Exit Opportunities from BigLaw Forum

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FinanceStudent28

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Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by FinanceStudent28 » Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:56 pm

Some people had questions from this thread: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 4&t=224946
JustHawkin wrote:
toothbrush wrote:
JustHawkin wrote:What is life after biglaw? Laterall to a smaller firm? Ability to get a gov't position, or are you stuck at some firm for eternity? May not have done my research but I wanted to see if anyone can speak on this.
Can I echo this question? Particularly, at what point in working at Biglaw do options open (2nd year? 3rd year? 5th?) and what do they entail? How do you go about finding the opportunities. (If it's in-house, do you check company job postings?)

Just curious what life after big law looks like.

thanks for this thread, OP.
Maybe we need to start a new thread for this?
3-4 years as an Associate in BigLaw and then.........? What?

Those of us who are 0L's would love to know what opps are available, what are typical, etc.

Thanks ahead of time for the advice and comments!

whereskyle

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Re: Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by whereskyle » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:33 pm

I'm interested in some insight!

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84651846190

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Re: Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by 84651846190 » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:52 pm

...and then you take a job making significantly less money for slightly fewer hours. Seriously, everyone who leaves biglaw for a non-biglaw job makes less money--usually a lot less. I know one guy who left for a state government job and now makes ~80k. One left to be a full-time mom. One left for BIGFED (probably makes around 120k in a high COL area). One went in house for ???. One left for a small firm, but he either got fired shortly thereafter or got another job because he's no longer on the firm's website. It's not like leaving biglaw is some sort of quasi-retirement. If anything, it's just the beginning of your actual career and you have to work even harder to establish yourself in new environs.
Last edited by 84651846190 on Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:07 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Otunga

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Re: Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by Otunga » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:05 am

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:...and then you take a job making significantly less money for slightly fewer hours.
When a good amount of people are finally breaking even, if fortunate? :? Of course, that's not taking into account the more desirable nature of the new job.

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84651846190

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Re: Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by 84651846190 » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:09 am

Otunga wrote:
Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:...and then you take a job making significantly less money for slightly fewer hours.
When a good amount of people are finally breaking even, if fortunate? :? Of course, that's not taking into account the more desirable nature of the new job.
Most people who leave biglaw never come close to making what a biglaw partner would make. They usually max out right around what a biglaw senior associate makes. I suppose there are a few lucky ones who hit it bigtime in plaintiffs' work, but that's a much smaller world than most law students would imagine.

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patogordo

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Re: Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by patogordo » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:18 am

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:
Otunga wrote:
Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:...and then you take a job making significantly less money for slightly fewer hours.
When a good amount of people are finally breaking even, if fortunate? :? Of course, that's not taking into account the more desirable nature of the new job.
Most people who leave biglaw never come close to making what a biglaw partner would make. They usually max out right around what a biglaw senior associate makes. I suppose there are a few lucky ones who hit it bigtime in plaintiffs' work, but that's a much smaller world than most law students would imagine.
but the vast majority of people who stay in biglaw never make partner. so if you eventually get back to what a biglaw senior associate would make then long-term you're only out the earnings difference in the years it took you to regain that salary level, not some hypothetical difference between $200k/yr and rainmaker.

but yea, the drop-off from biglaw to anywhere else in the first few years is gonna be fairly large.

toothbrush

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Re: Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by toothbrush » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:21 am

Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:
Otunga wrote:
Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:...and then you take a job making significantly less money for slightly fewer hours.
When a good amount of people are finally breaking even, if fortunate? :? Of course, that's not taking into account the more desirable nature of the new job.
Most people who leave biglaw never come close to making what a biglaw partner would make. They usually max out right around what a biglaw senior associate makes. I suppose there are a few lucky ones who hit it bigtime in plaintiffs' work, but that's a much smaller world than most law students would imagine.
Given that you probably agree the chances of making partner are nothing to bet on, what would you say is the "best" happy medium between pay, hours, and general quality of life are, then? Or to put it another way, what do you foresee yourself doing down the line?

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84651846190

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Re: Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by 84651846190 » Sat Feb 22, 2014 12:30 am

toothbrush wrote:
Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:
Otunga wrote:
Biglaw_Associate_V20 wrote:...and then you take a job making significantly less money for slightly fewer hours.
When a good amount of people are finally breaking even, if fortunate? :? Of course, that's not taking into account the more desirable nature of the new job.
Most people who leave biglaw never come close to making what a biglaw partner would make. They usually max out right around what a biglaw senior associate makes. I suppose there are a few lucky ones who hit it bigtime in plaintiffs' work, but that's a much smaller world than most law students would imagine.
Given that you probably agree the chances of making partner are nothing to bet on, what would you say is the "best" happy medium between pay, hours, and general quality of life are, then? Or to put it another way, what do you foresee yourself doing down the line?
I'm fairly junior right now, so I'm 100% focused on building my skill set. I have a few hair-brained ideas of what I would like to do, but they are very specific to my practice group and would totally out me so I'd rather not say in a non-anonymous section of the forum. I think most people who leave biglaw develop a very unique connection with a client or otherwise get a job through someone they know rather than mass mailing people. It's not like there are big buckets of the same kind of job that you can reach in and feel around until you find one you like. Every senior legal job is going to require a very specific skill set and, usually, experience in a very specific industry. That's why it's hard for people to give advice that will apply to everyone in threads like this. The outcomes are just so diverse.

In general, this isn't a profession like med school where you graduate, get a good residency and then chill making 200k+ for the rest of your life without really trying. There are just way too many mother fucking lawyers out there and competition is fierce at almost every level.

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kalvano

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Re: Exit Opportunities from BigLaw

Post by kalvano » Sat Feb 22, 2014 1:10 am

I've been in Biglaw (Texas, not NYC) for all of 5 months, so take it for whatever it's worth, but it's my understanding that several people have gone in-house or to smaller firms that don't require the same level of hours as Biglaw. Pay is less, hours are much better.

The timeline varies, with people lasting a year and others 5-7 years. Most jobs seem to want at least two years experience, so I feel like that's the magic number. Exit options are going to be defined by your practice group. You can go work for smaller places that will need your skills, you just won't get to work on the big sexy deals. For instance, I work in real estate now, and associates at my firm work on multi-million dollar deals. If you go to a smaller firm, it's the same basic work, just less complicated and less valuable deals.

Of course, I'm moving to a different job in a week, so I'll never really found out what happens to more senior people at Biglaw, but who knows, maybe I'll swing back around to a larger firm as one of those more senior people.

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