Detailed T14 Success Stories w/Salary Info. Forum

[Patriot1208]

What's the rent in Liberia and Russia? Seriously that is a stupid comparison. After you get done paying basic expenses, a fat student loan payment and taxes, the remainder looks more like a pittance.

I don't think you actually think it's a pittance and i'd be surprised if you really thought that. 100k after taxes, even with a loan payment, puts your QOL far ahead of the rest of the city. Sure, it isn't what you dream of, you aren't living like a trump, but you are living well above the VAST majority of people in the city, in the state, in the country, and in the world. I love how in some threads people argue that NYC isn't that bad and show me stats on how to live cheaply in brooklyn and then in the next people tell me they can barely live off of 160k in NYC.

People, wake up, you don't deserve anything. You may have goals far and above 160k, sure, and you may reach them. But, that doesn't make 160k a pittance in any definition of the word. I'd love to be a millionaire, but that isn't going to cause me to act like i'm poor because I make 160k. The only people who act like that are, essentially, disconnected from reality.

[A&O]

Whatever you have after taxes and loans in biglaw is more than enough to live comfortably in NYC, even somewhat luxuriously if you're smart about it. You're not going to be living in a nice condo in SoHo, but you won't exactly have to commute from Bushwick, either.


Ideally, if you want to maximize savings/take-home, you should have a significant other who has his or her own job and is willing to live with you. That's a 1BR apartment for half the price. Many couples in NYC, however, prematurely start living together for just this reason.

[Lokomani]

People, wake up, you don't deserve anything. You may have goals far and above 160k, sure, and you may reach them. But, that doesn't make 160k a pittance in any definition of the word. I'd love to be a millionaire, but that isn't going to cause me to act like i'm poor because I make 160k. The only people who act like that are, essentially, disconnected from reality.

This is TCR. 90% of top law school students are from the top half of the American population in terms of Socioeconomic Status. Hence the undeserved sense of entitlement, as well as unrealistic expectations.

[lolschool2011]

What happened to my poor thread? The angry prole's have run amuck.

I think it might have offended a few people the hear that their dream salary is really quite pedestrian in some cities.... again, I'll ask, what's wrong w/being a capitalist here? Is TLS anti-capitalist or something? Or, are most people ranting about how much money 160k just too young to realize what it really buys you in the real world. (not much, I know)

There's ambitious people here... and many want a LOT more than what 160k in a city like NYC would afford us. If you don't like this "reality" stay in your own.

[Patriot1208]

What happened to my poor thread? The angry prole's have run amuck.

I think it might have offended a few people the hear that their dream salary is really quite pedestrian in some cities.... again, I'll ask, what's wrong w/being a capitalist here? Is TLS anti-capitalist or something? Or, are most people ranting about how much money 160k just too young to realize what it really buys you in the real world. (not much, I know)

There's ambitious people here... and many want a LOT more than what 160k in a city like NYC would afford us. If you don't like this "reality" stay in your own.

Looks like we have another need for a dictionary.

[Anonymous User]

What happened to my poor thread? The angry prole's have run amuck.

I think it might have offended a few people the hear that their dream salary is really quite pedestrian in some cities.... again, I'll ask, what's wrong w/being a capitalist here? Is TLS anti-capitalist or something? Or, are most people ranting about how much money 160k just too young to realize what it really buys you in the real world. (not much, I know)

There's ambitious people here... and many want a LOT more than what 160k in a city like NYC would afford us. If you don't like this "reality" stay in your own.

lulz, what? People aren't capitalist because they don't think 160k is a pittance.

OP: The other day, I went to a running store to buy some running shoes for a race in which I am participating. I wore a shirt that indicated which law school (between t14 and t20) I attend. I met two people there. One was a creepy, middle aged lawyer who went to a shitty law school in the same state. With practically no solicitation he told me that law school sucks (thanks, Captain Obvious) and that although the hours were long, he enjoyed being an attorney. A few minutes later I met a nice looking blonde who had dropped out of my law school after her second year because it was getting too hard and stressful. She got a job in consulting (along with a boob job and some pretty kick ass Asics) and said she really enjoyed her work. Ever mindful of her boob job, I watched her drive off in the parking lot in a shiny new BMW (I'm not a "car guy" but it looked expensive).

I'm not sure if that directly answers your question, but there's a deeper lesson to be learned. If you don't like law school drop out, start running, get a boob job, and life's sweetest fruit will rain down upon you.

[rundoxierun]

What happened to my poor thread? The angry prole's have run amuck.

