Does big law get better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to everyone for the input. Honestly, it's what I've expected to hear. We are in a fork in the road as far as the future so this was helpful. DH is likely a shoe in for partner (although I certainly know there are no guarantees in life). We plan to buy our dream house in a few years, so this would hopefully make that easily possible. However, he has also been contacted by a couple of government agencies that are interested in him (he does a very specialized area of law that is a hot topic right now). So we shall see what lies ahead.

DH and I were both biglaw partners. Here's an observation: if you buy the "dream house" and a couple of nice cars and send a couple kids to private school, it may be nearly impossible for your DH to ever leave biglaw.

Yep, it's the niceties that you can do without that keep you forever strapped to the treadmill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is shoo-in, not shoe-in.

Lucky you SAH...

Thank you. This was driving me nuts and was just about to post the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I were both biglaw partners. Here's an observation: if you buy the "dream house" and a couple of nice cars and send a couple kids to private school, it may be nearly impossible for your DH to ever leave biglaw.

Indeed. OP, if you want an exit strategy, save it, don't spend it. If you do close on that dream house, listen closely for the click--that is the sound of his hands being shackled to his desk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers do disgusting things thats why the money is high. Did you see devils advocate.

You watch too much tv. Most lawyers do really boring uncontroversial things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers do disgusting things thats why the money is high. Did you see devils advocate.

You watch too much tv. Most lawyers do really boring uncontroversial things.

Seriously. I've spent the better part of a decade in BigLaw, and I'll just say it: Ally McBeal and Boston Legal have just flat out lied to me. I mean, the offices don't even have soft mood lighting. It's all bight florescents, as if people need to read and stuff. And there's like no intreague or lying or any of that. Bummer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers do disgusting things thats why the money is high. Did you see devils advocate.

You watch too much tv. Most lawyers do really boring uncontroversial things.

"Implications of a 501 c 3 renting unused office space to a for profit entity above cost when the 501 c 3 has the ability to exist the existing lease"

Booya bitch!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers do disgusting things thats why the money is high. Did you see devils advocate.

You watch too much tv. Most lawyers do really boring uncontroversial things.

"Implications of a 501 c 3 renting unused office space to a for profit entity above cost when the 501 c 3 has the ability to exist the existing lease"

Booya bitch!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I were both biglaw partners. Here's an observation: if you buy the "dream house" and a couple of nice cars and send a couple kids to private school, it may be nearly impossible for your DH to ever leave biglaw.

Indeed. OP, if you want an exit strategy, save it, don't spend it. If you do close on that dream house, listen closely for the click--that is the sound of his hands being shackled to his desk.

Yeah. I'm a fairly young mid-law partner who works her ass off and doesn't make close to 7 figures (though no tears for me, I'm doing fine). My husband and I have decided that if we ever make the leap to that 7 figure salary, we'll not change our (very good) lifestyle much, if at all, and squirrel it away to subsidize either an early retirement or a job change.

Easier said than done when you have a big chunk of $$ sitting there, I know, but that's the plan (or fantasy).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers do disgusting things thats why the money is high. Did you see devils advocate.

You watch too much tv. Most lawyers do really boring uncontroversial things.

"Implications of a 501 c 3 renting unused office space to a for profit entity above cost when the 501 c 3 has the ability to exist the existing lease"

Booya bitch!!!!

"The documents are neither relevant to plaintiffs' causes of action nor likely to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence."

Yeah, I'm definitely going to hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's about 33 yo? Make the switch to government and work for 30 years, retire early 60s and collect a nice pension and health benefits.

This isn't a sure thing these days either. The pension is nice, but it's really not a lot (nowhere near what you should be able to sock away for retirement on a big law salary). In this political climate, it's a pretty sure thing that employes will have to start contributing more to their pensions and probably their health benefits soon. We've had a three-year pay freeze are facing furloughs and my Department is making plans to do a major reorganization that would force a lot of people out. I left a firm for govt. and am not thinking of making the switch back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lawyers do disgusting things thats why the money is high. Did you see devils advocate.

You watch too much tv. Most lawyers do really boring uncontroversial things.

"Implications of a 501 c 3 renting unused office space to a for profit entity above cost when the 501 c 3 has the ability to exist the existing lease"

Booya bitch!!!!

"The documents are neither relevant to plaintiffs' causes of action nor likely to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence."

Yeah, I'm definitely going to hell.

Well, depending on whether these plaintiffs are suing over major environmental disaster, chemical spills, unsafe products, employment discrimimation, etc and you are filing motions to prevent them from getting access to the documents that may make their case, then yeah, you might not be doing god's work.

Ever see A Civil Action?!

[Anonymous]

Well, depending on whether these plaintiffs are suing over major environmental disaster, chemical spills, unsafe products, employment discrimimation, etc and you are filing motions to prevent them from getting access to the documents that may make their case, then yeah, you might not be doing god's work.

Ever see A Civil Action?!

When you base your understanding of the legal profession on Hollywood characterizations, you really don't advance your cause. Especially when one of those movies is an outright work of fiction involving satanic representation. The other, of course, starred Al Pachino.

[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.

This is my DH's schedule as well, except lately (big case) it's gotten a bit worse- he works the bulk of one weekend day as well (but there is an end in sight). He earns a bit more and is at a top-shelf firm. He is wound extremely tight at the moment, but wasn't for most of the past several years as a partner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to everyone for the input. Honestly, it's what I've expected to hear. We are in a fork in the road as far as the future so this was helpful. DH is likely a shoe in for partner (although I certainly know there are no guarantees in life). We plan to buy our dream house in a few years, so this would hopefully make that easily possible. However, he has also been contacted by a couple of government agencies that are interested in him (he does a very specialized area of law that is a hot topic right now). So we shall see what lies ahead.

DH and I were both biglaw partners. Here's an observation: if you buy the "dream house" and a couple of nice cars and send a couple kids to private school, it may be nearly impossible for your DH to ever leave biglaw.

THIS is the reason we've observed so many of our friends who started out in BigLaw young become miserable.

You come out of school making $170K. You buy an expensive 1 or 2 bedroom flashy condo.

A few years later, you get married or move-in with someone or buy a bigger house. Maybe you rent out your flashy condo.

You keep adding to the pot, keep accumulating expensive things, and with that comes a lifestyle that requires maintenance in the form of hefty payments.

7-10 years down the road you either make partner and are satisfied. Or more likely than that you're pushed out and in a bind or you're really miserable and can't stomach the thought (or bear the logistics) of moving, selling, sending your kids to a different school, or driving a different kind of car.

It's a trap for many, and it's a bad one to get caught in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting replies. I know a new partner who confided that he was making less than he did as a senior associate and his hours were horrible. Imagine regular billing + the expectation of business development (successful BD I might add). So he must have been around 300k. Personally, I don't think too many partners are at the 800-1million level, but I can't be sure. I'm just basing that on my observations about their lifestyles and how they complain about money.

Also, unless your DH has a portable book don't assume anything - especially that he is safe once he makes/if he makes partner.

Aren't there plenty of firms where BD/rainmaking are NOT a requirement for partnership?