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2000+ Billable hours at biglaw. The financial pay-offs justify working these ridiculous hours (About seventy hours a week) throughout an earlier stage in life; but once you start having a family, it might not be worth it. How do the hours/annual income look like if a senior associate or even a partner at an NLJ 250 law firm leaves to join a small to midsized law firm?

Does it really matter when you could be jeopardizing your family? You'll be fine. Take the plunge and leave your thankless job. Your kids will thank you for it when you do not have to defend them in court as delinquents once they grow a little.

Usually almost as bad. Or at least bad enough that it isn't worth the drop in pay. So as a mid to senior associate at a mid size firm you'll bill about 80-90% of what you did at big law, but you will do it for about 50-60% of the pay. Partnership can be a different deal -- it will depend on the partnership structure of the new firm and what your book looks like.

If you want out, you really need to jump out of firm life totally. The pay decrease is almost never commiserate with the hours drop otherwise, and when smaller firms get busy, you bill just as hard, but do not reap the same rewards. So long as you are slave to the billable hour, you aren't really going to get a quality of life change.

hyunseoki wrote:2000+ Billable hours at biglaw. The financial pay-offs justify working these ridiculous hours (About seventy hours a week) throughout an earlier stage in life; but once you start having a family, it might not be worth it. How do the hours/annual income look like if a senior associate or even a partner at an NLJ 250 law firm leaves to join a small to midsized law firm?

If you work 70 hours/week and you aren't billing 2500+ you're useless.

WoodsCommaElle wrote:Does it really matter when you could be jeopardizing your family? You'll be fine. Take the plunge and leave your thankless job. Your kids will thank you for it when you do not have to defend them in court as delinquents once they grow a little.

This is not the point (I'm guessing since I'm not the OP). Most of us entering big law would be curious about the pay scale and hours for some mid to small sized firms which big law feeds. For me, it's more a question of how much I need to be saving in big law and how long I need to stay in to provide for the sort of lifestyle I want before jumping ship.

BradyToMoss wrote:

hyunseoki wrote:2000+ Billable hours at biglaw. The financial pay-offs justify working these ridiculous hours (About seventy hours a week) throughout an earlier stage in life; but once you start having a family, it might not be worth it. How do the hours/annual income look like if a senior associate or even a partner at an NLJ 250 law firm leaves to join a small to midsized law firm?

If you work 70 hours/week and you aren't billing 2500+ you're useless.

You're useless.

Anonymous User wrote:

BradyToMoss wrote:

hyunseoki wrote:2000+ Billable hours at biglaw. The financial pay-offs justify working these ridiculous hours (About seventy hours a week) throughout an earlier stage in life; but once you start having a family, it might not be worth it. How do the hours/annual income look like if a senior associate or even a partner at an NLJ 250 law firm leaves to join a small to midsized law firm?

If you work 70 hours/week and you aren't billing 2500+ you're useless.

You're useless.

You need to be outed or banned for ignoring the anonymous rules you useless d-bag.