This is an important point. Keep in mind, though, that there can be a lot of variety even within the lit group at a given firm. If you're staffed on a large case, the chances are much higher that you'll be doing doc review (or something similarly mind-numbing) as a junior. If you're staffed on a small case or cases, you're far more likely to get substantive work early on. A lot of this can come down to luck.Anonymous User wrote:OP again. The number one thing I want to emphasize again (and can't emphasize enough) is that for litigators, you have to have to have to find out what types of assignments a first year is going to get. Wait until you get offers, and then dig dig dig and compare across all firms you've received offers at. Not all big law firms are created equal on this front. You do not want to be in a first line doc review mill, when your friends at firm X are writing first drafts of briefs. You want that experience. And do not trust Vault. Those comments are given without context. My old firm, for example, had tons of comments about client contact right away and lots of responsibility. And that was true for the corporate side, but you would never know it was a corporate associate's comment because it is just presented as a blanket statement. A poor future litigator may go in thinking "wow, client contact! Great responsibility!" and be sadly disappointed to learn neither of those things will happen for 6-7 years.
One of the ironies here is that firms often sell themselves to summer associates by using a line like: "We work on huge cases! You get to read about your work in the news!" But these cases, of course, are usually the ones where the junior associates are spending hundreds of hours doing doc review. If you're a junior at a big firm, you generally want to avoid these headline-making cases.
