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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]SEC attorney here who teleworks twice a week. Even though I'm home at 5:30 to pick up my son from daycare, I feel like  I still don't spend enough time with him.  While I honestly enjoyed working in NY big law, I don't think that lifestyle would be manageable with a young child.  I want to spend MORE time with him, and even with my flexible, laid back job, I don't feel like it's enough.  I know that personally, I will care more about my relationship with my children than the hot deal I worked on years ago.

[b]I think the PP who said it takes time to get out of the firm mindset is right. Looking back, why did we have to spend SO MANY HOURS at the printers?  At the end of the day, no one cared about that extra comma or changing one word to another.  Big law and any competitive field fuels this attitude that more work, tougher, better, smarter, etc.  It doesn't have to be that way.[/b]

For all the SEC attorneys here, if you don't find yourself challenged, you should seek out more challenging work.  Make yourself heard, and I'm sure your supervisor would love to give you more interesting work.  It's all about what you make of it. Don't sit on your butt and complain about unmotivated colleagues and bad work. You can change that. I know b/c I'm at the SEC too![/quote]

I get what you're saying -- every deal is the same and litigation isn't THAT monumental, but I don't know. I don't agree with the attitude of "why spend so many hrs at the printer," no one cares about the comma on pg 256 anyway -- bc that is what breeds the mediocrity at places like the SEC; I'm surrounded by people who just want it to be "good enough" so they can leave at 3 pm or "telework" -- i.e. do their laundry and grocery shop. And if that's how you are fine -- but SEC employees should be a little more genuine when recruiting, networking, and interviewing -- that it is a place where "good enough" is the marker. But when SEC attys talk to the outside world, it's ALL about how awesome their work is.

And as for wanting 10 extra hrs a week at home -- that's an individual choice. To me -- I'd rather be at the printer than playing trucks, answering repetitive questions, and telling my son to pull his hands out of his pants for the 200th time. I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I don't see how 10 hrs a week bonds us more than the other hours we spend together. Frankly I'd rather be out there making money bc that will help him more -- when I can pay for his college in full or hand him a nice down payment on a house or whatever.[/quote]

As you can see in the two responses above, working for govt is a big change in mentality from firm life. I clerked for a firm in law school, but I've spent the rest of my career in govt. FWIW, the private firm attorneys we hire that seem to be the most successful are the attorneys with an open mind and a respect for the work. The least successful are the attorneys who cannot let go of the law firm mentality. This is illustrated in the bolded part above. In my office, we do not find value in writing, and rewriting, briefs until they are law review quality. We are a results driven organization. We triage work and put time towards the highest risk, most complicated, and most important work. Spending time on a motion once you have a product together that is likely to win is a waste of time.  Arguing over hyphens and commas will not change the results of the case. It's wasted time in government work.

One of the attorneys in my office who came from a well-regarded firm has been one of the least successful.  She went to a prestigious law school and regularly works this into conversations. She spends copious amounts of time on briefs, but doesn't understand our practice area after working in the office for almost two years.  She talks down to people while simultaneously giving poor advice - mostly bc she can't issue spot.  She doesn't appear to be happy either. She thinks she's so smart and rewrites work product from more senior attorneys. She doesn't understand she is editing information that is needed for our practice area. She just thinks she's smarter than everyone. Sadly, she would not be promotable at this point.

My advice to OP is to not look down on your new office if you take the job.  You'll never fit in. Many of the attorneys will have attended lower-ranked schools. You will need to be ok with these people.  They will question why you need to work late and why you can't finish your work during the day.  Before litigation is understood, but not regularly. [/quote]

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