Former V5 associate, former federal clerk, taking questions Forum

[ClerkAdvisor]

Most bonuses get destroyed in taxes (the tax rate is huge on bonus income). I'm considering changing firms and one thing I'm trying to do is get more in salary and less by way of a bonus.

Just the withholding is different. It's all teh same come April 15th

^this

[Lexaholik]

Bump for any questions.

[smaug_]

Can you comment on p side work now that a couple of weeks have passed? Still too early to talk about what it is like?

[Lexaholik]

Can you comment on p side work now that a couple of weeks have passed? Still too early to talk about what it is like?

I'll take a crack at it. A few first impressions:

- Less operational support. I have no secretary so I have to handle all administrative/clerical tasks myself. This is similar to how life was as a clerk (my judge hired an extra clerk instead of having a judicial assistant) but starkly different from my biglaw job, where I'd delegate tons of tasks to my secretary.

- Flat structure. In biglaw, I never had any interaction with the partners who litigated the case. Instead everything I did was funneled through the hierarchy before it reached the partner. I'm not sure if the partners even recognized me. Here, all of my interaction is with the partners-in fact, there are more partners than associates in my office.

- Less waste. In biglaw I had about a week of orientation, and then a week or two of messing around in the office as I waited to be staffed on a matter. Here, they put me immediately to work on my first day-and it wasn't BS work.

- More responsibility. It's not out of goodness of their hearts, but P lawyers run lean operations and squeeze the most out of their employees. I was immediately asked to interview witnesses and develop case strategy. Nobody ever asked me to do that in biglaw.

I'll probably have more thoughts as time goes on.

[bdubs]

Are you litigating similar cases on the plaintiffs side to those that you handled as a defense lawyer?

Any conflicts issues with your former firm or judge?

[Lexaholik]

Are you litigating similar cases on the plaintiffs side to those that you handled as a defense lawyer?

Any conflicts issues with your former firm or judge?

No conflicts at all with either.

The cases are not quite the same. My cases now are largely consumer class actions-I never defended those types of cases in biglaw.

[dixiecupdrinking]

Are you litigating similar cases on the plaintiffs side to those that you handled as a defense lawyer?

Any conflicts issues with your former firm or judge?

No conflicts at all with either.

The cases are not quite the same. My cases now are largely consumer class actions-I never defended those types of cases in biglaw.

How's the lifestyle on plaintiffs side compare so far? Sounds like you will still be very busy.

[Lexaholik]

Are you litigating similar cases on the plaintiffs side to those that you handled as a defense lawyer?

Any conflicts issues with your former firm or judge?

No conflicts at all with either.

The cases are not quite the same. My cases now are largely consumer class actions-I never defended those types of cases in biglaw.

How's the lifestyle on plaintiffs side compare so far? Sounds like you will still be very busy.

As any current or former biglaw associate will tell you, it's not the number of hours that's difficult about practicing, it's the quality of hours. I noticed that at my new job there's a lot less demoralizing work (e.g., last minute fire drills to produce work product that is never even looked at by the partner) and lots of autonomy. (The amount of nitpicking and micromanaging at my V5 was extraordinary.) Not sure if these differences are due to being on the plaintiff's side, the culture of my firm, the lack of leverage, my boss's lifestyle, or something else entirely.

[kevgogators]

Where'd you go to law school, if you don't mind me asking?

How'd you land the V5 position? Via OCI?

[Lexaholik]

Where'd you go to law school, if you don't mind me asking?

How'd you land the V5 position? Via OCI?

I went to a t14 and landed a summer associate position at the V5.