I think it might have offended a few people the hear that their dream salary is really quite pedestrian in some cities.... again, I'll ask, what's wrong w/being a capitalist here? Is TLS anti-capitalist or something? Or, are most people ranting about how much money 160k just too young to realize what it really buys you in the real world. (not much, I know)

There's ambitious people here... and many want a LOT more than what 160k in a city like NYC would afford us. If you don't like this "reality" stay in your own.

"I want to personally own a $1 billion sports stadium within the next 10 years. Therefore, $10 million/yr. is a pittance."

[Dex]

anyone else think its lame that they let OP steal imblue's tar?

i totally thought this was going to be a useful thread when i first saw the tar

+1

[HITeacher2]

What happened to my poor thread? The angry prole's have run amuck.

I think it might have offended a few people the hear that their dream salary is really quite pedestrian in some cities.... again, I'll ask, what's wrong w/being a capitalist here? Is TLS anti-capitalist or something? Or, are most people ranting about how much money 160k just too young to realize what it really buys you in the real world. (not much, I know)

There's ambitious people here... and many want a LOT more than what 160k in a city like NYC would afford us. If you don't like this "reality" stay in your own.

I think the board has gotten quite tired of your ad-hominem attacks. There's a huge difference between being ambitious and being entitled and disconnected from reality. You need to take a trip to Africa and learn what hard work and poverty really look like before you start calling $160k a pittance. Until then, just stop.

On a related note, this thread should be renamed "Derailed T14 Success Stories"

[JazzOne]

What happened to my poor thread? The angry prole's have run amuck.

I think it might have offended a few people the hear that their dream salary is really quite pedestrian in some cities.... again, I'll ask, what's wrong w/being a capitalist here? Is TLS anti-capitalist or something? Or, are most people ranting about how much money 160k just too young to realize what it really buys you in the real world. (not much, I know)

There's ambitious people here... and many want a LOT more than what 160k in a city like NYC would afford us. If you don't like this "reality" stay in your own.

"I want to personally own a $1 billion sports stadium within the next 10 years. Therefore, $10 million/yr. is a pittance."

+1

I was thinking about Bill Gates the other day, and I realized just how destitute we are in America. What the fuck can I buy with $100M? Not much compared to the truly wealthy.

[megaTTTron]

What happened to my poor thread? The angry prole's have run amuck.

I think it might have offended a few people the hear that their dream salary is really quite pedestrian in some cities.... again, I'll ask, what's wrong w/being a capitalist here? Is TLS anti-capitalist or something? Or, are most people ranting about how much money 160k just too young to realize what it really buys you in the real world. (not much, I know)

There's ambitious people here... and many want a LOT more than what 160k in a city like NYC would afford us. If you don't like this "reality" stay in your own.

I think the board has gotten quite tired of your ad-hominem attacks. There's a huge difference between being ambitious and being entitled and disconnected from reality. You need to take a trip to Africa and learn what hard work and poverty really look like before you start calling $160k a pittance. Until then, just stop.

On a related note, this thread should be renamed "Derailed T14 Success Stories"

oh dear god.

[rundoxierun]

T14 Success stories:
--LinkRemoved--

http://www.cravath.com/lawyers/list.asp ... ace34c3217

--LinkRemoved--

I mean you cant really expect too many of these guys to take a break from their 12 hr work days just to come tell us their class rank, background and salary. This is mostly a forum filled with people either in law school or about to enter law school.

[cavebat2000]

lol @ people who claim 160K in any city is a pittance. If people like you were half as generous as you were entitled and privileged then maybe less than half the world's population wouldn't live on less than $2 a day.

[TheOcho]

Lets put $160,000 into a worldwide perspective real quick using some fuzzy math.

Last year the GDP per capita in Liberia was $500.
Life expectancy at birth was 55 years. Lets take 15 years off the bottom by assuming people don't work from age 0 to 15.
$500 x 40 yrs = $20,000

If you earn $160,000 a year, you make 320 times what someone makes in Liberia.
If you earn $160,000 a year, in one year you make as much as EIGHT people in Liberia make in their LIFETIMES.
Essentially, you can work for one year, move to Ethiopia and retire, enjoying a life-style at least FOUR times as extravagant as the people around you assuming you live twice as long as them.

I know, I know, apples and oranges, you're better than those people. Lets pick a more developed country with higher cost of living.

Last year, the GDP per capita in Russia was $15,000
Life expectancy at birth was 65 years, once again take 15 off and get 50 years of working.

At $160,000 a year, you make over 10 times as much an average person makes in Russia.
At $160,000 a year, you can work for just eight years and create the same wealth a Russian would expect to earn working from when they were 15 years old to the day they die. Just quit your job when you're 30, move to Russia, and enjoy decades of retirement.

But if you must...

