Explain to me like I’m five. What do “Big Law” lawyers do?
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Anonymous
| When I think of a lawyer, I think of the person who helps you win compensation after you got hit by a car. |
Anonymous
| OP here. When I think of a law firm, I think of an office with 10 people. The firm usually has billboards on highways. |
Anonymous
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There are so many shows about Big Law firm life. Didn't you see any of it?
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Anonymous
| What do "Big Law" lawyers do? I would also like to know. |
Anonymous
| Hate their lives, mostly. |
Anonymous
| Get paid!!!! |
Anonymous
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BigLaw is literally just that: big law firms. It's not a specialty. It's about the notoriety in the firm name.
The firm I work for has offices in DC, NYC, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, and LA. We have over 150 partners. You get a salary at most biglaw firms plus bonuses instead of billing by the hour. It can be pretty cutthroat and a minimum workweek is 60 hours. |
Anonymous
| Yeah, but what do you DO all day |
Anonymous
| It really varies by practice area. Me personally I mostly sit at a desk all day and write. When I’m not writing I’m talking, either on the phone or in person. |
Anonymous
| The same stuff you do at any legal job— research, write memos, meet with clients, answer questions, etc. |
Anonymous
Like the Practice and Boston Legal and Ally Mcbeal? |
Anonymous
LOL. Well done. TITCR. |
Anonymous
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You read things. You dive deep into the minutia of whatever the issue is. You talk to people. Partners deal with the big picture legal strategy, associates implement it by taking to lower level people at the client, gathering facts and documents, then looking at whatever the issue is. I come from the defense side of things, so there are particular motions and filings that we are used to doing; same is true on the plaintiffs' side.
This varies a bit depending on whether you're dealing with general litigation, an antitrust filing, patent issue, etc. Many variations. But generally it is a lot of reading, researching, talking and writing. |
Anonymous
| 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? |
Anonymous
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When I was there, I helped oil companies get permits to build facilities, and wrote contracts for the use of those facilities or delivery of oil to them. I accounted for my time in six minute increments, and each six minute block was charged to a client (good) or a non billable code like client development or recruiting (necessary, but bad for my annual goals).
Not every big law client is a huge corporation, but many are. |