Top Law Schools

This is probably an arbitrary question, but I'm trying to get a better understanding of what day to day life is like working in big law. Do junior associates have their own offices or do they work in cubicals or a big communal area or something? If not then when does a lawyer typically get his own working space?

Most top firms give every associate his own office.

Some make first-and-second years share offices, and give them their own office at the start of 3rd year (this is both good and bad. Good because you'll have a friend to help you if you get baffled, bad for the same reason.)

This will be absolutely necessary for those times when you need to cry yourself back into sanity.

Lubberlubber wrote:Most top firms give every associate his own office.

Some make first-and-second years share offices, and give them their own office at the start of 3rd year (this is both good and bad. Good because you'll have a friend to help you if you get baffled, bad for the same reason.)

i dunno any big or even mid sized firm that make associates share. i mean i wouldnt interview at such a place, if it existed.

dood wrote:

Lubberlubber wrote:Most top firms give every associate his own office.

Some make first-and-second years share offices, and give them their own office at the start of 3rd year (this is both good and bad. Good because you'll have a friend to help you if you get baffled, bad for the same reason.)

i dunno any big or even mid sized firm that make associates share. i mean i wouldnt interview at such a place, if it existed.

I think Willkie Farr NYC just off the top of my head

It is fairly common in NYC; it is rare elsewhere. My firm has sharing for first years and for half of the associate's second year. It wasn't too bad as long as you had good office mates.

nealric wrote:It is fairly common in NYC; it is rare elsewhere. My firm has sharing for first years and for half of the associate's second year. It wasn't too bad as long as you had good office mates.

guess i was wrong, but yeah im only really familiar with DC. but dear god, if i had to share, my office-mate would probably kill me within a week. i sleep under my desk, drink booze, and fart a lot.

Didn't dem HLS alums in Suits have like cubicles? It was on TV, doubt they would portray something inaccurately.

TLS building up the biglawl models and bottles lifestyle? Yes

Virtually every biglaw firm in NYC will make you split an office for years. In Chicago, everybody gets their own office, as far as I know.

Helmholtz wrote:Virtually every biglaw firm in NYC will make you split an office for years. In Chicago, everybody gets their own office, as far as I know.

This is not true. More firms will give you your own office than make you split. The only firm that I visited that had split offices was White & Case

Lubberlubber wrote:

Helmholtz wrote:Virtually every biglaw firm in NYC will make you split an office for years. In Chicago, everybody gets their own office, as far as I know.

This is not true. More firms will give you your own office than make you split. The only firm that I visited that had split offices was White & Case

This is news to me then. Can somebody confirm this? I have friends who are first-year associates at a number of V10 NYC firms, and I think they all share offices. I know for a fact that this is the case for Cravath, DPW, S&C, Debevoise, STB, Paul Weiss, and Weil.

sinfiery wrote:Didn't dem HLS alums in Suits have like cubicles? It was on TV, doubt they would portray something inaccurately.

TLS building up the biglawl models and bottles lifestyle? Yes

Yes, and paralegals get partner-size offices if they are the best researcher in the firm.

sinfiery wrote:Didn't dem HLS alums in Suits have like cubicles? It was on TV, doubt they would portray something inaccurately.

TLS building up the biglawl models and bottles lifestyle? Yes

Yeah wtf. "We're like the best firm in the city and only hire from Harvard so duh we make our associates sit in cubicles." I'd be takin my fake Harvard diploma down the road to Bratton-Gould.

Lubberlubber wrote:

Helmholtz wrote:Virtually every biglaw firm in NYC will make you split an office for years. In Chicago, everybody gets their own office, as far as I know.

This is not true. More firms will give you your own office than make you split. The only firm that I visited that had split offices was White & Case

Have you worked in NYC biglaw? Every associate—even first-years—got their own office at your firm?

Helmholtz wrote:

Lubberlubber wrote:

Helmholtz wrote:Virtually every biglaw firm in NYC will make you split an office for years. In Chicago, everybody gets their own office, as far as I know.

This is not true. More firms will give you your own office than make you split. The only firm that I visited that had split offices was White & Case

Have you worked in NYC biglaw? Every associate—even first-years—got their own office at your firm?

Not working, but interviewed at lots of offices last year (as a 1L). Maybe I just got a skewed sampling? If anyone could provide a definitive list, that would actually be awesome, since having an office-mate would be a HUGE turnoff and would figure into my EIP calculations.

what about skadden @ times sq. do they share?

Lubberlubber wrote:

Helmholtz wrote:

Lubberlubber wrote:

Helmholtz wrote:Virtually every biglaw firm in NYC will make you split an office for years. In Chicago, everybody gets their own office, as far as I know.

This is not true. More firms will give you your own office than make you split. The only firm that I visited that had split offices was White & Case

Have you worked in NYC biglaw? Every associate—even first-years—got their own office at your firm?

Not working, but interviewed at lots of offices last year (as a 1L). Maybe I just got a skewed sampling? If anyone could provide a definitive list, that would actually be awesome, since having an office-mate would be a HUGE turnoff and would figure into my EIP calculations.

You probably weren't doing a lot of interviews with first-, second-, and third-year associates.

I have friends who are junior associates at firms like Cravath, Davis Polk, Simpson Thacher, and Paul Weiss. I guarantee you that they all have to split offices at those firms at some point. Sometimes it's only for a year or so, sometimes it's for a few years. There are a lot of people at prestigious NYC firms who leave biglaw before ever getting their own office.

It was my understanding that the office-sharing thing was the case for all top NYC biglaw firms. If sharing offices is a HUGE turnoff, then I would start looking at firms outside of NYC.

Lubberlubber wrote: Not working, but interviewed at lots of offices last year (as a 1L). Maybe I just got a skewed sampling? If anyone could provide a definitive list, that would actually be awesome, since having an office-mate would be a HUGE turnoff and would figure into my EIP calculations.

Most NYC offices (at least the V10) make you share as a junior associate. You may have not been clued into this fact because it's unlikely that you were interviewing with many (if any) junior associates during your callback.

Actually, if I'm correct, junior associates have to sit on a senior partner's lap for the first year of practice, as is, of course, tradition.

The Chambers profile for most firms will tell you this. Most NYC firms have their associates share at least for a year or two.

Does a person have to work in that office? Or are there study/work rooms elsewhere in a biglaw firm? Can a person just work at a library (is there one inside the firm)?

scifiguy wrote:Does a person have to work in that office? Or are there study/work rooms elsewhere in a biglaw firm? Can a person just work at a library (is there one inside the firm)?

From what I've seen, you work in your office if you're in the building. I think working elsewhere would be really weird, and you're going to want access to things in your office (e.g. your phone).

Do any firms stick you in cubicles?

What are these offices like (pics?)? Is there complete privacy (or partially open....like glass around it)?

Also, when you share, how is the set-up like? Desks facing away from each other? How often are both people in their office at the same time during the day?

scifiguy wrote:Also, when you share, how is the set-up like? Desks facing away from each other? How often are both people in their office at the same time during the day?

The tables form a v shape so that you don't have to look at each other.
There's a staggered schedule so that the two people see each other as little as possible. Different lunch times etc