What do you do with your BIG LAW salary? Forum

[DELG]

Not every expensive place sucks though

If we could both get decent legal jobs in Seattle, holy shit, we'd take that so fast

Too bad Seattle is super tiny and insular. In a couple years though at least one of you may try in-house at somewhere like Microsoft, Amazon, etc.

But since we're both litigation-minded, in-house is out.

So yeah. Damn you, Seattle!

[Holly Golightly]

DC food has gotten a little better but it's mostly just generic and meh. Wilmington, DE has better food per capita. DC should be embarrassed.

I still actually like DC, but all Washingtonians should be embarrassed of how fucking shitty pizza is there. There is better pizza in West Virginia than in DC. (And no, a random brick oven place doesn't count. Everywhere has one of those.)

[rayiner]

Very few chain restaurants in DC actually. As for the other things you mentioned, I just pretend they don't exist.

That being said, I also like DC because I get to work for the fed gov. If I was doing something unrelated to the Federal government, sure, a fair amount of other places I'd probably rather be doing it.

Outted as not recognizing chain restaurants when he sees them

I guess I'm just not hipster enough to avoid any restaurant that has more than one location.

I was somewhere maybe not too far from Adam's Morgan when I saw a nice hotel that was headlined by a fucking Rosa Mexicana.

[JusticeJackson]

.

[Abbie Doobie]

DC food has gotten a little better but it's mostly just generic and meh. Wilmington, DE has better food per capita. DC should be embarrassed.

After living in central Connecticut for almost a decade, I would say even that area has better food per capita than DC.

[Elston Gunn]

DC food has gotten a little better but it's mostly just generic and meh. Wilmington, DE has better food per capita. DC should be embarrassed.

I still actually like DC, but all Washingtonians should be embarrassed of how fucking shitty pizza is there. There is better pizza in West Virginia than in DC. (And no, a random brick oven place doesn't count. Everywhere has one of those.)

Credited.

[Elston Gunn]

Very few chain restaurants in DC actually. As for the other things you mentioned, I just pretend they don't exist.

That being said, I also like DC because I get to work for the fed gov. If I was doing something unrelated to the Federal government, sure, a fair amount of other places I'd probably rather be doing it.

Outted as not recognizing chain restaurants when he sees them

I guess I'm just not hipster enough to avoid any restaurant that has more than one location.

I was somewhere maybe not too far from Adam's Morgan when I saw a nice hotel that was headlined by a fucking Rosa Mexicana.

I'm prole enough to like Rosa Mexicana. Maybe this is why I like DC.

[Crowing]

I dunno I like suburbs

[FSK]

DC food has gotten a little better but it's mostly just generic and meh. Wilmington, DE has better food per capita. DC should be embarrassed.

I still actually like DC, but all Washingtonians should be embarrassed of how fucking shitty pizza is there. There is better pizza in West Virginia than in DC. (And no, a random brick oven place doesn't count. Everywhere has one of those.)

I've found two Pizza places in DC that I love. Try Vace in cleveland park and (though not DC) Stromboli's in Bethesda.

[shredderrrrrr]

Ehh, on the off-chance you are getting at budgeting, Major expenses are:

Car (lease+insurance) - $7200/yr
Student Loans (5-year repayment) - $35k/yr
Apartment (I don't live in NY/SF) - ~$21k/yr
Retirement (small b/c firm makes larger contribution) - $5k

throw in the other normal expenses and I'm left with ~20k/yr to save. Key to this, however, is that firm completely handles 100% of health insurance and makes a retirement contribution on my behalf. Not sure how common that is.

Very few firms significantly subsidize your health insurance and almost none match your 401k. Also, LOL @ food and other expenses at less than 1000/month.

Assuming you don't live somewhere like NYC, what is crazy about $1,000/month for food + other expenses. My fiancee and I live comfortably off her teaching income, which comes out to $1,150 every two weeks.

We use one paycheck to pay rent and bills (phone, water, electric, cable, etc.) each month. We then use the other check as follows:

$200/month: Groceries
$125/month: Eating out
$100/month: Gas
$50/month: Entertainment
$50/month: Household supplies
$50/month: Pets
$75/month: Miscellaneous
$500/month: Savings

[Elston Gunn]

Ehh, on the off-chance you are getting at budgeting, Major expenses are:

Car (lease+insurance) - $7200/yr
Student Loans (5-year repayment) - $35k/yr
Apartment (I don't live in NY/SF) - ~$21k/yr
Retirement (small b/c firm makes larger contribution) - $5k

throw in the other normal expenses and I'm left with ~20k/yr to save. Key to this, however, is that firm completely handles 100% of health insurance and makes a retirement contribution on my behalf. Not sure how common that is.

