all-nighters at the firm? Forum

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cantaboot

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by cantaboot » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:37 pm

I hope you will get a pay rise soon.
('cos of the mid-law firms I've seen, they tend to pay higher salaries ... and it's in NYC!!)
Last edited by cantaboot on Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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reasonable_man

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by reasonable_man » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:39 pm

cantaboot wrote:I hope you will get a pay rise soon.
('cos of the mid-law firms I've seen, they tend to pay higher ... and it's in NYC!!)
Pay increases are 5 to 10k per year... The firms that pay much more are very hard to get into, if not impossible.. starting aroud 70k in NY for 90% of the LS grads out there each year is a dream the seldom materializes, believe me..

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James Bond

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by James Bond » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:41 pm

reasonable_man wrote:General Commercial litigation
Mass toxic tort
products liability
catostrophic tort defense (really bad construction accidents, high dollar commerical auto exposure)
Im also sort of the "go to" guy for federal cases of any variety
Is that much weekend work regular for you or just when it comes down to the wire on big cases? I'd have no problem working 10-12 hour days, but when it comes to the weekend...that much work is ridiculous in my opinion. Leaves no time for family life or working out. Should I just not plan on working mid-law? I want to get into litigation too.

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chocolatechip

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by chocolatechip » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:43 pm

redsox8105 wrote:I once asked a partner at a DC BigLaw firm if they really pull all-nighters like I'd heard. He assured me that every now and then (when they go to trial) they'll either rent out a floor at a hotel or sleep in the office on a cot or a couch, but there would never be a case where you work all through the night and the next day. It's not so much a matter of health (that matters some), but rather that they don't want you doing horrible work during really important times.

Basically, yes firms will work you to the ground, but never so much that it starts to seriously affect your work, because that's really bad for them.
I am also concerned about ending up at a firm and making some horrible mistakes on an important project because I have no time to sleep. Working late nights and weekends is less of an issue for me... but a frequent all-nighter thing might be a problem. Which DC firm did you hear this from, by the way?

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cantaboot

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by cantaboot » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:43 pm

if it's like 10K increase per year ... that would be acceptable!!!

by the way, do you spend a lot on rent??
(a couple of law clerks & NYC biglaw-to-be the other day was discussing how best to cut down on expenses .... )

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crazycanuck

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by crazycanuck » Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:53 pm

reasonable_man wrote:Im midlaw in NY.. First Year associate.. this week...
Mon 7:30am to 7:45pm
Tues 915sm to 7pm
Wed 8:45am to 645pm
Thur 9am to 6:30pm
Fri 9am to 6:30pm (emails back and forth with firm managing partner all night and into saturday morning...)
Saturday 12:30pm to 9ish probably not sure yet...
Sunday 9am to 1pm (im going to my friend's wedding in Philly no matter what).

Total compensation 70k or so.. lots of experience though, etc..

In short, this career is not for everyone.. Make sure you want to do it. This is by far not the worst week I've had, but is pretty close to typical. This also fails to factor in the work I tend to do or at least plan out at home and the non-stop responding to the f$%%&^# blackberry
Psh, 54:15 hours, you slacker.

Anyways, the real myth is not so much the all nighters that do happen. The real myth is the 40 hour work week in any profession. My sister works at a company doing advertising and she works consistent 50-60 hour weeks and gets paid like 40k.

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reasonable_man

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by reasonable_man » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:00 pm

cantaboot wrote:if it's like 10K increase per year ... that would be acceptable!!!

by the way, do you spend a lot on rent??
(a couple of law clerks & NYC biglaw-to-be the other day was discussing how best to cut down on expenses .... )

Im from the area and rent a small mother daughter apt from aunt and uncle (we're very close and I get a nice family discount lol).. So my rent is insanely low..

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reasonable_man

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by reasonable_man » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:01 pm

biv0ns wrote:
reasonable_man wrote:General Commercial litigation
Mass toxic tort
products liability
catostrophic tort defense (really bad construction accidents, high dollar commerical auto exposure)
Im also sort of the "go to" guy for federal cases of any variety
Is that much weekend work regular for you or just when it comes down to the wire on big cases? I'd have no problem working 10-12 hour days, but when it comes to the weekend...that much work is ridiculous in my opinion. Leaves no time for family life or working out. Should I just not plan on working mid-law? I want to get into litigation too.
I don't come in very often on weekends.. Do my best to avoid it.. But when things come up, they come up.. which means, plans get deaded and you just do what you have to do... Litigation is tough in that regard, simply because it can be very hard to predict when you're going to be busy...

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lawlover829

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by lawlover829 » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:01 pm

When I worked at a top law firm in DC (litigation) the guys that I would work with would come in at 9 AM and leave around 7. They never worked crazy hour work weeks. I guess it depends on what you are doing and varies from firm to firm. There is no really clear cut answer.

