Am I nuts to move to big law after government?

[Anonymous]

The work at Biglaw is often more exciting and the paycheck is great, but it's easy to underestimate the sheer number of hours you'll be putting in.

Not my experience. I've been in government and BigLaw in a niche regulatory field, and the issues in BigLaw were way more mundane. I hated BigLaw and came back to the government. And, as PPs note, it is VERY difficult to get back in the government.

OP, I would think long and hard about making this move. The money is of course enticing, but the culture is completely different, and your days will change significantly. Slow week in the government? Time to have lunch outside the office, maybe go home early to the kids. Slow week in BigLaw? Time to panic, because you're not going to make your hours -- maybe the partners have stopped feeding you work because you spent too much time on that last project and are too expensive (if you're counsel), or maybe you need to hustle more to bring in your own business (if you're counsel or partner). The relationships between attorneys are different in BigLaw, too (don't trust anyone).

That said, there are certain regulatory niches that have a limited number of practitioners and a steady stream of business, and the work is more regular. Talk to others in your field and find out what the practice area is like on the private side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a month you should practice tracking your time in 6 minute increments (and see if you have at least 160 hours of actual work).

Then spend a month on a doc review project for $32/hr.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you ever felt like actually practicing law and being productive, as opposed to being a bureaucrat/tax expense? If so, release the teet and get to work. There is a lot to be done.

Yup, there's a whole lot of leeching to do out there!

I'm a govt attorney and you don't know what you are talking about at all. The job is not perfect but I know that the work that I do directly impacts peoples' lives and I can point to specific actions I have worked on that have helped vulnerable individuals in our country. The attorneys in my office are by and large extremely smart and committed to doing high quality legal work.

[Anonymous]

I was recruited to a big firm out of DOJ. I took the job because they sold me on the opportunity to develop sales skills, business development, etc. while doing interesting work.

It was a hoax. I walked in the door and saw the crazy shark tank for what it was. I had exactly two years to develop a millions bucks of annual business. Not a big deal, right? No. Because I didn't get "credit" for matters I brought in with other partners. So, the whole we "work together as partners thing," was BS.

The people were horrible. I was told during layoffs, we were to dig up whatever criticism possible on young attorneys who were being laid off due to financial issues. Not that we had them, but when PPP went from 1.3 million to 1.24 million heads have to roll.

Also, the business was run terribly. In terms of scale, for most clients, they didn't need nor want a firm with offices around the world. While it looks impressive, what matters to most clients was experience and specific knowledge of their issue/court system, etc. Also, it made doing taxes a freaking bitch.

I work as a GC in-house now. I like it much, much more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was recruited to a big firm out of DOJ. I took the job because they sold me on the opportunity to develop sales skills, business development, etc. while doing interesting work.

It was a hoax. I walked in the door and saw the crazy shark tank for what it was. I had exactly two years to develop a millions bucks of annual business. Not a big deal, right? No. Because I didn't get "credit" for matters I brought in with other partners. So, the whole we "work together as partners thing," was BS.

The people were horrible. I was told during layoffs, we were to dig up whatever criticism possible on young attorneys who were being laid off due to financial issues. Not that we had them, but when PPP went from 1.3 million to 1.24 million heads have to roll.

Also, the business was run terribly. In terms of scale, for most clients, they didn't need nor want a firm with offices around the world. While it looks impressive, what matters to most clients was experience and specific knowledge of their issue/court system, etc. Also, it made doing taxes a freaking bitch.

I work as a GC in-house now. I like it much, much more.

Unfortunately this is the reality at a LOT of big firms right now, including my former one. There are no loyalties whatsoever, but I think it's even worse for people who come in as lateral partners from the gov't (i.e. no book) -- they see no problem screwing you over bc they've known you for 5 min and they know you'll be gone in 2-5 yrs max.