Very few firms significantly subsidize your health insurance and almost none match your 401k. Also, LOL @ food and other expenses at less than 1000/month.

Assuming you don't live somewhere like NYC, what is crazy about $1,000/month for food + other expenses. My fiancee and I live comfortably off her teaching income, which comes out to $1,150 every two weeks.

We use one paycheck to pay rent and bills (phone, water, electric, cable, etc.) each month. We then use the other check as follows:

$200/month: Groceries
$125/month: Eating out
$100/month: Gas
$50/month: Entertainment
$50/month: Household supplies
$50/month: Pets
$75/month: Miscellaneous
$500/month: Savings

Don't you live in Iowa? There's a lot of places between that and NYC.

[shredderrrrrr]

What are the positives of living in a big city? Because I can't come up with anything off the top of my head

There have been at least fifty threads about this. Most of us just like it better. Life is more interesting/exciting/occasionally horrifying and there are a thousand times more things to do/see. Living in a walkable/bikable city is fantastic - none of the hell that is sitting in traffic for hours a day. We like having a billion restaurant/bar choices rather than the SOS of the suburbs. We enjoy the architecture and history. We love the variety of the music/arts scene(s). Block parties and festivals are a blast. There's always something new to try.
Maybe we even feel a part of something larger, enjoy the energy and pace, etc.

There are an infinite number of reasons, but at the end of the day you're either a country or a city person or a bit of both, and you probably won't know until you've spent some time in each.

A few weirdos claim to be suburb persons, but I'm convinced they're all chat bots.

These reasons (along with all others I've read) just address why living in a city is awesome--not a big city in particular. Why not live in a city that has lots to do but doesn't cost as much? I get that you can't really compare anywhere to NYC, but there are so many cities that have reasonable costs of living and plenty to do.

[Elston Gunn]

What are the positives of living in a big city? Because I can't come up with anything off the top of my head

There have been at least fifty threads about this. Most of us just like it better. Life is more interesting/exciting/occasionally horrifying and there are a thousand times more things to do/see. Living in a walkable/bikable city is fantastic - none of the hell that is sitting in traffic for hours a day. We like having a billion restaurant/bar choices rather than the SOS of the suburbs. We enjoy the architecture and history. We love the variety of the music/arts scene(s). Block parties and festivals are a blast. There's always something new to try.
Maybe we even feel a part of something larger, enjoy the energy and pace, etc.

There are an infinite number of reasons, but at the end of the day you're either a country or a city person or a bit of both, and you probably won't know until you've spent some time in each.

A few weirdos claim to be suburb persons, but I'm convinced they're all chat bots.

These reasons (along with all others I've read) just address why living in a city is awesome--not a big city in particular. Why not live in a city that has lots to do but doesn't cost as much? I get that you can't really compare anywhere to NYC, but there are so many cities that have reasonable costs of living and plenty to do.

For most people, because there are < 25 SA jobs in those cities and the ones that exist require ties. Also public transport usually sucks.

[shredderrrrrr]

Ehh, on the off-chance you are getting at budgeting, Major expenses are:

Car (lease+insurance) - $7200/yr
Student Loans (5-year repayment) - $35k/yr
Apartment (I don't live in NY/SF) - ~$21k/yr
Retirement (small b/c firm makes larger contribution) - $5k

throw in the other normal expenses and I'm left with ~20k/yr to save. Key to this, however, is that firm completely handles 100% of health insurance and makes a retirement contribution on my behalf. Not sure how common that is.

Very few firms significantly subsidize your health insurance and almost none match your 401k. Also, LOL @ food and other expenses at less than 1000/month.

Assuming you don't live somewhere like NYC, what is crazy about $1,000/month for food + other expenses. My fiancee and I live comfortably off her teaching income, which comes out to $1,150 every two weeks.

We use one paycheck to pay rent and bills (phone, water, electric, cable, etc.) each month. We then use the other check as follows:

$200/month: Groceries
$125/month: Eating out
$100/month: Gas
$50/month: Entertainment
$50/month: Household supplies
$50/month: Pets
$75/month: Miscellaneous
$500/month: Savings

Don't you live in Iowa? There's a lot of places between that and NYC.

