Leave federal gov't for law firm?

[Anonymous]

Current job: great gig at DOJ, true 40 hour weeks (rarely ever nights/weekends), but full-time in-person requirement, which means I'm gone 10+ hours everyday.

Job offer: $75k more in base salary (although health insurance will be much more expensive), 1560 billable target ("part-time" BigLaw), mostly remote, great flexibility other than the unpredictable swings of litigation (so definitely a give and take with the flexibility), the group partner has been vetted as a great guy to work for.

Which would you do? #1 priority is maximizing time with kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Current job: great gig at DOJ, true 40 hour weeks (rarely ever nights/weekends), but full-time in-person requirement, which means I'm gone 10+ hours everyday.

Job offer: $75k more in base salary (although health insurance will be much more expensive), 1560 billable target ("part-time" BigLaw), mostly remote, great flexibility other than the unpredictable swings of litigation (so definitely a give and take with the flexibility), the group partner has been vetted as a great guy to work for.

Which would you do? #1 priority is maximizing time with kids.

Lol? Then you don’t do biglaw.

I don’t think that billable target, paired with being in litigation, is going to feel very part time at all. I regularly billed 1600 as a normal full time associate, and had many bad weeks/months where I barely saw my kids.

[Anonymous]

I would never leave a government job.

[Anonymous]

If priority if kid time then don't leave the govt. job. Also, you're leaving a pension job too.

[Anonymous]

OP: I find it odd that you do not state how many years tat you have been employed by the federal government.

[Anonymous]

If the only issue with your government job is that you're 100% in the office, why not look to other jobs with more telework?

[Anonymous]

If your kids are your priority then you should never go from government to biglaw. Also your offer sounds terrible. Assuming you’re 8+ years out of law school, a fulltime biglaw job should pay approximately 400 base + 100 bonus at a minimum. So a part time gig at 75% hours should pay around 300 base plus 75 bonus. GS cap is 183. 1560 billable hours for a 75k increase in comp is a bad deal.

[Anonymous]

Switch to different group or agency if you want telework. Not big law. In litigation no less. You can't be serious.

[Anonymous]

maybe you can switch to HR role, then it's likely easy to move between agencies

[Anonymous]

You need to find an attorney job in a different agency with a different in-office requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Current job: great gig at DOJ, true 40 hour weeks (rarely ever nights/weekends), but full-time in-person requirement, which means I'm gone 10+ hours everyday.

Job offer: $75k more in base salary (although health insurance will be much more expensive), 1560 billable target ("part-time" BigLaw), mostly remote, great flexibility other than the unpredictable swings of litigation (so definitely a give and take with the flexibility), the group partner has been vetted as a great guy to work for.

Which would you do? #1 priority is maximizing time with kids.

Lol? Then you don’t do biglaw.

I don’t think that billable target, paired with being in litigation, is going to feel very part time at all. I regularly billed 1600 as a normal full time associate, and had many bad weeks/months where I barely saw my kids.

+100. I did about 1560 my last couple years in biglaw - which was an 80% schedule at my firm - and it was still utterly miserable. Also litigation.

[Anonymous]

I’d be surprised if you didn’t regret leaving government. There is no private that gives you more time with your kids than government. And, if you haven’t been a litigator before, it’s always unpredictable and screws with your personal life. And there is never flexibility when you’re a trial lawyer. You will be expected to be there regular business hours, work more than 40 hours a week and be accessible to clients after hours. There’s a reason that people jump to government.

I loved law firm work but within six months of my first kid, I knew I had to leave if I wanted time with my kid and I jumped to government for that true 40’hour a week job.

[Anonymous]

At the law firm, you should be aware of the fact that you have no job security. You are vulnerable to a downturn in the economy, a decision to start outsourcing your work, or a decision that you must either go for partner or get out. Do not expect a part time litigation support gig to last. What's your plan for your next gig?

[Anonymous]

Better pay, access to mentorship and more aggressive cases. You will learn a lot in big law which you can transfer back to govt.

[Anonymous]

Where in DOJ has a full-time in person requirement? Rhetorical, not expecting an answer, but I know a lot of people in different divisions and the most I’ve heard of is 3 days a week.