Work / Life balance in secondary markets Forum

[duckmoney]

I've hard that billable hour requirements are lower at firms in secondary markets (ones that pay $90 - $120k / yr at the best firms). Is this true to the extent that work-life balance is significantly better, to a point to be worth the lower salary, or is it all pretty much hellish?

Disclaimer: This coming from a 0L

[fatduck]

i've noticed that a lot of people on this forum have duck-related usernames

[holdencaulfield]

I've accepted such a job and the firm seems genuine about providing a work/life balance. They encourage community involvement, family, and 8-hour days (barring deadlines or special circumstances).

Although, I guess i won't really know what it's like until I start work after the bar.

[dru617]

I've accepted a 2L SA position in a secondary market where "market" is between $110k and $120k. From all the research I've done and people I've talked with, the minimum billables of 1750-1800 hours are for real - no one expects anyone to bill much more than this. I even had a partner tell me that when associates have pulled 2000 hrs + in the past, the firm has sat the person down and told them to chill out.

[paratactical]

I worked as a paralegal in biglaw in NYC for four years and now I'm a paralegal in Boston biglaw. The hours are seriously very different. Even though you can work as many hours in a week when you're in the smaller market, you can do things like work from home or take breaks to go home and eat with your family rather than dining in a conference room in the office.

[prezidentv8]

i've noticed that a lot of people on this forum have duck-related usernames

And I haven't even seen Mallard in here for a while.

[20160810]

I too took a job in a secondary market where I will not be billing more than 1800 hours a year. Generally speaking, they're telling you the truth about work-life balance. If there's a big case, then yeah, you'll be working hard, but by and large there is a reason you don't get paid as much.

[lisjjen]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

[A'nold]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary potato market?

[paulinaporizkova]

bump. this is a good question

[A'nold]

bump. this is a good question

Wait....did you just bump something that was just posted on about 2 minutes ago?

[paulinaporizkova]

bump. this is a good question

Wait....did you just bump something that was just posted on about 2 minutes ago?

yes, yes i did.

it was 6 minutes

[Stanford4Me]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

I've always wondered if Texas is considered a secondary market.

[quakeroats]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

Here, NY, DC, LA, and sometimes Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco are considered major markets. What's interesting is that DC, Boston, and San Francisco are smaller by population than several other markets:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Metro_Areas

[paulinaporizkova]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

Here, NY, DC, LA, and sometimes Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco are considered major markets. What's interesting is that DC, Boston, and San Francisco are smaller by population than several other markets:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Metro_Areas

Here? You mean at Duke but not other schools?

[Nogameisfair]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

NY, DC, LA, SF, Chicago, and those big towns in Texas are the only primary markets. Everything else is secondary.

[bbermud]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

NY, DC, LA, SF, Chicago, and those big towns in Texas are the only primary markets. Everything else is secondary.

if you are billing 100-1850 hours, what does that equate to in terms of working hours per week?

[quakeroats]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

Here, NY, DC, LA, and sometimes Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco are considered major markets. What's interesting is that DC, Boston, and San Francisco are smaller by population than several other markets:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Metro_Areas

Here? You mean at Duke but not other schools?

I mean on this forum.

[quakeroats]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

NY, DC, LA, SF, Chicago, and those big towns in Texas are the only primary markets. Everything else is secondary.

if you are billing 100-1850 hours, what does that equate to in terms of working hours per week?

It depends on how efficient you are. 2 hours billed/3 hours worked is a good approximation.

[20160810]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

In the strictest sense, NYC and DC are the "primary markets." To this, people often add Chicago, LA, SF, Boston, Houston and DFW because there are a lot of firms there and the biggest among them tend to pay market. When people define "secondary markets" as markets with firms that don't pay 160, they're usually talking about places like ATL, Phoenix, San Antonio, Florida, San Diego, Sacramento, Seattle, etc.

[pu_golf88]

bump. this is a good question

Well I feel pretty confident in saying that DC and Chicago are primary markets.

[bbermud]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

In the strictest sense, NYC and DC are the "primary markets." To this, people often add Chicago, LA, SF, Boston, Houston and DFW because there are a lot of firms there and the biggest among them tend to pay market. When people define "secondary markets" as markets with firms that don't pay 160, they're usually talking about places like ATL, Phoenix, San Antonio, Florida, San Diego, Sacramento, Seattle, etc.

I really want to move to Chicago post graduation and have not decided if Biglaw is for me yet. If didn't go Biglaw in Chicago, what sort or salary could I command granted I am not an idiot.

[paulinaporizkova]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

In the strictest sense, NYC and DC are the "primary markets." To this, people often add Chicago, LA, SF, Boston, Houston and DFW because there are a lot of firms there and the biggest among them tend to pay market. When people define "secondary markets" as markets with firms that don't pay 160, they're usually talking about places like ATL, Phoenix, San Antonio, Florida, San Diego, Sacramento, Seattle, etc.

I really want to move to Chicago post graduation and have not decided if Biglaw is for me yet. If didn't go Biglaw in Chicago, what sort or salary could I command granted I am not an idiot.

what school do you or will you go to?

[bbermud]

Define secondary markets? Is everything but LA and NY a secondary market? Would Houston and DFW or Seattle be considered a secondary market?

What would Boise be? A tertiary market?

In the strictest sense, NYC and DC are the "primary markets." To this, people often add Chicago, LA, SF, Boston, Houston and DFW because there are a lot of firms there and the biggest among them tend to pay market. When people define "secondary markets" as markets with firms that don't pay 160, they're usually talking about places like ATL, Phoenix, San Antonio, Florida, San Diego, Sacramento, Seattle, etc.

I really want to move to Chicago post graduation and have not decided if Biglaw is for me yet. If didn't go Biglaw in Chicago, what sort or salary could I command granted I am not an idiot.

what school do you or will you go to?

I'm in at Iowa so most likely there due to in state tuition. Waiting on 6 other schools. So for argument's sake, let's just say Iowa.

[UtahPhi]

Jumping onto this. Where does Salt Lake rank in this sense. Would it qualify as a secondary, or more of tertiary market like the potato factory in Boise?