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ive looked around a bit on here but i was hoping someone could direct me to some info as to what hiring, pay, hours etc. are like at non-big law firms. mainly interested in the midwest.

for my part, i work at a 5 attorney firm in a <100,000 person midwestern city, and know from the newest attorney, a cooley grad with 0 ties to the area, that shes making something like 40grand and bitching about her billable hours, though i dont know what she has to bill.

anyone else have any experience or articles on this?

TCR is: it varies.

i realize it varies but what are the people who get shut out from big law, and good govt jobs hoping to get (please dont say anything)? ive read about the drastic bell curves for jd salaries (pictured here http://www.nalp.org/anotherpicture ) and am just curious; is there a "mid law" market? would bigger firms in places like indianapolis or cleveland be that kind of market or is it really just BigLaw vs rinkydink small firms with salary and billable time adjustments only based on regional differences?

thx if anyone can help clear this up

There is life outside of biglaw and gov't. Remember that the vast majority of attorneys work in smaller firms.

It also depends on what field you're interested in. Criminal defense and family law, for example, don't have much presence outside of biglaw.

You can make really good money, or you could make nothing. No one can really predict for you with certainy.

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Adm.Doppleganger wrote:

minnbills wrote:It also depends on what field you're interested in. Criminal defense and family law, for example, don't have much presence outside of biglaw.

really? outside biglaw?

Well I know of one bigger firm here in the TC that has a family law department. But the rule seems to be that the best attorneys in areas like those work in small firms.

My career office has advised me that outside of Biglaw, small firms usually pay around 15 an hour, so basically I will never be able to repay my debt, thank goodness I took out government loans

boalt2l wrote:My career office has advised me that outside of Biglaw, small firms usually pay around 15 an hour, so basically I will never be able to repay my debt, thank goodness I took out government loans

I'm not saying that going straight into a smaller firm is going to be lucrative, especially with debt.

minnbills wrote:

Adm.Doppleganger wrote:

minnbills wrote:It also depends on what field you're interested in. Criminal defense and family law, for example, don't have much presence outside of biglaw.

really? outside biglaw?

Well I know of one bigger firm here in the TC that has a family law department. But the rule seems to be that the best attorneys in areas like those work in small firms.

The way you wrote it made it sound like biglaw was the only place to find criminal defense and family law.

Sentry wrote:

minnbills wrote:

Adm.Doppleganger wrote:

minnbills wrote:It also depends on what field you're interested in. Criminal defense and family law, for example, don't have much presence outside of biglaw.

really? outside biglaw?

Well I know of one bigger firm here in the TC that has a family law department. But the rule seems to be that the best attorneys in areas like those work in small firms.

The way you wrote it made it sound like biglaw was the only place to find criminal defense and family law.

Oh right right, dumbass move on my part- apologies. Gotta love absent mindedness.