Reply to is being a lawyer losing its appeal compared to tech or finance for high achieving students?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I did well in biglaw.  Son is attending now. Entering Law, is, still the best upward mobility vehicle I know of aside from med school, which takes much longer. After clerking, he'll enter DC or New York firms making $246K or better.  Yes, he knows how mindboggling boring it can be.  He's heard it from me and all of my friends.  Itis what it is.  But it will get him set financially for life and after being an associate, he can find a better path should he want it. There are many other things that law graduates can do.  Many[/quote]

A law degree closes doors outside of law. Any business front office role you get with a JD could’ve been much more easily obtained before committing three years to rote study. [/quote]

Early Retired Biglaw partner here and I agree 100 percent.  In my experience, the young lawyers starting out making the big money in Biglaw earn every penny of it and by and large are miserable, and the large majority of them who don’t end up on partner track stress out to the nth degree over what to do next and how to even come close to matching their Biglaw
salaries.  And they do find many doors have closed firmly behind them.  Most eventually do land on their feet and end up happy but it’s rarely easy and without scars financially and to their egos.   They’re not used to failing and, yes, most Biglaw associates do fail.  [/quote]

[b]I'm curious about other career paths.  I have a pre-law kid who is eyeing Big Law only due to the money but I think it's a bad fit for her.  I'm wondering about, instead, taking a job in a company or maybe Wall Street rather than a law fim.  Is the lifestyle there appreciably different?[/b][/quote]

So she wouldn’t be taking those other jobs or the money?  Ok . . . [/quote]

A banker or PE principal in their 40s works less than a big law partner and they make more given comparable talent. They also didn’t waste three years of their 20s in school. There are plenty of FAANG employees in their 30s sitting on eight figures due to RSUs, mega backdoor Roth, and other benefits they gain with 50 hour work weeks and specialized skills. [/quote]

Sorry; I wasn't at all clear with my question.  She wants to go to law school and would probably do corporate or financial type law.  I'm wondering about being a LAWYER in a corporation (Google or John Deere or whatever) or a LAWYER on wall street (for a bank).  I assume the latter has crazy long hours to match the culture of the bankers, but I'm wondering if money and culture are different from Big Law?  And in a non bank corporation (e.g., John Deere just because that's the first that came to mind), I assume hours are long but more normalish?  Pay is lower but still good?  I'm just guessing here.  Anyone with actual knowledge?

[/quote]

Those are called "in house counsel" roles.  Generally you will need 2-6 years of Big Law associate experience to be competitive for an in house role, and they are tough to snag because the work/life balance is better (on average).  Big law firms are the training ground for corporate lawyers, you have no skills directly out of law school.  A prestigious company like Google will hire in house counsel from prestigious law firms.  You will be competing with every other Big Law associate that is desperate to get out, so networking and luck plays a big part.
[/quote]

Thank you! I had no idea Big Law was the path into in house counsel.  Another question-- is this path feasible for an introvert?  I'm guessing that making the way to the top is not very consistent with introversion.  But I'm wondering if such a person could go into Big Law and learn the ropes and contribute a lot through work ethic, and then try to pivot to in house counsel (where I assume there is less of a 'sales' or networking focus).[/quote]

I'm sorry, but you are getting way too involved here.  Why can't you let your kid figure it out?[/quote]

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