Junior associate at Big Law -- help!
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Anonymous
And the biggest irony is that the training OP is getting is probably piss poor. Junior associates are given very little real substantive work. They are basically researchers and paralegals in a lot of big law shops in my experience. I actually do not allow junior associates to be staffed on my matters because it's just another way to drive up a bill without adding value. |
Anonymous
Exactly. You can keep your head down, but you can't tell a partner to f-off when they ask you to help them write an article or something. If for no other reason than that partner is never going to give you billable projects again, and will probably tell other partners. Plus, some of that professional development stuff can help if you plan to jump ship by allowing you to build an area of specialization. I have one friend who did that wrt antitrust litigation, and ended up moving in-house for a large conglomerate. Some of that non-billable stuff was useful. |
Anonymous
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Adding my 2 cents:
- OP if you want to try and stick it out in Big Law for a few years--or forever--I disagree with posters saying you are done, leave now, the sky is falling etc. There is still time to correct and evolve. I was terrible in my first law firm job. It took me time to learn how to do it (and a firm switch). And you will be amazed on how much you can be capable of doing. Each year I am more able to balance work demands and still be present in my family's life. But it was a shock in the beginning. - That being said, you are going to have to make some changes/corrections, and that is a hard pill to swallow. I agree with the advice to get some input stat from a more senior associate on how to improve. In terms of balancing life and work, what I have found works for me: be relentlessly focused while in the office on billable work. Try and do the minimal non-billable you can until you get your hours up. Be hyper focused, i.e. no social lunches, little chit-chat. To pull off 2K per year, you either need to come in super early or work after kids go to bed or work some hours on the weekend. You can do it though. Manage your expectations outside of life. I prioritize my family and working out, so I have basically given up on a social life. I also don't do things that I used to do like cook. We have outsourced so many things, or I have given up those hobbies. There are lots of discussion on here as to how to do this. - BigLaw may not be for you...and that is understandable. it is a very difficult life. But I wouldn't assume you can't make it work for some time just because the first year has been very difficult. It is a learning curve. |
Anonymous
I did this too. Work after bedtime. Sacrifice some time on weekends. Up the nanny another 10 hours a week. Sleep less. Clean less. See your kids less. Eat prepared foods. And in 3-5 years you'll be in less debt with good career options. Just do it. Any other decision right now will harm your family long term. |
Anonymous
+1 agree with this, and I'll add in that you should look at the salary that you'll think you'll land on when you find your government job (top of GS-13?) and try to make a budget based on that + your husband's job, and start living on it now. Send everything over the top to loans or savings or a combination of the two. That way if you get counseled out before you're ready at least you'll be in a better financial position. -- current 5th year. |
Anonymous
| OP: Where do you live? You need someone to relieve the nanny from like 5-7? Can you get an AU, GW or Georgetown student to do this? |
Anonymous
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Former biglaw here, left when my kids were 4 and 18 months, currently at a smaller firm with an 1800 minimum. OP, I think you need to address a couple things about your particular biglaw experience in the meantime, while you try to figure out what is best for your future.
