Does big law get better?

[Anonymous]

DH is a senior associate at a Big Law firm. The hours suck. I SAH with one DC, which is a choice we made that I feel blessed to be able to do. DH is most likly on the partner track in the next few years. Just curious from those who have BTDT, does life get better once they are a partner? Do hours ever let up or does it only get more crazy. Thanks for any honest input.

[Anonymous]

There are a million threads on this. Do a search. If you like the money, use some of it to get help. Making friends who have husbands that work all the time will also help.

[Anonymous]

The hours don't get significantly better. My husband is a partner in big law. He has somewhat more control over his schedule but still puts in the hours.

Your husband 's hours will probably get worse in the two year run up to partner.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't get better, the stresses change. You get more pressue on the business development side.

[Anonymous]

In our case, DHs billable hours decreased slightly. But the non billable stuff went up and his stress level went up up up. Get outside help as much as you are comfortable with.

[Anonymous]

Both of us started out in BigLaw. I lasted 10 years, through our second kid. DH is still there. In our experience, it depends on your practice area. I litigated. That was nuts from day 3 and continuted to be nuts through partnership. DH has a regulatory practice with some administrative litigation and the occasional appeal. His workload was more reasonable in years 1-6 and got worse as he got closer to partner. Now that he is a partner, it is still nuts, but he sets his own (insane) schedule.

It also depends on the firm. I say that as an alum of a total sweatshop.

[Anonymous]

No it doesn't get better. It just gets different.

[Anonymous]

No. There are always a ton of hours to work and I do t know anyone who doesn't do weekends. That being said, the money is nice, so you and your kids can have great weekends and summers alone together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No it doesn't get better. It just gets different.

+1. My DH is a partner in a regulatory practice. The hours are just as heavy now and sometimes more so because the buck stops with him and if an associate turns in poor quality work he has no choice but to fix it by the client's deadline. The business development pressure also goes way up. It is what it is. Don't romanticize what making partner will mean to your schedule.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the practice and your DH. My DH works some each weekend but sees the kids for bedtime every night and is always there for breakfast. He makes 800K but would make over a million if he worked longer hours. I'm not complaining. He's made the right choice there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the practice and your DH. My DH works some each weekend but sees the kids for bedtime every night and is always there for breakfast. He makes 800K but would make over a million if he worked longer hours. I'm not complaining. He's made the right choice there.

Wow. What time does he go in every morning? What is he billing annually?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the practice and your DH. My DH works some each weekend but sees the kids for bedtime every night and is always there for breakfast. He makes 800K but would make over a million if he worked longer hours. I'm not complaining. He's made the right choice there.

Wow. What time does he go in every morning? What is he billing annually?

He gets in around 9:30. He comes home at 7:30. He's very good at what he does but he's not at a top-name top-paying firm where his hours would be much worse.

I'm not sure about annual billing. As a fairly new partner he has a lot of non-billable marketing hours as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is a senior associate at a Big Law firm. The hours suck. I SAH with one DC, which is a choice we made that I feel blessed to be able to do. DH is most likly on the partner track in the next few years. Just curious from those who have BTDT, does life get better once they are a partner? Do hours ever let up or does it only get more crazy. Thanks for any honest input.

If he's in big law at a firm with an equity only partnership structure don't plan on him making partner. It rarely happens.

[Anonymous]

No, it doesn't, but the money buys your family a lot of freedom. I quit big law to go to a smaller firm. I make about $150,000 and am about two years out from partnership, when I will get a very minor raise. I work 9-6. To be honest, I regret the move from big law sometimes when I think about how much more money I could be making for not much more time. Then again, I'm home for bedtime and bathtime every night and rarely work weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on the practice and your DH. My DH works some each weekend but sees the kids for bedtime every night and is always there for breakfast. He makes 800K but would make over a million if he worked longer hours. I'm not complaining. He's made the right choice there.

Wow. What time does he go in every morning? What is he billing annually?

He gets in around 9:30. He comes home at 7:30. He's very good at what he does but he's not at a top-name top-paying firm where his hours would be much worse.

I'm not sure about annual billing. As a fairly new partner he has a lot of non-billable marketing hours as well.

Fortunate! Sounds like you guys found a good balance.
What's his practice area?