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OK, so I keep hearing that, even if you're not interested in the Big Law life and aren't looking to claw your way toward a partnership, you should take it if you can get it because of the opportunities this opens up for your career. Can someone elaborate on that? I am specifically interested in PI, public policy, government. Obviously, I don't mean to apply that you can just decide to get big law if you want to.

And I'm not looking for information regarding big law salaries, the ability to pay off debt, or the big law prestige.

I guess the obvious answer would be that "X years as an associate at BigLaw Firm" looks a hell of a lot better on a resume with a future job application than "Ambulance Chaser With Sketchy Personal Injury Firm" and you're more likely to get whatever job you're aiming for.

whitman wrote:And I'm not looking for information regarding big law salaries, the ability to pay off debt, or the big law prestige.

BigLaw is about all of those things.

After a few years of experience, you are employable to PI and government employers that don't have the resources to hire and train useless new graduates.

The argument is that you have a lot more opportunities to pursue your interests because they're full-service firms. For example, if you're interested in class action litigation, large transactions, or public companies work, you will not have the opportunity to work in these areas unless you go biglaw. If you want to transition to in-house later on, the company may require experience in such fields.

MrPapagiorgio wrote:

whitman wrote:And I'm not looking for information regarding big law salaries, the ability to pay off debt, or the big law prestige.

BigLaw is about all of those things.

Right. That is assumed and not worth discussing.