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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]How much did everyone actually like the work?  I'm late 30's now, but many years ago (when I was young and didn't know what I wanted to do), I was planning on going to law school.  I took the LSAT and got a 170.

Pretty much everyone I spoke to, including a lot of former biglaw associates, talked me out of it.  I've never seen a profession where more members actively discouraged new entrants.  Full disclosure, I never applied, but was also anxious about my ability to get into a good law school even with a high LSAT, great work experience, and a great undergrad school (Princeton), due to low undergrad grades (3.0).

I went to B-School at Darden instead, and it has worked out very well.  Been at the same hospitality firm since I graduated, and love the work, people, and benefits.  Comp is fine, $200kish, but I have to admit to being jealous at the earning power both of biglaw associates, but then going in-house at a company like mine.  On the flip side, I'm not sure I would enjoy the work I partner with our GCO on (lots of negotiations and redlining contracts).

Everything has worked out, but I often wonder what-if.[/quote]

Also, I'm amazed by how many peers have HLS degrees and are working on the business side at my company.[/quote]

See above at 11:34. Honestly I loved it. You have to have a certain workaholic, attention to detail, nothing else matters more tendency. And if you do and end up with decent partners, it can be a great experience. I was seriously bummed to not make partner and have to leave. I'm definitely debating taking a 2nd shot somewhere. Though having an undergrad business degree and a business acumen, I do wonder if I could make the switch to the business side -- bc I don't particularly want to go somewhere, slog for partner, and not make it. And for me -- a hospitality (hotel) co. would be a top choice . . . except I have 13 yrs of financial services type experience . . . .

I'm not one of the ones who discourages people from going. I think it's good work, a time of intense work and focus in your life, and it sets you up financially. From about 90% of my classmates though -- I think they'd be the type to discourage their kids from going bc they personally hated it. The reason you get so many biglaw attys discouraging you is bc 90%+ of them were humanities majors who "liked to write" or "liked to argue." They got great grades/scores, so law made sense as a high paying profession. Then they get there and realize that to be high paying, you have to do biglaw. 99% of biglaw clients are business/financial services -- so now you have associates with ZERO interest in the work they must do/companies they represent -- couple that with long hours and they see it as the worst ever. So I definitely thing biglaw is an awesome track but ONLY if you have some inherent interest in finance (at least on the east coast -- I didn't work on a single matter that wasn't financial services related at my NYC firm; maybe it'd be different if I were an associate in Atlanta?).[/quote]

The PP above sounds very hard-working and ambitious.  I think you should definitely leave government.  But instead of returning to a firm and depending on them to make you partner, why not go into business for yourself.  With your motivation, it sounds like you could very much succeed on your own.[/quote]

Haha -- thank you! You must've read my mind because in the last few years in the government -- where I have all the time in the world for my mind to wander -- I AM suddenly thinking about starting a business, literally for the first time ever. It was never anything I wanted in undergrad, law school, or biglaw. But now I do think -- I'm willing to work as hard as I need to, so why not make that $$ for myself instead for some employer who then doesn't make me partner (law firms) or hands me a 1% raise (gov't). Trying to come up with a timeline for such a thing and workable ideas, as I KNOW I do NOT want to start my own law firm. I have a few friends who've gone down that road and it looks like a struggle.[/quote]

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