Associates pick and choose as better job offers pour in. (law firm associates in San Francisco Bay Area)

Armando Castro was a fifth-year associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the Bay Area's largest law firm, when he received a call from a former co-worker. His friend had recently left Wilson Sonsini to move to Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, and was recounting how great things were at his new firm.

He wanted Castro to meet with the partners. Castro wasn't looking to move, but he agreed to meet - and soon was on his way to a new job.

"It wasn't that I was necessarily unhappy at Wilson, I just thought I could find a more personally fulfilling role at Brobeck," said Castro. His situation exemplifies what has become a trend in the Bay Area legal scene.

The …