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[quote=Anonymous]NP here.  As you can see from the prior responses, there is no typical government lawyer job.  Government lawyers perform lots of different functions across all of the agencies.  And even within an agency, there can be a wide variation in the quality of the attorneys, the office culture, etc.

I was a senior associate at a big firm who left for the government many years ago.  For what it's worth, I've found my DOJ colleagues to be every bit as motivated (if not more so) than my former firm colleagues (we want to do well for its own sake, and not simply to bill a client).  The quality of our legal work is every bit as good as it was at a firm.  Because it's litigation there are some nights and weekends, but the difference is that when things are a little bit slower there's no pressure to look for work simply for the sake of billing hours.  Overall, the hours are better and generally more predictable than at a firm.

Our office is pretty laid-back.  Yes, you do have to take leave when you are out of the office for a doctor's appointment, etc., but that's a very fair trade-off for not having to bill hours (and quite frankly, there is less monitoring of our time than at the firm).  In response to a PP, I do not need to "ask permission" to take leave, but I have heard of offices/agencies where time is monitored closely--YMMV.  The pay cut is substantial, but there are a lot of hidden benefits -- TSP matching, pension, higher subsidies for health insurance, metro subsidy, etc. -- that you need to take into account.  As a PP noted, you can make adjustments such as bringing your lunch, watching your expenses, etc., to help compensate.

The best advice I have is to go back to the agency from which you've received an offer and ask to speak with more people about what it's like to work there.  As noted above, every agency is different, and it is difficult to generalize "government" vs. "firm."  Make the best decision that you can -- I hope everything works out for you.  [/quote]

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