lavarman84 wrote:
He loses quite a bit by giving the job a try. First, he has to move to where the biglaw job is and make commitments (like a lease).
If it's in NY like he originally wanted, and he was planning to bartend in Brooklyn anyways, it's negligible. As long as it's a fun city he likes, he can stay after. If he has to move to a city he can't see himself in without the job, then totally agree that he should not do it. But he mentioned NY and Brooklyn. I would assume if he were to try this out, it'd be in one of those fun cities.
Second, he loses out on other opportunities that might have been available to him if he chose not to pursue biglaw. Yes, he could just go home and work for the family firm. If that's his Plan B no matter what, it mitigates the risk. But if he has another passion, there is some opportunity cost. Third, a lot of people don't have the personality to just quit after a month. I couldn't. I'd feel guilty about it, even though I know the firm wouldn't hesitate to fire me if it was in their interest to do it.
That's your own hang-up though. If he takes it and it sucks, he should quit guilt free. There are people that don't even make it a month. I don't get people with these weird hang-ups, it's completely a business relationship. Your company will fire you for various reasons, and you can quit for various reasons. They'll give people the boot who give up weekends, work long hours. You can't even quit after a month without feeling guilty?
The opportunity cost really depends on what he wants to do. If he wants to bartend in a cool city, party, travel, and enjoy life, then he can definitely do that after a month or so at a law firm if he doesn't like it. He'll have however many weeks worth of pay check, and an apartment in a city he likes.
If he has some other goal though, like starting a business, entrepreneurial endeavors, or he to do other rich kid stuff (be a actor/bartender in LA, try to be an artist or writer/hipster bartender in Brooklyn, and just generally party his ass off), he's not really losing much opportunity costs. Maybe some binge drinking, and a few wild nights he missed out on he can quickly make up for with the proper endurance. Bartending/waitering jobs at cool restaurants are readily available as long as he knows the right people or is willing to bus for a month.
And I agree that Big law isn't a grand mystery. But for some reason a lot of people get the wrong impression or idea of it. They know it's a lot of work but after a year find out it's far worse than they imagined. Or they know it sucks but they find it the suckage is far more than expected. For others it works out and they make partner.
It's not like there's that much pressure anyways. So what if he spends a month or so at the big firm, finds out he hates it and quits? I know rich kids that work at Banks, or did stints at law firms. They leave try it out, put in however much effort they feel, ride it out. There's no pressure, they have more money than anyone at the firm anyways. They just quit and hit the club after, or ride it out until something else perks their interest.