What is it like being a BigLaw lawyer? Forum

[whuts4lunch]

off-topic but sort of related to some of the comments: how come many say that BigLaw lawyers who post on the internet are an unrepresentative unhappy sample, yet when discussing reported law school employment statistics, many say that there is a bias in reporting towards the students with better employment outcomes who are presumably happier? Is there some sort of barrier to reporting employment stats for those with bad employment outcomes?

sry for poor grammar, had a few drinks tonight

[BeenDidThat]

off-topic but sort of related to some of the comments: how come many say that BigLaw lawyers who post on the internet are an unrepresentative unhappy sample, yet when discussing reported law school employment statistics, many say that there is a bias in reporting towards the students with better employment outcomes who are presumably happier? Is there some sort of barrier to reporting employment stats for those with bad employment outcomes?

sry for poor grammar, had a few drinks tonight

Though I have no first-hand information on the topic, from TLS I've gathered that some schools dutifully send out multiple surveys to those with good jobs while pursuing those without good jobs with less persistence.

[BunkMoreland]

It doesn't really make sense to me why people try to convince themselves that biglaw isn't the worst situation you could be in as a lawyer. Think about it: only 5-10% of people in biglaw actually become partners. Therefore, either a whole bunch of people who LIKE biglaw are getting dumped by their firms after 7-10 years, OR people are leaving before they could become partner because the hours are awful, the stress is incredible, etc. Biglaw pays more than pretty much every other kind of legal job and yet people are still leaving in droves to do other things. At some point you have to be rational and ask yourself why this is.

There are lots of reasons people leave big law that are NOT because it sucks. Maybe they've paid their student loans off; maybe they want to do government work, try in-house work, etc. Maybe they want to start a family or have more time for their current family so they go to a less demanding firm job. That doesn't mean they hate biglaw.

[Julio_El_Chavo]

Okay, you guys are right. Biglaw RAWKS! Geez, I didn't realize every hyperbolic statement I made on this board would be read like a fucking well-researched treatise. Relax. My flame was simply an attempt to balance out the rose-colored-glasses view that everyone on this board has of biglaw and the legal profession in general.

[Teoeo]

Okay, you guys are right. Biglaw RAWKS! Geez, I didn't realize every hyperbolic statement I made on this board would be read like a fucking well-researched treatise. Relax. My flame was simply an attempt to balance out the rose-colored-glasses view that everyone on this board has of biglaw and the legal profession in general.

Huh? TLS has "rose-colored-glasses" with respect to the legal profession? O_O

[kwais]

Okay, you guys are right. Biglaw RAWKS! Geez, I didn't realize every hyperbolic statement I made on this board would be read like a fucking well-researched treatise. Relax. My flame was simply an attempt to balance out the rose-colored-glasses view that everyone on this board has of biglaw and the legal profession in general.

Huh? TLS has "rose-colored-glasses" with respect to the legal profession? O_O

+1 lol. That is the first time I have heard that characterization of TLS

[BeenDidThat]

Okay, you guys are right. Biglaw RAWKS! Geez, I didn't realize every hyperbolic statement I made on this board would be read like a fucking well-researched treatise. Relax. My flame was simply an attempt to balance out the rose-colored-glasses view that everyone on this board has of biglaw and the legal profession in general.

Huh? TLS has "rose-colored-glasses" with respect to the legal profession? O_O

[motownsaint]

Okay, you guys are right. Biglaw RAWKS! Geez, I didn't realize every hyperbolic statement I made on this board would be read like a fucking well-researched treatise. Relax. My flame was simply an attempt to balance out the rose-colored-glasses view that everyone on this board has of biglaw and the legal profession in general.

Huh? TLS has "rose-colored-glasses" with respect to the legal profession? O_O

In comparison to XOXO

[Rooney]

One take on being a BigLaw lawyer can be found here: http://thepeoplestherapist.com/
Although I'm sure there are happy less miserable attorneys out there working in so-called BigLaw. You should read his posts in conjunction with comments to each post.

I read that first post and all it did was convince me that the guys problem is his marriage, not his job.

Key point of this thread: don't get married and work in biglaw, do one or the other.

He has one post where he describes his highschool friend who didn't go to college like he did. The author went on to LS and worked in biglaw before burning out. His friend: Trey Anastasio, who made millions with his band, Phish....

[reasonable_man]

off-topic but sort of related to some of the comments: how come many say that BigLaw lawyers who post on the internet are an unrepresentative unhappy sample, yet when discussing reported law school employment statistics, many say that there is a bias in reporting towards the students with better employment outcomes who are presumably happier? Is there some sort of barrier to reporting employment stats for those with bad employment outcomes?

sry for poor grammar, had a few drinks tonight

Though I have no first-hand information on the topic, from TLS I've gathered that some schools dutifully send out multiple surveys to those with good jobs while pursuing those without good jobs with less persistence.

This is 100% correct. When I graduated my LS all but offered me a blow job to fill out the employment data - several nice e-mails, letters, phone calls, etc. My unemployed / under-employed fellow alums (of which there were many), were sent one snail mail form and were not pressed for a response.

[lisjjen]

Okay, you guys are right. Biglaw RAWKS! Geez, I didn't realize every hyperbolic statement I made on this board would be read like a fucking well-researched treatise. Relax. My flame was simply an attempt to balance out the rose-colored-glasses view that everyone on this board has of biglaw and the legal profession in general.

--ImageRemoved--

[Voltaire_X]

One take on being a BigLaw lawyer can be found here: http://thepeoplestherapist.com/
Although I'm sure there are happy less miserable attorneys out there working in so-called BigLaw. You should read his posts in conjunction with comments to each post.

I read that first post and all it did was convince me that the guys problem is his marriage, not his job.

Key point of this thread: don't get married and work in biglaw, do one or the other.

He has one post where he describes his highschool friend who didn't go to college like he did. The author went on to LS and worked in biglaw before burning out. His friend: Trey Anastasio, who made millions with his band, Phish....

I wonder if all my high school friends that dropped out and got GEDs will become rich and live fabulous lives while I'm slaving away at some biglaw job for a measly 160k a year...

Doubt it.

[Julio_El_Chavo]

Mergers and Inquisitions

[Renzo]

Most stories about the misery of BigLaw come out of NYC. That should tell you something.

What it tells me is that most biglaw lawyers work in NYC.

[RVP11]

Most stories about the misery of BigLaw come out of NYC. That should tell you something.

What it tells me is that most biglaw lawyers work in NYC.

NYC does not have more than 50% of the BigLaw lawyers.