I assume you, like everyone else, have never been. I know people love the whole, "LOL IOWA, GO EAT SOME CORN AND WATCH THE COWS" stereotype, but it's honestly a lively place if you live in Des Moines or Iowa City. We have music, art, and food festivals. We have asian fusion restaurants. We have a sculpture garden. We have theater. It's no NYC, but it's not unlike all other mid-sized cities. And considering you can live here for dirt cheap, I'm not complaining. I mean, you can get a two-story, 1,700 square foot 2br, 2ba downtown apartment in one of the nicest buildings for $1,350/month. As nice as it is to have more to do in big cities, I can't imagine loving coming home to the closet I pay $1,350 for each night.

[Elston Gunn]

Don't you live in Iowa? There's a lot of places between that and NYC.

I assume you, like everyone else, have never been. I know people love the whole, "LOL IOWA, GO EAT SOME CORN AND WATCH THE COWS" stereotype, but it's honestly a lively place if you live in Des Moines or Iowa City. We have music, art, and food festivals. We have asian fusion restaurants. We have a sculpture garden. We have theater. It's no NYC, but it's not unlike all other mid-sized cities. And considering you can live here for dirt cheap, I'm not complaining. I mean, you can get a two-story, 1,700 square foot 2br, 2ba downtown apartment in one of the nicest buildings for $1,350/month. As nice as it is to have more to do in big cities, I can't imagine loving coming home to the closet I pay $1,350 for each night.

My point's not to shit on Iowa. Just that realistically most people aren't (and probably shouldn't) pick up and move to the cheapest parts of the midwest. Also, we're talking about people in Biglaw, and what they put to expenses. Probably literally everyone that has been talking in this thread cannot get Des Moines Biglaw. The very strong odds are you'll be doing it in NYC, DC, LA, SF, CHI or HOU. Only the last has COL even in the same ballpark as Iowa, and I bet it's still quite a bit higher. (Unless Chicago is even cheaper than I think it is.)

[shredderrrrrr]

What are the positives of living in a big city? Because I can't come up with anything off the top of my head

There have been at least fifty threads about this. Most of us just like it better. Life is more interesting/exciting/occasionally horrifying and there are a thousand times more things to do/see. Living in a walkable/bikable city is fantastic - none of the hell that is sitting in traffic for hours a day. We like having a billion restaurant/bar choices rather than the SOS of the suburbs. We enjoy the architecture and history. We love the variety of the music/arts scene(s). Block parties and festivals are a blast. There's always something new to try.
Maybe we even feel a part of something larger, enjoy the energy and pace, etc.

There are an infinite number of reasons, but at the end of the day you're either a country or a city person or a bit of both, and you probably won't know until you've spent some time in each.

A few weirdos claim to be suburb persons, but I'm convinced they're all chat bots.

These reasons (along with all others I've read) just address why living in a city is awesome--not a big city in particular. Why not live in a city that has lots to do but doesn't cost as much? I get that you can't really compare anywhere to NYC, but there are so many cities that have reasonable costs of living and plenty to do.

For most people, because there are < 25 SA jobs in those cities and the ones that exist require ties. Also public transport usually sucks.

Oh yeah, if we're speaking practically, I understand why people live in NYC/SF/Chicago instead of places like Minneapolis. You're gonna go where you can get a job. I was just talking about the merits of each sort of city. Assuming you could find a job in, say, both Chicago and Minneapolis, I don't think the merits of "big-city life" necessarily override the advantages of living somewhere like Minneapolis.

[shredderrrrrr]

Don't you live in Iowa? There's a lot of places between that and NYC.

I assume you, like everyone else, have never been. I know people love the whole, "LOL IOWA, GO EAT SOME CORN AND WATCH THE COWS" stereotype, but it's honestly a lively place if you live in Des Moines or Iowa City. We have music, art, and food festivals. We have asian fusion restaurants. We have a sculpture garden. We have theater. It's no NYC, but it's not unlike all other mid-sized cities. And considering you can live here for dirt cheap, I'm not complaining. I mean, you can get a two-story, 1,700 square foot 2br, 2ba downtown apartment in one of the nicest buildings for $1,350/month. As nice as it is to have more to do in big cities, I can't imagine loving coming home to the closet I pay $1,350 for each night.

My point's not to shit on Iowa. Just that realistically most people aren't (and probably shouldn't) pick up and move to the cheapest parts of the midwest. Also, we're talking about people in Biglaw, and what they put to expenses. Probably literally everyone that has been talking in this thread cannot get Des Moines Biglaw. The very strong odds are you'll be doing it in NYC, DC, LA, SF, CHI or HOU. Only the last has COL even in the same ballpark as Iowa, and I bet it's still quite a bit higher. (Unless Chicago is even cheaper than I think it is.)

