orientation programs, mentoring services and bar assist workshops. Connecticut’s Professional Responsibility exam is scheduled in June, ten days before the bar exam. The exam takes two days to complete. The first day starts with a morning open book Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam, which covers basic ethics and evidence and its application and ramifications. This is followed by a 3.5-hour morning session on essay issues of corporate and commercial law. A statement of facts is provided for each essay question, and passing essays will generally be those that offer easy transition into Memorandum of Law format . Exam weights assign about 30% of points to each of the following areas, selected at the discretion of the bar committee: commercial law, civil procedure, probate and family law, constitutional law, real property and trusts, and agency and partnerships. In the afternoon, candidates take two 3-hour MBE multiple choice law exams on corporate, commercial, and property law. After a one-day break, the second day morning is a 3.5-hour Connecticut State Bar examination, covering contracts, torts, criminal law and procedure, and commercial law. A multiple choice exam in civil procedure rounds out the four parts of the exam. The lowest passing score in the history of the Connecticut Bar exam was 660. The average is around 770. Graduation from one of Connecticut’s three law schools guarantees an automatic passing score of at least 690 on the exam and a 15 point "bonus" on the MBE. Passing the Connecticut Bar is not especially difficult, especially in comparison to neighboring states. The Connecticut Bar Association posts scores for all applicants for public viewing, except in cases of appeal. On request from applicants who were not successful in the exam, a sample of the answers will be provided, with what the examiners found persuasive and what they felt detracted from the applicant’s responses to assigned points of law.

Networking Resources for CT Lawyers

If you’re a law professional based in Connecticut, networking is vital to expanding your network and growing opportunities. Fortunately, there are plenty of professional networking events and organizations available to you in Connecticut.
The Connecticut Bar Association provides a range of opportunities for professional networking, including a number of bar associations based on specific interests or practice areas. Some of the networks include the Connecticut Federal and Tribal Courts Section, the Estate Planning & Probate Section, Family Law Section, Labor and Employment Law Section, Young Lawyers Section and many other groups. All hold regular networking events.
There are also a number of more specialized legal workshops that provide networking opportunities—we recommend checking out the CLE Institute of Connecticut, which offers a large number of continuing education opportunities throughout the year.
If you’re looking to grow both your opportunities and your connections to fellow professionals, we encourage you to do some research online and look up networking events in Connecticut that you think might suit you—the networking world changes rapidly, so make sure you have the most current information before you head out. Connecting with fellow CT professionals can be a great way to boost the likelihood of landing jobs, and even finding legal partners.

Average Attorney Income in Connecticut

Lawyer positions in Connecticut vary widely in salary based on experience, specialization and office location. For instance, while senior government lawyers earn an average annual salary of $103,247, a senior attorney in Connecticut with 10 to 20 years of experience earns $168,113, according to Texas A&M University’s 2017 National Salary Study. Similarly, while general practitioners (GPs) earn an average annual salary of $71,058 in the state, those who specialize in healthcare law earn $88,556, and GP attorneys focusing on trust and estate law earn an average annual salary of $85,000.
Attorneys with client-facing positions, such as corporate counsel, earn significantly higher average salaries of $185,811. Once again, those in this role with a specialty received a higher salary of $230,510 on average in Connecticut.
Attorneys in financial law positions earned an average annual salary of $154,820 in the state, with those in this field earning the highest salaries ($176,678) of any occupation related to law. Medical malpractice attorneys who were located in Connecticut earned an average salary of $153,846, and litigation specialists in the state made an average of $123,750. Even with a high level of competition among lawyers , the generally higher salaries in Connecticut compared to other regions make the state a popular location for attorneys.
Law offices with the highest earnings power can be found in the larger cities in Connecticut. Senior partners in Hartford law firms earned an average annual salary of $194,444, and partners in Bridgeport firms earned a comparable $189,455 on average. Senior partners working in New Haven made $156,250 on average, and those practicing in the Norwich-New London region earned $141,667.
Attorneys working in Norwich-New London area law firms earned the lowest average annual income among the four largest Connecticut metropolitan areas, with $130,048. This is not surprising given that the average annual salary of $107,628 throughout the state is significantly higher than the national average of $96,455.
As already noted, while the average lawyer salary in Connecticut is $107,628, there is a high level of variance. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) does not have figures available for law office jobs in Connecticut. However, private practice attorneys earn an average annual salary of $195,620 in New York, so it can be assumed that those practicing in Connecticut earn a comparable amount.