As other posters have pointed out, drop non-billable work to the extent possible. Ditch all pro bono and don't volunteer for stuff that you aren't directly asked to do (i.e., the firm emails that come around, need jr assoc to step up to help BIG FANCY PARTNER on xyz over the weekend! delete that shit and focus on your billable work). Stop wasting time during the day (like I am currently doing!) and focus. Don't short your hours if you think something took you too long; that is not your job and your realization rate shouldn't hurt you as an associate. Get a handle on your children's schedule and impose strict bedtime/no overnight waking methods. Don't be one of those moms who has to lay with their children until they fall asleep, and don't tolerate them disturbing your sleep overnight. You need to spend your time with them in the evening, then get them to bed and have them sleep so that you can sleep. As another PP said, you should be targeting 1-3 additional billable hours in the evening after your kids are in bed. Figure out how to work within your practice group. In biglaw, I was in white collar and had tons of calls all the time, which are an extremely easy way to bill hours. Not all of them required total attention, and then I could multi-task (ordering groceries!) or space out and mentally relax for a few minutes. At my new firm, I have basically no calls and my hours are much more heavily reading and writing (vs. answering emails or talking on the phone). It's been an adjustment and it is harder no doubt. I find using my timers helps - I do one task at a time, finish X draft and enter that time, clear the timer, move to answering Y email and enter that time, clear the timer, etc. This gooses hours around the margins because the timers round up, and it helps me with a sense of achievement and progress through the day. Think about how to maximize your hours as much as possible. Figure out how to fit your schedule within your practice group. If you're corporate, you might want to shift your nanny to a later time if possible. If you work with early birds, try to mirror their schedule. When you have to leave, keep your phone with you and be responsive, at least to let ppl know you'll take care of something in an hour or two. Can't address your financial situation, but I'm surprised you're stretched with a nanny at a biglaw salary unless your firm isn't paying market. Maybe now is not the time to aggressively pay down debt. But in any event, I suspect an au pair won't work for you until you need fewer hours (i.e., once both kids are in school). Good luck, I'd definitely stick with biglaw until you are told to leave. Your next paycheck likely won't be as high. |
Anonymous
No, I actually no a lot about JD alternative jobs based on my prior professional experiences. Unfortunately, the options you are presenting are not financially viable for OP at this time, and also I bet most of your classmates practiced longer than a year before making the switch and/or have a spouse who has a large income. Becoming a nurse, for example, would require accruing additional debt for nursing school, plus she would not have an income during the time she was in training. I know a lawyer who did this but it was after her kids were in school full time and then she had them in aftercare and was often working nights once she got her degree, because that is how you pay your dues in that career. Becoming a SAHM is not generally a viable option for someone with massive student loan debt (students these days are easily graduating law school with $200k in loans). Westlaw pays very little, advancement is limited, and she will still need to put her kids in daycare. Plus talk to anyone who has been a Westlaw research attorney for more than 5 years and see how happy they are. (Not to mention that this is a job that is ripe for offshoring to India and the Philippines, and as a result there are far fewer jobs than there used to be.) Public interest jobs are very, very competitive. People think you can just waltz into Legal Aid or a non-profit or a public defender's office, but you can't. Those employers hire people who have demonstrated an interest and commitment to those careers, and there are legions of attorneys two years out of law school who have been paying their dues piecing together fellowships, internships, and volunteer gigs to try to break into the market, and you can be sure any such openings will go to those people. The government is probably her best option, but there are very few opportunities right now due to widespread hiring freezes, and competition is fierce. It could easily take her two years to land a government gig. I'm genuinely not trying to be a naysayer. Unfortunately, OP planned badly. It is not ideal to have young children when you are starting out in BigLaw, and it was a bad idea to have spent a year clerking, which basically is a great marker of prestige but it basically put her behind a year in terms of developing a marketable resume. What's done is done, but some of the things PPs are suggesting are only going to compound those bad decisions. Yes, she can release the pressure now and get immediate relief, but she also needs to seriously consider the long-term consequences. Her failure to do so previously is what landed OP in this pickle. |
Anonymous
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As a former biglaw litigating dad, who also knows many biglaw litigating moms, I have read most of the replies on the thread and have a strange reaction.
