Reply to Lawyers...what do you think of the Weil Gotshal cuts?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The entire business model on which BigLaw is operating and is premised now is flawed, outmoded, and is in the process of collapsing IMO.

In fact a press release on the Weil Gotshal firings referred to "industry" practice and conditions.  Very telling that it did not refer to practices and conditions in the "profession", which is what law was when I began my career in 1980.

It's barely/ not really a profession anymore, and the standards of civility and professionalism have taken a dump as the ironclad focus on the bottom line has taken over.

Not a pretty sight.  Not something to be proud of.  A lot more of this to come IMO.[/quote]

DH, a mid-'80s law school grad, left a BigLaw partnership to go to a smaller firm with lower billing rates.  He is so much happier and his practice is booming.  We had banked a lot of money over the years he was in BigLaw (house paid for, kids' college and grad school saving done, a sizeable retirement fund); as a result, the paycut been surprisingly easy.

We are both grads of a top 3 law school, and I find it remarkable how many of our friends from law school are discouraging their children from becoming lawyers.  I'm talking about people who have had amazing careers in the law -- Supreme Court clerkships, DOJ honors, BigLaw p-ships, GCs at prominent NGOs, high-level political appointments, etc.  -- all are saying to their kids, "don't go to law school."

Our younger son, a college student, would be a terrific lawyer and would love the work, but DH is advising him to pursue other options.  He's a STEM major and his friends at school say, "Man, you would be a fool not to make bank in Big Data, i-banking or consulting."   Yes, in the past 30 years too many people have gone to law school, but the prospective loss of talented young people who would contribute much to our society as lawyers worries me.              [/quote]

This is odd to me.  As someone who has also had a fantastic post-law school career, I would still advise folks to pursue law school . . . but only if they can get in somewhere great and do very well.  To those folks, the fantastic post- law school options still exist.  [/quote]

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