Reply to DOJ exit opportunities

Forum Index » Off-Topic

Reply to "DOJ exit opportunities"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote][quote=Anonymous]I don't think DOJ Honors will have any meaningful impact (positive or negative) on your ability to make partner down the road. When you're a senior associate, people will evaluate your legal skills, your responsibility, your potential to bring in business, and the weight your rabbi commands; those are the factors that will determine whether you make partner or not.

DOJ may give you trial experience, which could help your climb at BigLaw, but that's just the start of the climb. If you're looking at a highly desirable BigLaw position, I'd take it now. But if you're looking at a mediocre BigLaw position, then go with DOJ and hope to parlay that into a better BigLaw job later. [/quote]
I don't agree with this at all. My husband did DOJ Honors in a relatively prestiguous section, and seven of his collegaues in that section have gone, as partners, to large law firms in the past two years. They all clerked and they had all tried several cases. Meanwhile, my husband's friends who went straight to biglaw out of their #1 law school are scrounging around looking for positions at US Attorneys offices, etc., so they can get experience because they have been told they will not make partner if they just stay and hang out. His friends that went to small law firms are doing well, however, and many have now made partner and make more than their straight to biglaw counterparts.[/quote]
I'm the person you're quoting.  I respect your different opinion, but I maintain my view.  I'm a partner in BigLaw who has actually hired some DOJ attorneys and worked with several others.  To my mind, they're just fungible associates.  Some have good work ethics and are great to work with; others are prima donna's who expect everyone to kiss their asses and won't do the hard & often unsexy work needed to keep my huge cases on track.  I'm not saying DOJ is a bad place to start, but it's no golden ticket.  (And quite frankly, if our OP starts thinking it's a golden ticket, then my money will start learning toward her/him being a future prima donna!)

If you stay for 7-plus years at a specialized DOJ job, and it happens to be in hot demand when you leave, then I suppose you could parlay that into a partnership spot.  But it will be a relatively low-paying partnership spot until you prove yourself, since you'll be coming in as a service partner without any book of business.  But if you're thinking about switching over after 2-4 years, it's not going to make much difference (positive or negative).  If you're lucky, you'll avoid the drudgery of 1st and 2nd year BigLaw work, and instead have some practical trial experience.  But you'll need to prove yourself just like any other mid/senior-level associate.

I stand by my final advice -- if the BigLaw job is a top-drawer one (e.g., Skadden, Latham, etc), take the bird in your hand.  If it's less tempting, then go with DOJ and hope to get into a better firm later.

Of course, all this assumes you really want to be a BigLaw partner.  Reading your posts, I'm not sure you really want it.  It almost seems like you're seeking it because that's what you're [i]supposed[/i] to want.  That's not criticism because it's how many people (including me perhaps) ended up in BigLaw.  But I just think you ought to consider carefully what you really want for yourself.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics