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.


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

This is inaccurate. Insurance defense is handled by small regional firms or "captive" --essentially in-house-- firms for large companies like Travelers. Insurance companies will not pay biglaw rates and negotiate the regional firms down to rates that are 50% of their stated rates. Insurance industry only uses BigLaw in cases where the stakes are huge and the legal issues are all of first impression (think post-9-11 New York property insurance claims).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are so many shows about Big Law firm life. Didn't you see any of it?

Like the Practice and Boston Legal and Ally Mcbeal?

Don’t forget Suits!

[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.

If the person driving the car that hit you was the CEO of General Motors, the team of lawyers representing them would be from a Big Law firm.

[Anonymous]

Biglaw lawyer here and I'll give this a shot. "Big law" represents large corporations (usually, the exception I would say is individual white-collar representation). Large deals and litigations require tons of manpower. As a junior (1-3), it can be intellectually unstimulating: doc review, priv review, diligence, interview prep binders, etc. A lot of times it feels like overpaid secretarial work. There are also stimulating assignments like research or fact memos. At year 3, you become an almost mid-level and become too expensive to do secretarial tasks. Your comp also jumps up from the previous two years. At this point, you start managing those under you and your days become more substantive (drafting motions and briefs, discovery requests, etc.) Counseling and strategy don't usually happen until you are at the senior associate-counsel-partner level.

Biglaw demands 24/7 attention and that's what you are compensated for. If a client says you don't sleep, you don't sleep. Hope this is helpful.

[Anonymous]

The most accurate movie explaining biglaw ever is Clueless. The lawyers sat around in a conference room, organizing records by dates. (Done with paper back then, now fully electronically.) Cher mis-organized some papers, and the overworked, exhausted associate flipped his shit and ragequit.

[Anonymous]

slime

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is inaccurate. Insurance defense is handled by small regional firms or "captive" --essentially in-house-- firms for large companies like Travelers. Insurance companies will not pay biglaw rates and negotiate the regional firms down to rates that are 50% of their stated rates. Insurance industry only uses BigLaw in cases where the stakes are huge and the legal issues are all of first impression (think post-9-11 New York property insurance claims).

Wow, I'll have to let the insurance practice at my firm know that they're servicing imaginary clients. Insurance companies are indeed aggressive rate negotiators, but they have lawyers on retainer to protect their contractual provisions. No one want some podunk state court judge punching a hole in their contractual limitations or exclusions, and BigLaw does shadow the smaller fish to make sure a small issue doesn't become a big problem and will step in if LittleLaw is screwing it up.

The same folks also worked on 9/11 claims and Superfund stuff as well.

[Anonymous]

This video series explains it best. This “typo” episode is my absolute favorite. https://vimeo.com/74411122

(I’m in biglaw too - I’m a partner in international arbitration and my days also mostly involve reading and writing. Sometimes hearings in interesting places around the world - that’s the only faintly glamorous part!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OP, very few big law lawyers are litigators who argue in front of judges. It’s easy to understand this example because you have seen litigators on tv, but it’s a much broader field than this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The most accurate movie explaining biglaw ever is Clueless. The lawyers sat around in a conference room, organizing records by dates. (Done with paper back then, now fully electronically.) Cher mis-organized some papers, and the overworked, exhausted associate flipped his shit and ragequit.

This is not what big law lawyers do anymore. They have contract attorneys who do this for pennies on the dollar. It’s way too expensive to use big law lawyers for this now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OP, very few big law lawyers are litigators who argue in front of judges. It’s easy to understand this example because you have seen litigators on tv, but it’s a much broader field than this.

It's more interesting than saying they spend their day researching and writing memos that may or may not be read or advising clients about regulatory issues and giving those clients the same answers that they already have gotten in house, but in a form that they can use to deny intent if regulators ever disagree with the interpretation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OP, very few big law lawyers are litigators who argue in front of judges. It’s easy to understand this example because you have seen litigators on tv, but it’s a much broader field than this.

It's more interesting than saying they spend their day researching and writing memos that may or may not be read or advising clients about regulatory issues and giving those clients the same answers that they already have gotten in house, but in a form that they can use to deny intent if regulators ever disagree with the interpretation.

Regulatory lawyer here. The contacts I have with my clients are often the in-house lawyers. They are not subject matter experts on everything they do, and if they had the answers they wouldn't be consulting us. And the advice we give often involves risk analysis. It is intended to achieve the right outcome or to help the client understand its obligations or the risks involved in different courses of action where there isn't a clear answer. It's not focused on CYA. I do find what I do interesting, FWIW.

[Anonymous]

It seems like those within the legal profession generally understand that the term “big law” means “law firms woth many offices and lots of attorneys who generally get paid on Cravath scale,” but people unfamiliar with the legal profession think it means “law firms full of pretentious people.”

Of course lots of big law lawyers are pretentious and think their law degree makes them special, but many people of all professions are pretentious and think their degrees and “prestigious” jobs make them special.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It seems like those within the legal profession generally understand that the term “big law” means “law firms woth many offices and lots of attorneys who generally get paid on Cravath scale,” but people unfamiliar with the legal profession think it means “law firms full of pretentious people.”

Of course lots of big law lawyers are pretentious and think their law degree makes them special, but many people of all professions are pretentious and think their degrees and “prestigious” jobs make them special.

I also think those of us who are lawyers understand BigLaw to be something you often get out of. I work for the government and lots of our new hires come from big firms but are looking for work/life balance. My cousin was at a big firm but she left to go in house (which is the big dream for many).

My law school was pretty clear about the double edged sword of big law and the "golden handcuffs" problem. I always intended to go government but I will admit the salaries of those summer associate positions made me hesitate.

I'm very, very happy as a government lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Maybe this should be it own thread, but since we have the Lawyers of DCUM gathered, I’ll ask:

Why do personal injury lawyers have such intense personal rivalries with other personal injury law firms?

I am thinking specifically of the Detroit area where the heads of the law firms trash talk each other in ads. They also take their vendettas to court. For example, one personal injury lawyer (Lawyer A) set up a sexual harassment claim against another (Lawyer B) at a restaurant. LB got accused by the waitress of groping her. The waitress turned out to be on the payroll at LA’s firm. LB then turned around and represented women who claimed they had been sexually harassed while working at LA’s law firm. Like..how do they have to actually practice law?? Does personal injury just attract crazies or what?