GDP per capita in the good old USA was $46,000. Assume Americans work from age 20 to to 65, they make $1,300,000 in their lifetimes.
At $160,000 a year, you can work for, you're not gonna believe this, JUST EIGHT YEARS and earn the same total wealth as the average American earns in their working lifetime assuming retirement at 65.

This analysis is flawed in two major ways
1) It doesn't take into account the crazy taxes you pay.
2) It doesn't take into account the fact that your salary goes up above $160k over time.
These two things don't cancel each other out, but they do pull in opposite directions.

$160k may seem like a "pittance" to someone who is surrounded by friends with fancy cars living the bottles and models lifestyle, but make no mistake, compared to the rest of the world AND the rest of the USA, you are rich. Very rich. Incredibly rich. You could move to another country after JUST ONE YEAR and live like a KING in that country for the REST OF YOUR LIFE.

As the educated, we like to pretend that we're better than the people of the 16 African countries (plus Afghanistan) who get by on less than $1000 a year, but we're not. It's luck of the draw. It's pure luck that we were born in a nation that provided us with such an amazing education and the resources to make it to where we were - if the dice were rolled differently we'd be the ones with the distended stomachs having to weave baskets to make ends meet on a dollar or two a day. Don't pretend like anything over $20,000 a year isn't more than enough to live on, it's not - that's what my family made when I was growing up in California and we lived very comfortably.

Flawed in three ways. Confuses income with wealth. Purchasing power parity, bra.

[rowlf]

What happened to my poor thread? The angry prole's have run amuck.

I think it might have offended a few people the hear that their dream salary is really quite pedestrian in some cities.... again, I'll ask, what's wrong w/being a capitalist here? Is TLS anti-capitalist or something? Or, are most people ranting about how much money 160k just too young to realize what it really buys you in the real world. (not much, I know)

There's ambitious people here... and many want a LOT more than what 160k in a city like NYC would afford us. If you don't like this "reality" stay in your own.

Ambitious people are ready and willing to do what it takes to reach their goals. Ambition is not expecting a certain salary right out of school without taking reasonable steps to put yourself in a position to get that salary immediately. Ambition doesn't deny reality, it uses it. If you want more than $160K right out of law school, that probably means doing something other than Biglaw. Wishing Biglaw paid more than $160K isn't ambition. It's whining. It is, frankly, anti-capitalist to think that one deserves more than what the market has clearly decided a first-year NYC Biglaw associate is worth. Nothing personal lolschool, just wanted to get out my POV on what capitalism is about.

[Aqualibrium]

If you don't like law school drop out, start running, get a boob job, and life's sweetest fruit will rain down upon you.

Why has no one else quoted this? GOLD

[AreJay711]

lol @ people who claim 160K in any city is a pittance. If people like you were half as generous as you were entitled and privileged then maybe less than half the world's population wouldn't live on less than $2 a day.

and this....

As the educated, we like to pretend that we're better than the people of the 16 African countries (plus Afghanistan) who get by on less than $1000 a year, but we're not. It's luck of the draw. It's pure luck that we were born in a nation that provided us with such an amazing education and the resources to make it to where we were - if the dice were rolled differently we'd be the ones with the distended stomachs having to weave baskets to make ends meet on a dollar or two a day. Don't pretend like anything over $20,000 a year isn't more than enough to live on, it's not - that's what my family made when I was growing up in California and we lived very comfortably.

Not really luck of the draw. It is the consequences of many, many decisions that were, however, out of the control of both us and them buts what's your point? Should we not shoot for the models and bottles lifestyle because some people are less fortunate than us? Also, the utility of wealth is completely relative. Someone who thinks 35k of spending money isn't a lot in NYC isn't being ridiculous -- I could easily spend $100 a day on non-essentials, especially in NYC... and with a hottie that dropped out of law school, started running, and got nice fake tits.

[HITeacher2]

Not really luck of the draw. It is the consequences of many, many decisions that were, however, out of the control of both us and them buts what's your point? Should we not shoot for the models and bottles lifestyle because some people are less fortunate than us? Also, the utility of wealth is completely relative. Someone who thinks 35k of spending money isn't a lot in NYC isn't being ridiculous -- I could easily spend $100 a day on non-essentials, especially in NYC... and with a hottie that dropped out of law school, started running, and got nice fake tits.

I would argue that you didn't choose who your parents were or what country you were born in, many of the "decisions" that got us to where we are aren't decisions. Granted, if you start off in the right family and income bracket, getting to the point where you can get a biglaw offer is no cakewalk either - you still have to do well in high school, college, law school and interview well and credit goes to where credit is due.

