What's a "unicorn job" Forum

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Elbble

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What's a "unicorn job"

Post by Elbble » Thu Mar 17, 2016 1:25 pm

A little bit of TLS jargon that I only vaguely understand. I know what it means in general, of course -- a rare position that you're not going to get siphoned into, like biglaw, but that you get with luck/connections/grades/hard work/whatever.

But what's an actual example of a unicorn job (no need to name names, but in a little bit of detail) that you want or are shooting for? (No SCOTUS, though -- I guess I'm looking for stuff <10 years out of law school.)

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Good Guy Gaud

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by Good Guy Gaud » Thu Mar 17, 2016 1:27 pm

in house major sports team

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A. Nony Mouse

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:02 pm

Non-exhaustive list:

Impact litigation like the ACLU
International human rights
Entertainment law (in the sense of doing cool things for movie stars - there certainly are entertainment lawyers, but they're usually biglaw lawyers who happen to work for entertainment companies)
Constitutional law (especially appellate) (in the sense of doing sexy First Amendment or abortion rights or gay marriage work)

(That's my sense, anyway. Could be wrong.)

NY_Sea

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by NY_Sea » Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:07 pm

In-house Patent Counsel for one of the Big 4 tech companies (Apple, Google, Facebook, MSFT)

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pancakes3

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by pancakes3 » Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:10 pm

Good Guy Gaud wrote:in house major sports team
The Commish

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zot1

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by zot1 » Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:11 pm

Making tons of money for doing something you love and makes you happy. Like Netflix and chill.

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rpupkin

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by rpupkin » Thu Mar 17, 2016 2:14 pm

NY_Sea wrote:In-house Patent Counsel for one of the Big 4 tech companies (Apple, Google, Facebook, MSFT)
LOL

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frasier

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by frasier » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:05 pm

In-house for a NBA team would be amazing....

071816

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by 071816 » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:07 pm

in-house counsel at pornhub

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clovis

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by clovis » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:07 pm

NY Times?

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Good Guy Gaud

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by Good Guy Gaud » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:08 pm

chimp wrote:in-house counsel at pornhub
Do you know if this job would come with 'research opportunities'?

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kalvano

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by kalvano » Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:34 pm

I find my job to be fairly unicorn-ish. The work is interesting, the pay is great, the partners are awesome, I don't get overworked, and I can wear shorts and a tee shirt to work.

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fliptrip

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by fliptrip » Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:40 pm

Two words: Sports. Agent.

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rpupkin

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by rpupkin » Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:43 pm

fliptrip wrote:Two words: Sports. Agent.
You don't need a law degree to do that.

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Good Guy Gaud

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by Good Guy Gaud » Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:45 pm

kalvano wrote:I find my job to be fairly unicorn-ish. The work is interesting, the pay is great, the partners are awesome, I don't get overworked, and I can wear shorts and a tee shirt to work.
asshole

eta: will be pulling for Stars in Central

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fliptrip

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by fliptrip » Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:52 pm

rpupkin wrote:
fliptrip wrote:Two words: Sports. Agent.
You don't need a law degree to do that.
No doubt, but I've encountered more than one person who mentioned going to law school with the intention of becoming one. When pressed on it, they will mention Drew Rosenhaus (Duke, '90).

Here's a couple of others...

CEO of super prestigious investment bank...Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs went to HLS.

GM of NFL Team...Sashi Brown of the Cleveland Browns also went to HLS. He's so damn fancy that he's running the on football field side of their shop without any actual football experience and got there after a long road that started with him at WilmerHale in DC. That's a unicorn outcome if I've ever seen one.

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orangered

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by orangered » Thu Mar 17, 2016 9:15 pm

rpupkin wrote:
NY_Sea wrote:In-house Patent Counsel for one of the Big 4 tech companies (Apple, Google, Facebook, MSFT)
LOL
To be fair it's not a bad gig. Mostly 9-5 job, six figures, tech company perks. A good law job if you don't want work to be your life.

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JohnQ3

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by JohnQ3 » Thu Mar 17, 2016 9:21 pm

NY_Sea wrote:In-house Patent Counsel for one of the Big 4 tech companies (Apple, Google, Facebook, MSFT)
Oh my, not patents again. Soon won't be valued as highly as they once were.

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A. Nony Mouse

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by A. Nony Mouse » Thu Mar 17, 2016 9:35 pm

rpupkin wrote:
fliptrip wrote:Two words: Sports. Agent.
You don't need a law degree to do that.
Yeah, actually I think there are 2 kinds of unicorn jobs:
- actual law jobs, obtained by very few lawyers
- non-law jobs that people for some reason believe that a JD will help them get (let's put politics here).

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rpupkin

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by rpupkin » Thu Mar 17, 2016 9:58 pm

orangered wrote:
rpupkin wrote:
NY_Sea wrote:In-house Patent Counsel for one of the Big 4 tech companies (Apple, Google, Facebook, MSFT)
LOL
To be fair it's not a bad gig. Mostly 9-5 job, six figures, tech company perks. A good law job if you don't want work to be your life.
Uhh.....no. Not sure about MSFT, but in-house patent litigators at the other three definitely work more than that. Some work big law hours (or worse).

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zot1

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by zot1 » Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:02 pm

clovis wrote:NY Times?
I knew someone who worked for LA Times and she said she loved it but the hours were awful. "You never know when a journalist is gonna have a problem and it's usually not 9-5."

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ticklemesilly

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by ticklemesilly » Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:03 pm

President of the United States

lurklaw

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by lurklaw » Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:03 pm

kalvano wrote:I find my job to be fairly unicorn-ish. The work is interesting, the pay is great, the partners are awesome, I don't get overworked, and I can wear shorts and a tee shirt to work.
What's your job, you cunt?

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rpupkin

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by rpupkin » Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:33 pm

ticklemesilly wrote:President of the United States
That was definitely a "JD Preferred" job in the nineteenth century. These days? Not so much.

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kalvano

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Re: What's a "unicorn job"

Post by kalvano » Thu Mar 17, 2016 10:48 pm

lurklaw wrote:
kalvano wrote:I find my job to be fairly unicorn-ish. The work is interesting, the pay is great, the partners are awesome, I don't get overworked, and I can wear shorts and a tee shirt to work.
What's your job, you cunt?
Transactional tech work.

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