So you think you want BigLaw?

[North]

ITT current BigLaw folks answer questions about what it’s actually like.

[sTTTanford]

Someone care to walk me through your average week?

[Prudence]

Anyone in labor and employment? I would love to hear a day in the life

[181plz]

A family friend is encouraging me to start my career in BL before transitioning to government. Is this a realistic path to a fed job?

[somelawperson]

A family friend is encouraging me to start my career in BL before transitioning to government. Is this a realistic path to a fed job?

+1

[legallybrunette]

A family friend is encouraging me to start my career in BL before transitioning to government. Is this a realistic path to a fed job?

+1

+2! I also read several times in the bad old forum that a lot of the "best" bigfed jobs have hundreds of former biglawyers fighting for each spot. Is that necessarily true for all well paying / secure (as much as they can be) fed jobs or does that only apply to things like securities litigation etc?

[proteinshake]

when do you generally get into the office and when do you leave?

[Br3v]

A family friend is encouraging me to start my career in BL before transitioning to government. Is this a realistic path to a fed job?

+1

Yes, and your success is going to depend on the type of law and how competitive it is to enter the government agency related to that type of law. It's a fairly normal (though not to say a "sure thing") to do BL for a few years and then exit into government work. Lots of people do this when their firm lets them know that partnership is not in the cards for them.

[Br3v]

when do you generally get into the office and when do you leave?

This is going to depend on the city and the type of practice group. Most email traffic doesn't really get started until 10am though there are of course exceptions.

[proteinshake]

when do you generally get into the office and when do you leave?

This is going to depend on the city and the type of practice group. Most email traffic doesn't really get started until 10am though there are of course exceptions.

NYC, though I would also like to know for Charlotte if anyone knows.

[zhyunjc]

Someone care to walk me through your average week?

I would also love to hear about this

[UVA2B]

Someone care to walk me through your average week?

I would also love to hear about this

You should really direct this question to the practice area AMA threads. It’s going to depend heavily on firm, practice group, and market, and even with that info the answer will be pretty generic.

If you want a more substantive response, you’d probably be better off asking questions like “what are your typical hours in a week?” And “what kind of tasks are you typically handling in X practice group?”

Most biglaw attorneys don’t have an “average week,” because it depends where they are in the litigation process or what the status of the deal they’re staffed on is (for example).

I’m still just a law student, so I can’t really answer the question for you here, but this should elicit better responses from our practicing attorneys here.

[somelawperson]

Someone care to walk me through your average week?

I would also love to hear about this

You should really direct this question to the practice area AMA threads. It’s going to depend heavily on firm, practice group, and market, and even with that info the answer will be pretty generic.

If you want a more substantive response, you’d probably be better off asking questions like “what are your typical hours in a week?” And “what kind of tasks are you typically handling in X practice group?”

Most biglaw attorneys don’t have an “average week,” because it depends where they are in the litigation process or what the status of the deal they’re staffed on is.

I’m still just a law student, so I can’t really answer the question for you here, but this should elicit better responses from our practicing attorneys here.

Are 0Ls allowed to post there? I thought not.

[UVA2B]

The practice area discussion threads, you absolutely can ask questions. Legal employment is off limits to 0Ls.

[somelawperson]

The practice area discussion threads, you absolutely can ask questions. Legal employment is off limits to 0Ls.

Noted, ty

[UVA2B]

The practice area discussion threads, you absolutely can ask questions. Legal employment is off limits to 0Ls.

Noted, ty

Im sorry, I may have spoken prematurely. I thought all the AMAs were in the practice discussion section, but it appears they are in the legal employment sub.

Those rules about no 0Ls are obviously from a former life, but I’d hold off on posting in either until the mods here have time to articulate that kind of policy.

Sorry about that.

[somelawperson]

The practice area discussion threads, you absolutely can ask questions. Legal employment is off limits to 0Ls.

Noted, ty

Im sorry, I may have spoken prematurely. I thought all the AMAs were in the practice discussion section, but it appears they are in the legal employment sub.

Those rules about no 0Ls are obviously from a former life, but I’d hold off on posting in either until the mods here have time to articulate that kind of policy.

Sorry about that.

No worries. Thanks for the clarification.

[BlendedUnicorn]

when do you generally get into the office and when do you leave?