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billbob

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by billbob » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:08 pm

Lawyers will sometimes have to work all night. Heck, even lawclerks will sometimes work all night. It is just part of the territory that comes with a JD.

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cantaboot

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by cantaboot » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:11 pm

the pay in advertising is generally low, but people do have a lot of passion for it.

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reasonable_man

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by reasonable_man » Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:35 pm

Excellent... so who wants to write this Motion for summary judgment for me so I can go to the beach? Takers?

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James Bond

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by James Bond » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:33 pm

reasonable_man wrote:Excellent... so who wants to write this Motion for summary judgment for me so I can go to the beach? Takers?
Depends on compensation and which beach

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reasonable_man

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by reasonable_man » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:44 pm

biv0ns wrote:
reasonable_man wrote:Excellent... so who wants to write this Motion for summary judgment for me so I can go to the beach? Takers?
Depends on compensation and which beach

Compensation = not good enough..

Beach = any one of the ocean beaches east of jones on LI.. Not as far out as the hamptons though.. Have a meeting early tomorrow morning and a friend's wedding in philly... so nothing to crazy. ;)

mbw06

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by mbw06 » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:51 pm

As a paralegal I had one night where I slept for 2 hours under my desk. I was part of a deal team that couldn't go home. Luckily the deal closed the next day but the worst was being told to take a nap at 5 am then being woken up 20 mins later cus there was work to do.

Out of two years that only happened once and never to my colleagues but I have heard of attorneys working very late very often...

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Boyk1182

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by Boyk1182 » Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:54 pm

I wouldn't worry about all this stuff... you'll get used to it, whatever the case may be. I don't think it's really as bad as people tend to think anyways.

For example, the Marines is thought of as pretty hardcore by the average person, right? Well I did it for 4 years, and did a lot while I was in, and it's really not hard at all, of course after getting used to it... I've gone days without sleep, it's not deadly.

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James Bond

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by James Bond » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:04 pm

reasonable_man wrote: on LI..
Jager Bombs or no Jager Bombs?

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js87

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by js87 » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:05 pm

I truly don't understand why anyone would want to live that type of life, even for $200,000 a year... Growing fat and pale while your wife cheats on you. But at least you'd have lots of money (that you won't have time to spend).

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reasonable_man

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by reasonable_man » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:09 pm

biv0ns wrote:
reasonable_man wrote: on LI..
Jager Bombs or no Jager Bombs?

Love that video lol... I'm actually from brooklyn orginally... (Eh oh? Fugedaboudit), so i tend to not exhibit most of the typical long island sterotypes ;) But then again, who doesn't like a good jager bomb from time to time?

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James Bond

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by James Bond » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:13 pm

reasonable_man wrote:
biv0ns wrote:
reasonable_man wrote: on LI..
Jager Bombs or no Jager Bombs?

Love that video lol... I'm actually from brooklyn orginally... (Eh oh? Fugedaboudit), so i tend to not exhibit most of the typical long island sterotypes ;) But then again, who doesn't like a good jager bomb from time to time?
I actually love Heineken and Jager Bombs, but there's a big difference between ordering Heineken and Jager Bombs and "Two fuckin' Jager Bombs and a fuckin' Heineken" haha

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reasonable_man

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by reasonable_man » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:16 pm

There is indeed. Hey.. How do you upload pictures to this thing.. I was looking at a thread where you uploaded a bunch of pictures...

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chadwick218

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by chadwick218 » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:17 pm

Just watched "my new haircut" after having not seen it in almost 6 months ... classic!

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James Bond

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by James Bond » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:19 pm

reasonable_man wrote:There is indeed. Hey.. How do you upload pictures to this thing.. I was looking at a thread where you uploaded a bunch of pictures...
You have to get the image's url (right click the image and then copy) and then put it in between a [img]and%20a[/img]

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reasonable_man

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by reasonable_man » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:20 pm

biv0ns wrote:
reasonable_man wrote:There is indeed. Hey.. How do you upload pictures to this thing.. I was looking at a thread where you uploaded a bunch of pictures...
You have to get the image's url (right click the image and then copy) and then put it in between a [img]and%20a[/img]

Ahh so it cant be like an image you have saved on a computer.. has to be one already on the internetS..

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James Bond

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Re: all-nighters at the firm?

Post by James Bond » Sat Jun 27, 2009 5:22 pm

reasonable_man wrote:
biv0ns wrote:
reasonable_man wrote:There is indeed. Hey.. How do you upload pictures to this thing.. I was looking at a thread where you uploaded a bunch of pictures...
You have to get the image's url (right click the image and then copy) and then put it in between a [img]and%20a[/img]

Ahh so it cant be like an image you have saved on a computer.. has to be one already on the internetS..
indeed...although there's a ton of free image hosting out there

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

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