The point isn't that you shouldn't try to live extravagantly. If you want to spend $100 daily on luxuries (still less than $40k) then by all means do so and enjoy yourself. You deserve it. But if you call that $160k salary at 24 years old a "pittance" then you also deserve to be called out on how far you've drifted from reality. You can make minimum wage and earn 1/10th the salary ($8/hr x 40 hrs/week x 50 weeks/yr = $16,000) and still get by in the US. It's not easy, but many people do. THAT is a pittance. $160,000 is not a pittance.

[AreJay711]

Not really luck of the draw. It is the consequences of many, many decisions that were, however, out of the control of both us and them buts what's your point? Should we not shoot for the models and bottles lifestyle because some people are less fortunate than us? Also, the utility of wealth is completely relative. Someone who thinks 35k of spending money isn't a lot in NYC isn't being ridiculous -- I could easily spend $100 a day on non-essentials, especially in NYC... and with a hottie that dropped out of law school, started running, and got nice fake tits.

I would argue that you didn't choose who your parents were or what country you were born in, many of the "decisions" that got us to where we are aren't decisions. Granted, if you start off in the right family and income bracket, getting to the point where you can get a biglaw offer is no cakewalk either - you still have to do well in high school, college, law school and interview well and credit goes to where credit is due.

The point isn't that you shouldn't try to live extravagantly. If you want to spend $100 daily on luxuries (still less than $40k) then by all means do so and enjoy yourself. You deserve it. But if you call that $160k salary at 24 years old a "pittance" then you also deserve to be called out on how far you've drifted from reality. You can make minimum wage and earn 1/10th the salary ($8/hr x 40 hrs/week x 50 weeks/yr = $16,000) and still get by in the US. It's not easy, but many people do. THAT is a pittance. $160,000 is not a pittance.

You are right that "pittance" was poor wording but about $100 a day is what 160K a year will be after (premium) necessities and taxes. I was trying to say with the decisions part is that it isn't random that the U.S. is wealthy and some other countries are not even though it isn't a decision people presently living made. It is also weird who "you" are or "I" am. I don't think a person with my genetic makeup and exact same experiences could really be in another country so "I" could not exist anywhere else -- lol at self for looking into it too far.

[Patriot1208]

Someone who thinks 35k of spending money isn't a lot in NYC isn't being ridiculous -- I could easily spend $100 a day on non-essentials, especially in NYC... and with a hottie that dropped out of law school, started running, and got nice fake tits.

Yes they are. It may not be as much as they would LIKE. But to act as if it makes you poor is ridiculous, which is exactly what OP was doing.

[UnTouChablE]

Not really luck of the draw. It is the consequences of many, many decisions that were, however, out of the control of both us and them buts what's your point? Should we not shoot for the models and bottles lifestyle because some people are less fortunate than us? Also, the utility of wealth is completely relative. Someone who thinks 35k of spending money isn't a lot in NYC isn't being ridiculous -- I could easily spend $100 a day on non-essentials, especially in NYC... and with a hottie that dropped out of law school, started running, and got nice fake tits.

I would argue that you didn't choose who your parents were or what country you were born in, many of the "decisions" that got us to where we are aren't decisions. Granted, if you start off in the right family and income bracket, getting to the point where you can get a biglaw offer is no cakewalk either - you still have to do well in high school, college, law school and interview well and credit goes to where credit is due.

The point isn't that you shouldn't try to live extravagantly. If you want to spend $100 daily on luxuries (still less than $40k) then by all means do so and enjoy yourself. You deserve it. But if you call that $160k salary at 24 years old a "pittance" then you also deserve to be called out on how far you've drifted from reality. You can make minimum wage and earn 1/10th the salary ($8/hr x 40 hrs/week x 50 weeks/yr = $16,000) and still get by in the US. It's not easy, but many people do. THAT is a pittance. $160,000 is not a pittance.

You are right that "pittance" was poor wording but about $100 a day is what 160K a year will be after (premium) necessities and taxes. I was trying to say with the decisions part is that it isn't random that the U.S. is wealthy and some other countries are not even though it isn't a decision people presently living made. It is also weird who "you" are or "I" am. I don't think a person with my genetic makeup and exact same experiences could really be in another country so "I" could not exist anywhere else -- lol at self for looking into it too far.

So stupid, stfu plz.

[AlanShore]

what happened to this thread.

[Miracle]

what happened to this thread.

I was wondering the same thing.

[rundoxierun]

what happened to this thread.

I was wondering the same thing.

It was a dumb thread idea from the beginning. Everyone knows there are successful T14 people.. look at partners at any major firm or the entire federal government.

[MrAnon]

what happened to this thread.

T14 success stories died with the U.S. economy in October 2008.