So group consensus is, for solos:Traynor Brah wrote:We are not saying this, even. Transferring is going to mean it takes you four or five years of biglaw to break even. If you survive that and keep going, then you could save up some money to start a solo practice--not an incredible amount--but the work you would be doing in biglaw would probably have no relevance to your solo practice and you're going to be starting at close to square one. And biglaw is absolutely not a given, both with respect to whether you get an offer and then survive a sufficient amount of time to kill your debt and amass funds to support your goal.
JD > Bar exam > State clerking, because most litigation occurs in state courts > associate in a smaller or medium firm > go solo/partner up.