How hard is it for a Toronto BigLaw Tax lawyer to lateral to NYC?

[kingcor123]

Title. 

I often hear laterals amongst Capital Markets and/or M&A practice groups - but I am wondering, what about Tax? 

[LawNewbie]

Bumping this up for the OP! 

[MyWifesBoyfriend]

What's the obsession with NYC? Like, I get the higher pay and the commercial hub pull, but it's such a bad place to live. Surprised there are not more lateral to Chicago or Boston questions. 

Maybe someone can educate me. 

[krokatron]

35 minutes ago, MyWifesBoyfriend said:

What's the obsession with NYC? Like, I get the higher pay and the commercial hub pull, but it's such a bad place to live. Surprised there are not more lateral to Chicago or Boston questions. 

Maybe someone can educate me. 

Pay, I assume. Even amongst US cities it is a significant outlier. 

Dont mean to derail OP's question lol.

[MissRepresented]

I would think unless you're familiar with the US tax system or plan to practice Canadian tax law in NY it could be a challenge. Much more niche than regular transactional work.

[StoneMason]

6 hours ago, MyWifesBoyfriend said:

What's the obsession with NYC? Like, I get the higher pay and the commercial hub pull, but it's such a bad place to live. Surprised there are not more lateral to Chicago or Boston questions. 

Maybe someone can educate me. 

It’s probably the easiest US market to break into as a Canadian JD, partially due to the bar requirements (only two states consider Canadian JDs as equivalent to US; for the others its possible to sit the bar but a bit more complicated and often a longer process), and partially due to the sheer number of Canadian JDs already there, leading to employers being more open to the “risk of hiring Canadian JDs.”

But we are moving past OPs topic so best to leave it at that.

Edited November 16, 2024 by StoneMason