Considering going back to BigLaw -- talk me out of it
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Anonymous
I'm a former Big Law attorney, now a SAHM, and DH was at Big Law. We moved here a little over a year ago for DH to take a fed job. That job will end in a few years and our plan is he goes back to Big Law. We have two school-aged children. I cannot even get into how wonderful this last year has been for our marriage, and for our kids. DH is around for dinner; around to help ferry the kids to sports, relaxed in general, and there are no surprises on the weekends--he doesn't have to be attached to his computer, waiting for something to roll in, because all the people he works with are not working on the weekend either. And the snow-days! It was like paradise; all home, DH heading out with the kids and sleds, me making hot chocolate and home-made cookies…I mean, I felt like we should be filmed in black and white, as we had stumbled on that happy contentment of those 50s shows. Now the money part. Yes, we took a huge drop in income. We didn't live a lavish lifestyle anyways when DH was in private practice, but we did have a regular-sized home in an expensive area (so in that sense, it was lavish). This was not in the DC area. Now, renting our house supplements DH's current income. I would work through the tax equation, OP. DH made a lot of money in private practice, but the feds took such a huge chunk and then our state took so much more, it's worth checking out and doing the numbers. I have investments and that further compounded the taxes. When in private practice, even though I SAH, I had to hire someone a couple days of the week to help ferry the kids around or make dinner while I ferried the kids around--a further money drain. DH would leave for work at 7:06 and get home not before 8:30pm and sometimes 9:40. So from the kids' point of view, Dad was only around on weekends. I see the DC area (we're in NoVa) as a bit of a fabulous Mayberry situation, because the whole town revolves around the fed schedule. So for example, the kids sports are very developed here--I think it has a lot to do with that parents have time to spend with their kids. (Coaching seems to be sort of a hobby with dads). That's just an example, though, and I'm sure there are examples in other areas. Oh, like dads who cook (grill). Dads with hobbies--not hobbies like, "I'm going out golfing with X client," but hobbies like "I'm making candied bacon in the green egg! (and then we'll all sit around as a family and eat it)" So in sum, I'd say 1) have someone (financial adviser for example) really go through the money part with you. 2) Then think about the value of your time--your time to be present to your DW and your kids. And the value of your time being "in the moment" with your family, as opposed to being half-present while waiting for that damn brief to come in on Friday or Saturday night so you can turn it around. DH and I have had more than a few discussions about our intended transition back into private practice, now that we've experienced some quality of life. It's unresolved as of now. Good luck, OP! HTH |
Anonymous
| It would make more sense, if you want to earn more money, to have your spouse start working part-time, than for you to switch to Big Law. |
Anonymous
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Also? The people and politics.
I made that decision, left a fairly prestigious government spot, and spent exactly four months back at Biglaw before I decided to bail. I couldn't stand the environment. People constantly looking to push someone else down to move themselves up. Client service was really secondary and things were being done in an inefficient fashion. The politics of the partnership were quiet cruel. It's everyone for themselves. Highest bidder wins. And as a lateral partner, I had some success building a book, but decided enough was enough. I didn't want to fight over origination credit and really, really realized that the people I worked with were passive aggressive pessimists. I went in-house. Am much, much happier. It's more family friendly and quite frankly it's more pleasant working to further the mission of an organization (similar to the government). Firms have no mission except to make money. That bugged. |
Anonymous
| I'm PP. The big point I forgot was that I didn't want to turn into my colleagues. |
Anonymous
| What motivates you to consider this change? You didn't mention that. |
Anonymous
| Would never do it nor want my spouse to do it unless we had a major financial crisis we needed $$$ for. Currently he is a fed and I work non profit. Would never go back to big law (where he was pre kids) for all the money in the world. |
Anonymous
| What will be the hours requirement? |
Anonymous
| Don't trade your life for money. |
Anonymous
|
Ok -
This ABA article (http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/study_of_chief_legal_officers_finds_more_bad_news_for_law_firms), reports on a recent survey that shows that "40 percent of [GCs/CLOs] had shifted work during the past year away from outside counsel in favor of keeping the matters in-house. Meanwhile, more than a quarter of responding law departments said they would decrease their use of outside counsel in 2015, compared to only 14 percent that are planning an increase." The article also notes that "when in-house lawyers call on their outside counsel, they are successfully demanding fee discounts. According to the survey, half of the responding departments had successfully negotiated a 6-10 percent discount on hourly rates, while more than one-third of respondents reported they’ve managed to cut more than 10 percent off their fees." |
Anonymous
| OP here -- thanks to everyone for making very good points. I'm not comfortabel providing too many identifying details, but the big draw is money. The difference from my previous stint in BigLaw is that I was in litigation then but would be in a regulatory practice. I have heard from others I have talked to IRL that it's still no picnic. |
Anonymous
| *comfortable |
Anonymous
| OP, you wouldn't even ask the question if you were a man. Let DH do all of the home stuff and go out as make as much money as you can as fast as you can so you can step back a bit when the kids are teenagers. Don't be afraid to "go for the gold". |
Anonymous
I said this before, but it was well known at my firm that it much harder to bill 2000 hours in a regulatory practice than in a corporate (M&A) or litigation practice, not that they cut you much slack as a result. The only thing worse than working 12 hours a day is working 12 hours a day, billing 9.5-10 and having to use a dozen different codes for different matters. |
Anonymous
| OP, what everyone else said + know that law firm life has significantly deteriorated since 2008, so whatever your experiences were, if pre-2008, consider that it may only be that much harder to survive e Big Law now. |
Anonymous
This jibes with my experience as well. If I was even considering returning to BigLaw for financial reasons, I'd still try to sell off my possessions first and stay with the government. I get stomachaches just thinking about returning to BigLaw. And I LIKED my coworkers (opposing counsel, on the other hand... and even some of the clients ... ) 
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