Explain to me like I’m five. What do “Big Law” lawyers do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I think of a lawyer, I think of the person who helps you win compensation after you got hit by a car.

It varies tremendously by practice area and firm. An example of my--a biglaw midlevel's--day today (not necessarily representative of a normal day or what others do):
*Conducted legal research for a memo I'm writing about an evidentiary issue that will arise mid-trial at a trial in a few months [every TV show you've seen where lawyers are doing things at trial on the fly are either made up or at least not big law, we game this all out]
* Had a (virtual) team meeting. This is a weekly standing meeting where we discuss ongoing case strategy and how different work streams are proceeding. Today was mostly focused on a discussion whether a client currently involved in a civil case will need to "take the Fifth" because of potential criminal exposure.
* Composed an email to the general counsel of a (very small) company about several issues that have cropped up during the document review of the company's documents being done by contract discovery attorneys. Got a call from the GC shortly thereafter where we talked over the issues.
* Interviewed a candidate for our summer program.
* Call with a partner and a lawyer at a different law firm about some privilege issues that have arisen in the context of a matter we're all involved in
* Call with a partner to discuss the document review issues highlighted above.

This all relates to three different cases I'm working on right now.

[Anonymous]

You advise major corporations and banks on how to follow the law. In whatever way works best for their business. And when someone (plaintiff, govt, etc.) disagrees with something they’ve done, you defend them.

Partners sell the ability to do this. Mostly (though not entirely or always) they rely on having been really good at it themselves. Idea is they can supervise others to do the same. This is false. Associates who hang around are very smart researchers, analyzers and writers and/or they work like horses trying to die as fast as possible. Other associates are instructed to seek other opportunities within a coupe years.

Good partners make athlete money—rookie contracts most often, big stars in a very small number of cases.

[Anonymous]

Negotiate contracts related to the acquisition, disposition, leasing, ground leasing, debt and equity financing for, joint ventures related to, development, design and construction of, commercial real estate. Advise re tax, environmental, regulatory, operational issues re same. Mostly for big institutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll try. I am a litigator. I represent big companies in court when they get sued by other companies. I spend my time doing things like writing legal briefs that argue legal issues for the judge to decide, questioning witnesses at depositions, and writing emails to the lawyers on the other side of the case. Sometimes I argue to a judge in court and rarely to a jury in a trial. Almost all cases settle before that happens. Does that help?

OP here. This helps.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on the practice area. For instance, my good friend pretty much exclusively does patent prosecution. She has a masters in engineering as well as a law degree and what she does at a big firm is works with inventors to file patent applications, including searching existing patents and distinguishing her clients' work from those. She then works with the patent examiner to overcome any objections they've raised. It's a highly specialized and technical area of the law.

Litigation (going to court and conducting trials) is only one type of law. Lots of lawyers never go to court.

The personal injury billboards you see? That's really not typically what you think of when you think BigLaw. Personal injury law is its own thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hate their lives, mostly.

LOLOLOLOL

[Anonymous]

Is the phrase "big law" used anywhere but here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the phrase "big law" used anywhere but here?

yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is the phrase "big law" used anywhere but here?

Or maybe more specifically, is it ever used more formally or always with a vibe of sarcasm?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the phrase "big law" used anywhere but here?

Or maybe more specifically, is it ever used more formally or always with a vibe of sarcasm?

Oh no, it’s not sarcasm, ever. It’s a very real thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the phrase "big law" used anywhere but here?

Or maybe more specifically, is it ever used more formally or always with a vibe of sarcasm?

Biglaw is used everywhere and not always with a vibe of sarcasm.

[Anonymous]

The only lawyers I know who are happy don't work at firms. 3 work for the federal government (after leaving big law and taking massive pay cuts, they are MUCH happier and have set hours). 1 works in house at a big corporation and does enjoy that. She hated firm life. And now that I'm thinking about it, these are all women.

I guess I do have one friend who enjoys his firm. But he works insane hours and his wife is a SAHM who does 90% of the childcare/rearing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is the phrase "big law" used anywhere but here?

Or maybe more specifically, is it ever used more formally or always with a vibe of sarcasm?

Biglaw is used everywhere and not always with a vibe of sarcasm.

Always with a bit of disdain and revulsion, but sometimes sarcasm, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I think of a lawyer, I think of the person who helps you win compensation after you got hit by a car.

BigLaw is who represents the evil insurance company from whom the ambulance-chaser is trying to get your accident compensation.

[Anonymous]

There are many practice areas represented in biglaw, as others have noted. What I do daily is review and revise documents relating to public company disclosures, corporate governance matters, exchange listing compliance, and capital markets transactions. I also answer interpretive questions, analyze how the rules and available guidance apply to specific fact patterns, and advise on questions of legal and regulatory strategy.