T14 to Discovery Attorney Forum

[BlaqBella]

If anyone does a simple Google search you'd realize a pattern with these attorneys:

1. They started off as an associate elsewhere, were perhaps laid off or left BIGLAW entirely, had a huge gap year and then returned to firm life; or

2. Didn't start in BIGLAW immediately following graduation.


There is always a story behind these profiles. These are atypical cases, in other words, exceptions.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I google-stalked the JD/PhD guy, and he's been doing the gig since 2002 - he started as an associate at Fried Frank for 6 years, then has been doing this since - through the legal "boom" economy. I gotta figure this means it's not the same thing as the cattle-in-the-basement doc review stories of the last 3-4 years - it sounds more like a specialized variety of "of counsel" position. (I mean, the cattle-in-the-basement people don't get put on a web page...)

[BlaqBella]

I google-stalked the JD/PhD guy, and he's been doing the gig since 2002 - he started as an associate at Fried Frank for 6 years, then has been doing this since - through the legal "boom" economy. I gotta figure this means it's not the same thing as the cattle-in-the-basement doc review stories of the last 3-4 years - it sounds more like a specialized variety of "of counsel" position. (I mean, the cattle-in-the-basement people don't get put on a web page...)

Mind you, presumably there is a 6 year gap between Fried Frank and starting at Cravath.

[dixiecupdrinking]

The desirability, or lack thereof, of these particular jobs is kind of a red herring. The more important takeaway here should be, if you're surprised by the notion of T14 grads doing doc review... don't be.

[A. Nony Mouse]

I google-stalked the JD/PhD guy, and he's been doing the gig since 2002 - he started as an associate at Fried Frank for 6 years, then has been doing this since - through the legal "boom" economy. I gotta figure this means it's not the same thing as the cattle-in-the-basement doc review stories of the last 3-4 years - it sounds more like a specialized variety of "of counsel" position. (I mean, the cattle-in-the-basement people don't get put on a web page...)

Mind you, presumably there is a 6 year gap between Fried Frank and starting at Cravath.

Ah, you're right, I missed that - sorry. I stand less behind what I said.

[84651846190]

The desirability, or lack thereof, of these particular jobs is kind of a red herring. The more important takeaway here should be, if you're surprised by the notion of T14 grads doing doc review... don't be.

It's not entirely a red herring if people are concerned about getting stuck in doc review jobs and starving. People on this site seem to be under the impression that any kind of work involving eDiscovery = poverty. This is clearly not true. Shit, I know paralegals in the UK who make the equivalent of 150k by logging crazy hours working on doc review stuff. You can make a lot of money doing shit work.

Not all of us went into this profession thinking we'd be failures if we weren't *at least* as prestigious as David Boies at some point. I readily admit that I became a lawyer to pay the bills.

[dixiecupdrinking]

The desirability, or lack thereof, of these particular jobs is kind of a red herring. The more important takeaway here should be, if you're surprised by the notion of T14 grads doing doc review... don't be.

It's not entirely a red herring if people are concerned about getting stuck in doc review jobs and starving. People on this site seem to be under the impression that any kind of work involving eDiscovery = poverty. This is clearly not true. Shit, I know paralegals in the UK who make the equivalent of 150k by logging crazy hours working on doc review stuff. You can make a lot of money doing shit work.

Not all of us went into this profession thinking we'd be failures if we weren't *at least* as prestigious as David Boies at some point. I readily admit that I became a lawyer to pay the bills.

No, fair enough. It's good to know that these discovery attorneys aren't in bad shape. I just mean that it's a little bit beside the point, if the point is that some T14 grads do struggle in those actual shit doc review jobs, the contract attorney type. If people were surprised by this list on Cravath's website, thinking these lawyers had it rough, then they probably shouldn't have been.