On the one hand, a lot of the responses paint a really bleak picture -- as though it's impossible to thrive in biglaw while being an attentive parent. This does not comport with my experience. On the other hand, it's also not an easy balance to strike. And, while it can work for some people at some firms, it definitely doesn't work for everyone. I think the only practical advice I can give OP is: 1. I think you need to work on your billing efficiency. It's not easy and takes awhile to get the hang of it (especially as a first-year), but you have room for improvement. If you're working long days and not taking vacations, 1800 really shouldn't be that huge of a struggle. 700 hours of non-billable work is a lot. Too much. My guess is you are saying yes to too much non-billable tasks, or else you are spending too much time on those tasks. I think 300-400 is a more reasonable range for non-billable work for a junior. Note, senior attorneys and partners have more, not less, non-billable commitments. As a junior, your focus should be billing billing billing. So -- the point is, you have to work smarter and more efficiently. 2. That said, your situation may not be as dire as you fear. You are not likely to be fired as a first year for billing 1800. If you are truly doing "good work" as you say, I would say your job is not in jeopardy at all at 1800. In particular, there is usually a grace period and some leniency given to first-year associates. It won't get you a bonus, and in the long term it's not going to put you on partnership track if you keep logging 1800s, but at those hours you are in a "safe" grey area. Too profitable to be fired, not profitable enough to be promoted. (Of course, that changes if the firm or practice group goes through a dry spell -- you'd be the first one fired in that case.) So, the point is, don't panic. You still got this. (If you want it). 3. Think strategically about your career options and exit plans. This part involves some introspection. What do you want in life? Look around you, are there any partners or senior attorneys whose career you want? Is there anyone who can be a mentor or coach for you? If you look around and you see miserable people living a life you don't want, then think about how you should step off of the path that leads to where they are. What do you want to do, if you could do anything? Do you really want to work for the govt, or is that just something you're trying because you think it's a golden ticket? That grass is greener attitude is what got you in this mess to begin with. Start aiming your ship towards something you actually want to do. So, the point is -- You are probably better off if you can stick it out at the firm for a couple years. But, you should start thinking about building the life you want to lead. Good luck! |
Anonymous
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I posted a few posts ago but also agree with 13:32. That's some good advice.
I did wind up leaving, but after 8 years and I wasn't forced out, despite 2 kids and regular 5:30-6pm departures. |
Anonymous
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OP - what sucks is that you came into the biglaw world already with kids. I worked biglaw for multiple years pre-kids, so by the time I had kids I was already in the sweet 5-6 year spot where I had figured out the whole system, could come and go as I pleased, etc. You're in a pickle - you're basically a first year associate with two kids under 5. YIKES!
I have a colleague who did that, but it's not an easy road, and you need to find the right fit of a firm. I worked in big law, but AmLaw 100-200 not AmLaw100 and that seemed to make a pretty significant difference, to be honest. I doubt they will fire you - you might get slowly moved out, but you're not going to lose your job unless you royally screw something up. So take solace in that! If you move to part time, you will have truly no future there - and that is fine - but just know that going into it. What I would do is just do what you need to do while looking for another, less demanding job, with the knowledge that they won't terminate you in all likelihood. And stop saying yes to all the non-billable shit - none of that actually mattes. |
Anonymous
This is the problem. You can't just 'go in-house' or 'go to a non-profit' because you don't have any specialized experience at all, and will look like a job-hopper who couldn't hack the Biglaw lifestyle. I feel sorry for you, because you're in a tough situation - but you're not going to be marketable to those places you describe without more experience. |
Anonymous
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I'm a SAHM to a successful big law attorney. There's lots of good advice on this thread, much better than I can give. But I do want to add that DH and I made the choice we did for our individual family, but we consider ourselves feminists and we OFTEN lament that there aren't more women with SAH husbands in big law. Or even women with husbands who work very part-time and take on the brunt of the work at home like a SAH parent would. They just don't exist. And it sucks. It sucks for women everywhere. SAHMs are not going away. What big law needs is more SAHDs.
So, without knowing anything about your personal situation, I would consider discussing it as an option with your DH, if he is so inclined. It makes a world of difference to have one spouse who takes care of everything else and one spouse who can focus on work. It makes the big law job really not so crazy. |
Anonymous
| ^^ PP here, this made it sound like I was my DH's SAHM. Gross! I was multitasking. I'm a SAHM, DH is a successful big law attorney. |
Anonymous
| OP, what practice group are you in? |