Reply to The golden handcuffs of biglaw

Forum Index » Jobs and Careers

Reply to "The golden handcuffs of biglaw"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Early retired BL partner, read lots of your posts.  You're insightful and have helped me a lot.  Seems you had a manageable situation, but left.  If not for the crushing workload, then why?[/quote]

Thanks.  i tried to explain this before.  I'll try again.

I'm not saying I didn't work hard.  I did.  But the thing with Biglaw is that it's so all-consuming for so many of its participants that even when you're not being crushed with work, work will often still weigh on your mind.  Am I measuring up?  Am I slacking?  Should I be doing more?  Etc.  You are more defined by your position as a biglaw lawyer than anything else, and after a while it just takes a toll.

Beyond the work itself (and the pressure to feel like you should be working even when you're not), there's everything else involved.  The competitiveness of so many of your colleagues and clients.  The snobbery and elitism.  The fuddy duddies.  And then there's the work itself.  Yes, there were times when the work was interesting and rewarding and intellectually challenging, but most of your time is spent on drudgery.  And even when the work IS intellectually challenging, the primary reason for your existence is to assist in shifting large amounts of money from one huge corporate client to another.  Some folks may find personal satisfaction in that, but I never did.

I gave my firm and clients a couple months notice before leaving to "help ease the transition."   Right after doing that I had a conference call with opposing counsel to deal with yet another discovery dispute.  During the call it became clear to me -- with light at the end of the tunnel -- that not only was much of the work that I was doing in biglaw pretty meaningless, it was actually downright ludicrous.  I just couldn't do it anymore.  What a relief.

[/quote]

What a perfect description of so much of biglaw. That's what drove me crazy too -- the way the work seemed to be both painfully dull at times, combined with having little social value or meaning. It would be satisfying when a demanding client (and they are all demanding at those billing rates) was happy with my work. But yes, so much of it was just about moving money from one corporate entity to another, or saving a corporation or an individual an large sum of money that, in most cases, would be irrelevant to them within 6-12 months. To me, that was the soul sucking part, that feeling of "what is this all for?"

I think that's when I realized I was not as money-motivated as many of my peers, because I think this doesn't bother everyone. The financial upside is large, but to me it was not enough. I make a lot less money now, but my work is much more intellectually engaging and, more importantly, I feel like the work I do is meaningful. I work mostly with small businesses and the work I do for them can be make or break for them. I get to know my clients, most of whom are entrepreneurs who have bet their life savings or their entire family on making a business work, very well and they become friends and partners. There's lots of mutual respect because I, too, am a small business owner. I also dedicate about 15% of my hours every year to pro bono work or work for a greatly reduced rate so that I can help out people who wouldn't normally be able to hire a lawyer.

When I was in biglaw, I think I was always looking for an exit, trying to figure out when I'd finally be free. I could see doing my current job in some capacity for the rest of my life, even if I didn't need the money (which I won't -- I'll be in a comfortable place to retire by 55 or so) because I genuinely enjoy what I do.[/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