Today, I got in the office at 9:30 and am writing this from the Uber home at 9:55. Pretty typical. Tomorrow I have to get in earlier (7:50). No idea when I’ll leave.

If nothing’s going on leaving at 6-7 feels about right. When stuff is going on I either leave when I’m done or I get sick of being in the office and figure I have enough done so that I probably won’t get fired when I show up the next day. This point has arrived at some point between 7pm and 2am so far.

I was slow for my first few months and, optimistically, signed up for an Arabic class that went from 6:30-8:30 pm on mondays and fridays. I tried to protect that time but ended up having meetings scheduled after class started 5 sessions in a row and got kicked out of the class before I ever could show up.

[Stranger]

The practice area discussion threads, you absolutely can ask questions. Legal employment is off limits to 0Ls.

Noted, ty

Im sorry, I may have spoken prematurely. I thought all the AMAs were in the practice discussion section, but it appears they are in the legal employment sub.

Those rules about no 0Ls are obviously from a former life, but I’d hold off on posting in either until the mods here have time to articulate that kind of policy.

Sorry about that.

There's a certain amount of sense to allowing 0Ls in threads specifically marked AMA, though it would be nice to have those in a distinct area from more esoteric employment discussions. Given that career goals are one of the standard pieces of information we're asked when we seek advice, it would be nice to have a structure for seeking out information on those career paths.

[UVA2B]

The practice area discussion threads, you absolutely can ask questions. Legal employment is off limits to 0Ls.

Noted, ty

Im sorry, I may have spoken prematurely. I thought all the AMAs were in the practice discussion section, but it appears they are in the legal employment sub.

Those rules about no 0Ls are obviously from a former life, but I’d hold off on posting in either until the mods here have time to articulate that kind of policy.

Sorry about that.

There's a certain amount of sense to allowing 0Ls in threads specifically marked AMA, though it would be nice to have those in a distinct area from more esoteric employment discussions. Given that career goals are one of the standard pieces of information we're asked when we seek advice, it would be nice to have a structure for seeking out information on those career paths.

Agreed, and that’s really just a part of the growing pains of trying to build a better box here. The powers that be will articulate rules for the fora and a place for 0L employment questions will definitely be created before too long.

[BlendedUnicorn]

(You’re also unlikely to get banned so give it a try and see what happens)

[somelawperson]

(You’re also unlikely to get banned so give it a try and see what happens)

This should be on the header

[proteinshake]

when do you generally get into the office and when do you leave?

Today, I got in the office at 9:30 and am writing this from the Uber home at 9:55. Pretty typical. Tomorrow I have to get in earlier (7:50). No idea when I’ll leave.

If nothing’s going on leaving at 6-7 feels about right. When stuff is going on I either leave when I’m done or I get sick of being in the office and figure I have enough done so that I probably won’t get fired when I show up the next day. This point has arrived at some point between 7pm and 2am so far.

I was slow for my first few months and, optimistically, signed up for an Arabic class that went from 6:30-8:30 pm on mondays and fridays. I tried to protect that time but ended up having meetings scheduled after class started 5 sessions in a row and got kicked out of the class before I ever could show up.

if you don't mind saying, is this in NYC? thanks!

[North]

I work from 9:30 to 7:00 by rule in a non-NYC biglaw office (but still NYC market pay). I'd say a given day comes with a ~40% chance that I have to stay between 1 and 3 hours after 7:00, and a ~5% chance that I stay till midnight or later. I think I've pulled about 10 all-nighters since starting (including one closing that was essentially a 3-day all nighter). There was once a stretch of ~2 months where I didn't see my SO while she was awake except for a few hours on the weekends. Aside from bad months like that, I can generally count on weekends being either entirely free (I'll generally come in every other Sunday to put in time) or with less than 2 hours of work. It sucks, but I know other people have it way worse so I don't complain.

[Nebby]

A family friend is encouraging me to start my career in BL before transitioning to government. Is this a realistic path to a fed job?

+1

+2! I also read several times in the bad old forum that a lot of the "best" bigfed jobs have hundreds of former biglawyers fighting for each spot. Is that necessarily true for all well paying / secure (as much as they can be) fed jobs or does that only apply to things like securities litigation etc?

It's realistic and a safer bet for those who are okay working in biglaw