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Re: LA Biglaw Culture

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Jul 11, 2017 1:03 am

Anonymous User wrote:
BulletTooth wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Is there a Seamless equivalent for working late at the office?
I've heard that some LA firms have seamless or something similar but that it's more frowned upon to use it as frequently as associates use it in NY. Can anyone confirm?
1st year at an LA based vault firm here. No grubhub or car service reimbursements/policies at all. But the culture is very tolerant of leaving at 5/6 and working from home in the evening, so like why would I want those things anyway. When I'm there past 7 or 8 my floor is a ghost town, without fail. I can count the number of times on one hand that I've seen any other lawyers in the office at all past 9pm.

Idk I'll take it over a few nights of free seamless/grubhub a week. I'd guess this is a main difference between west coast firms and satellites of NY firms, but I've only worked at one place so who knows.
I'm another LA biglaw associate. From what I've seen and heard from friends and classmates, the vast majority of vault firms (and other prestigious boutiques) in LA have seamless reimbursements AND virtually no facetime requirements.

Anonymous User
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Re: LA Biglaw Culture

Post by Anonymous User » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:01 pm

What big law firm doesn't have a meal reimbursement policy?

dtlaatty

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Re: LA Biglaw Culture

Post by dtlaatty » Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:54 pm

Anonymous User wrote:What big law firm doesn't have a meal reimbursement policy?
I've been at two in LA (one in CC, one in downtown) - neither had this. They were also complete ghost towns by 6 PM so it would have been superfluous. It would have been an issue if anyone were at the office after that. (Trial teams are the exception since they are there at all hours, but they get catered meals.)

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SmokeytheBear

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Re: LA Biglaw Culture

Post by SmokeytheBear » Tue Jul 11, 2017 6:58 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:
BulletTooth wrote:
Anonymous User wrote:Is there a Seamless equivalent for working late at the office?
I've heard that some LA firms have seamless or something similar but that it's more frowned upon to use it as frequently as associates use it in NY. Can anyone confirm?
1st year at an LA based vault firm here. No grubhub or car service reimbursements/policies at all. But the culture is very tolerant of leaving at 5/6 and working from home in the evening, so like why would I want those things anyway. When I'm there past 7 or 8 my floor is a ghost town, without fail. I can count the number of times on one hand that I've seen any other lawyers in the office at all past 9pm.

Idk I'll take it over a few nights of free seamless/grubhub a week. I'd guess this is a main difference between west coast firms and satellites of NY firms, but I've only worked at one place so who knows.
I'm another LA biglaw associate. From what I've seen and heard from friends and classmates, the vast majority of vault firms (and other prestigious boutiques) in LA have seamless reimbursements AND virtually no facetime requirements.
I definitely would not go so far with such a blanket statement re facetime. It's going to depend on the senior associate you work for, the partner, the practice group, and the office. Some V10 offices in LA have facetime requirements across the whole office. Some V10 offices in LA have no facetime requirements. Some V10 offices vary by group.

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LaLiLuLeLo

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Re: LA Biglaw Culture

Post by LaLiLuLeLo » Tue Jul 11, 2017 7:57 pm

LA biglaw associate here. lol @ no facetime. Hugely dependent on person/group/firm/who you work for. Facetime is an absolute requirement for juniors in my group. Definitely more flexible as you get more senior.

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GoneSouth

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Re: LA Biglaw Culture

Post by GoneSouth » Tue Jul 11, 2017 9:28 pm

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:LA biglaw associate here. lol @ no facetime. Hugely dependent on person/group/firm/who you work for. Facetime is an absolute requirement for juniors in my group. Definitely more flexible as you get more senior.
But different then NYC facetime, right? Or are people really expected to be in the office until 8 at night

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LaLiLuLeLo

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Re: LA Biglaw Culture

Post by LaLiLuLeLo » Tue Jul 11, 2017 9:52 pm

GoneSouth wrote:
LaLiLuLeLo wrote:LA biglaw associate here. lol @ no facetime. Hugely dependent on person/group/firm/who you work for. Facetime is an absolute requirement for juniors in my group. Definitely more flexible as you get more senior.
But different then NYC facetime, right? Or are people really expected to be in the office until 8 at night
It's 7 and I'm still here with nothing to do. Granted, everything is better than NYC, but there's a big gap between "not as bad as NY" and "virtually no facetime"

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SmokeytheBear

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Re: LA Biglaw Culture

Post by SmokeytheBear » Thu Jul 13, 2017 12:36 pm

LaLiLuLeLo wrote:
GoneSouth wrote:
LaLiLuLeLo wrote:LA biglaw associate here. lol @ no facetime. Hugely dependent on person/group/firm/who you work for. Facetime is an absolute requirement for juniors in my group. Definitely more flexible as you get more senior.
But different then NYC facetime, right? Or are people really expected to be in the office until 8 at night
It's 7 and I'm still here with nothing to do. Granted, everything is better than NYC, but there's a big gap between "not as bad as NY" and "virtually no facetime"
People show up early in my office if a deal is firing or there is a call to be on (but even if there's a call they might take it from home); standard arrival time is 9:30-10 (though I will say I don't think this is normal for LA). I generally jam out of the office around 4:30 or 5 if I have nothing going on, but that's because I want to go home and make dinner or go to the gym or go surf. Others stay later even if they have nothing, but they put that on themselves.

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