Top Law Schools

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jesus

Summer associates -- knighted as "summers" and never called "interns" within their subculture -- have total market control. Demand is bigger than supply:

I feel like this statement has never been true.

pany1985 wrote:

Summer associates -- knighted as "summers" and never called "interns" within their subculture -- have total market control. Demand is bigger than supply:

I feel like this statement has never been true.

Not so sure about that.

Interestingly, I didn't enter law school really knowing much about the biglaw culture of summer associate hiring. I realized that as an "intern" I would be paid, but when I found out that coveted firm jobs paid up to and over $3k a week, my jaw hit the floor.
I mean, really, what on earth? It really is an interesting economic dynamic how firms follow one after another to attract the "best and the brightest" with alluring salaries, fun social events, and 100% hire rates. Juxtapose that with the competitive reality of the firm environment. You would think that summer classes would be twice as big, summers would be paid half as much, and it would be another competition among law students to get an offer. This would help better compare across law schools as well.
Are there any other fields that treat "interns" like biglaw does?

pany1985 wrote:

Summer associates -- knighted as "summers" and never called "interns" within their subculture -- have total market control. Demand is bigger than supply:

I feel like this statement has never been true.

the reason it was true was that law firms considered schools outside the T25 to be unfit. so rather than massively expanding hiring into T2 schools, they instead chose to raise salaries for grads from the elite schools to get a larger share. this led to an intense competition for top school grads. thus demand was bigger than supply...from the elite law schools.

$2,700-3,100 a week sounds like a fortune, when I made a bit over $10,000 working PT retail.

rando wrote:Are there any other fields that treat "interns" like biglaw does?

Big4 accounting firms are like that except for the high pay. They paid $1K/week ca. 2007 and another $1-2K bonus. They also had fun events, banquets, etc. However once you actually got hired you made little over that amount and no more events.

Hattori Hanzo wrote:

rando wrote:Are there any other fields that treat "interns" like biglaw does?

Big4 accounting firms are like that except for the high pay. They paid $1K/week ca. 2007 and another $1-2K bonus. They also had fun events, banquets, etc. However once you actually got hired you made little over that amount and no more events.

So they pay at first year market rate? The difference in pay is just due to differing full-time salaries it sounds like.

Hattori Hanzo wrote:

rando wrote:Are there any other fields that treat "interns" like biglaw does?

Big4 accounting firms are like that except for the high pay. They paid $1K/week ca. 2007 and another $1-2K bonus. They also had fun events, banquets, etc. However once you actually got hired you made little over that amount and no more events.

one of the many reasons accounting sucks.

rando wrote:

pany1985 wrote:

Summer associates -- knighted as "summers" and never called "interns" within their subculture -- have total market control. Demand is bigger than supply:

I feel like this statement has never been true.

Not so sure about that.

From what I hear in 2007, damn near all students at the t14 could get summer associate positions and top students were recruited like NFL prospects.

When I arrived at TLS in January 2009, people still thought t14 students would all get big law.

Desert Fox wrote:

rando wrote:

pany1985 wrote:

Summer associates -- knighted as "summers" and never called "interns" within their subculture -- have total market control. Demand is bigger than supply:

I feel like this statement has never been true.

Not so sure about that.

From what I hear in 2007, damn near all students at the t14 could get summer associate positions and top students were recruited like NFL prospects.

When I arrived at TLS in January 2009, people still thought t14 students would all get big law.

All T14 students don't get biglaw?

rando wrote:

Hattori Hanzo wrote:

rando wrote:Are there any other fields that treat "interns" like biglaw does?

Big4 accounting firms are like that except for the high pay. They paid $1K/week ca. 2007 and another $1-2K bonus. They also had fun events, banquets, etc. However once you actually got hired you made little over that amount and no more events.

So they pay at first year market rate? The difference in pay is just due to differing full-time salaries it sounds like.

For PWC they actually paid the interns slightly more than the first year hires in 2007. The starting salary was $51K/year in LA and they paid $1K/week to summer interns plus a $900 bonus. Not to mention the interns never work more than 40 hrs a week and have very generous per diems too.

Hattori Hanzo wrote:

rando wrote:

Hattori Hanzo wrote:

rando wrote:Are there any other fields that treat "interns" like biglaw does?

Big4 accounting firms are like that except for the high pay. They paid $1K/week ca. 2007 and another $1-2K bonus. They also had fun events, banquets, etc. However once you actually got hired you made little over that amount and no more events.

So they pay at first year market rate? The difference in pay is just due to differing full-time salaries it sounds like.

For PWC they actually paid the interns slightly more than the first year hires in 2007. The starting salary was $51K/year in LA and they paid $1K/week to summer interns plus a $900 bonus. Not to mention the interns never work more than 40 hrs a week and have very generous per diems too.

What is up with the bonus?

I am intrigued by this accounting firm stuff. That pay seems low to me. I was under the impression they were "big shots." That being said, it only seems low because first year pay at big law firms is so excessive. Dunno. Guess it is the additional schooling/debt partially driving rates.

rando wrote:What is up with the bonus?

I am intrigued by this accounting firm stuff. That pay seems low to me. I was under the impression they were "big shots." That being said, it only seems low because first year pay at big law firms is so excessive. Dunno. Guess it is the additional schooling/debt partially driving rates.

IIRC they called it something like "wardrobe allowance" for students to buy professional clothes.
The pay IS low compared to biglaw especially if you consider the hours. Charge hour requirement is 1700/1800 even for the mid tier firms and many people end up working more than that. Yet they get paid less than 1/3 compared to the biglaw. Of course corporate BS is abundant and there's no shortage of politics, backstabbing, etc. Basically the same hell as the biglaw with much lower pay.