That's fair. Though for those of you graduating from places like HYS, I imagine you would have quite a good shot at smaller towns' versions of biglaw. I imagine a firm like Nyemaster Goode would be pretty impressed by a Yale degree in a pool full of Drake and Iowa candidates.

As far as connections go, just tell them you know shredderrrrrr.

[rayiner]

DC food has gotten a little better but it's mostly just generic and meh. Wilmington, DE has better food per capita. DC should be embarrassed.

I still actually like DC, but all Washingtonians should be embarrassed of how fucking shitty pizza is there. There is better pizza in West Virginia than in DC. (And no, a random brick oven place doesn't count. Everywhere has one of those.)

The pizza in Delaware is just shockingly bad.

Ugh, now I want to fly 3,000 miles to get Track Town: http://www.tracktownoncampus.com.

[shredderrrrrr]

I will never get the attraction of a BL salary in an expensive city like NY, DC or Cal in general. As everyone has seen, 140k goes so much further in Texas or the south. The beauty of having 1k every month in walking around money, plus a suitable place to live outweighs having the expensive big city lights,

Well put. I've heard Austin is an awesome place to live.

[Holly Golightly]

Oh yeah, if we're speaking practically, I understand why people live in NYC/SF/Chicago instead of places like Minneapolis. You're gonna go where you can get a job. I was just talking about the merits of each sort of city. Assuming you could find a job in, say, both Chicago and Minneapolis, I don't think the merits of "big-city life" necessarily override the advantages of living somewhere like Minneapolis.

I don't think Minneapolis is significantly cheaper than Chicago. As long as you don't live in River North/Streeterville/a downtown highrise, living in Chicago is not very expensive.

[Elston Gunn]

I will never get the attraction of a BL salary in an expensive city like NY, DC or Cal in general. As everyone has seen, 140k goes so much further in Texas or the south. The beauty of having 1k every month in walking around money, plus a suitable place to live outweighs having the expensive big city lights,

Well put. I've heard Austin is an awesome place to live.

I would happily live in Austin for the rest of my days if someone wanted to hire me at a job I wanted. Honestly, I hope I can manage it some day, but it ain't easy.

[shredderrrrrr]

Oh yeah, if we're speaking practically, I understand why people live in NYC/SF/Chicago instead of places like Minneapolis. You're gonna go where you can get a job. I was just talking about the merits of each sort of city. Assuming you could find a job in, say, both Chicago and Minneapolis, I don't think the merits of "big-city life" necessarily override the advantages of living somewhere like Minneapolis.

I don't think Minneapolis is significantly cheaper than Chicago. As long as you don't live in River North/Streeterville/a downtown highrise, living in Chicago is not very expensive.

Yeah, having never lived in these cities, I don't really know the cost of living so I was just going off perception. And I was going to compare Chicago to Des Moines (a true smaller, cheaper city) but figured no one knows the first thing about a town in Iowa. And Minneapolis is awesome.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Reasons not to move to a mid-sized city:
1. Jobs.
2. If you actually like living in a city (not needing a car, seeing people on the street, etc.) most mid-sized cities won't fit the bill. Most places in the U.S. only have a few urban neighborhoods.
3. Not always easy to make friends in many places that don't have the transplant culture of NYC/DC/SF/etc. If you're from Des Moines and want to stay there, then it's probably great, but I would imagine it's pretty alienating to move there in your late 20s.

[09042014]

The above is somewhat true though I've heard if you're at a top litigation firm in NYC it absolutely does help being from NYC because people know you can put up with NYC hours and NYC demands so it's a badge of honor type thing - people know you have the work ethic.

It's probably that there is no reason to be in NYC if you want to litigate. Corporate NYC dwarfs the rest, but lit? Ain't nobody putting up with NYC so they can BE A TRIAL LAWYER AT QUINN

[Doritos]

DC food has gotten a little better but it's mostly just generic and meh. Wilmington, DE has better food per capita. DC should be embarrassed.

I still actually like DC, but all Washingtonians should be embarrassed of how fucking shitty pizza is there. There is better pizza in West Virginia than in DC. (And no, a random brick oven place doesn't count. Everywhere has one of those.)

I've found two Pizza places in DC that I love. Try Vace in cleveland park and (though not DC) Stromboli's in Bethesda.

Pizza Paradiso is very good. To say otherwise is just incorrect. There's one in Dupont and Georgetown. This is a place where you sit.
For drunken slices there's that shady place on H Street that's cash only and no receipt. I forget the name of it but the slices are enormous.