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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Dumb question: are the big 4 accounting firms BigAccounting? And MBB are bigConsulting? [/quote]

The accounting industry is much more concentrated than the legal industry.  The "Big Four" have large global networks and audit most public companies (and the companies that have the highest market capitalizations), whereas the legal industry is less concentrated, which is why people refer to the "AmLaw 100" (which meant the 100 law firms that the American Lawyer tracks as having the highest gross revenues).

I think of "Big Law" as being an acronym for any large law firm, not necessarily limited to the AmLaw 100, that follows a traditional practice model (junior associates reporting to mid-level and senior associates who in turn report to partners) with hourly billing (which tends to mean younger attorneys demonstrate their worth by working many hours and sacrificing their personal lives) and relatively few associates making partner (which means that even associates who are talented will never make partner and may be forced to leave their firms at a time when job security otherwise might be particularly important to them).

There is a lot of cynicism, some real and some induced as a defense mechanism.  It can be interesting if you like the work and very lucrative if you make partner.  It can also be soul-sucking.  I've known a lot of associates who didn't thrive in a law firm setting who went on to do great things in their later careers.  Big law firms traditionally have not been very good at developing talent or training their associates, but some are getting better.  [/quote]

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