Most “chill” biglaw locations? Forum

[blair.waldorf]

No such thing as YSCH unless Chicago remains in the top 3 for 10 more years. Clearly a school a cut below in terms of student or faculty quality.

Boomer take—you’re clearly not up to speed with legal academia. Chicago’s faculty is #2 in the country in the citation rankings, and it’s also #1 by a mile in the “faculty under 60” variant of the rankings, so it will likely take over #1 from YLS (which has a very old faculty) at some point.

Also, SLS and Chicago have virtually identical classes by LSAT and GPA.

Take this to the main room please. Nobody cares about Chicago.

More accurately, no one gives a shit about this conversation in this thread. Take it elsewhere.

[Anonymous User]

Can anyone speak to Florida cities?

Miami isn’t really chill, maybe very slightly fewer hours than NY but not by much.

Other cities like Tampa, Orlando, and Jax you’ll probably be working in the 1950 area but you’ll be paid a bit less as well. I don’t have a read on culture anywhere except I’ve heard GT Tampa (and Miami, for that matter) is just not a great place to work. but YMMV

Also for what it’s worth Miami, Tampa, and Jacksonville are very insular and not particularly welcoming to people not from the area. I found it particularly difficult to even get a foot in the door at many places and I’m well above median at a T14, just not from FL. Orlando, I have heard, is slightly more open to transplants.

[Anonymous User]

first-year corporate associate in DC who works ~50% for NYC partners -- i've had a different experience than that described in this thread. my most demanding partners, who give the most weekend work, are all based out of DC. when i check to see who's online with me at 10pm on a tuesday, it's usually both DC and NYC people. there is a very genteel, intellectual air to the DC folks, but they still work like crazy. might be firm specific

[Anonymous User]

Also go to one of those schools and have had discussions about this with the school advisors. Generalizing a ton, but DC is usually described as the worst work/life balance, followed closely by NYC. West Coast is described as being more "chill" but my understanding is that's misleading. Those firms might not require as much face time, but many of the top firms still require a similar amount of hours...though I haven't heard of any firms in CA that implicitly expect 2200 hours or more, whereas that sounds more normal in some NYC shops. All this to say it's not enough to filer by location, you also need to look into the specific firms and learn which are known to be the sweatshops in the area (and associates are, in my experience, happy to share)

this is actual nonsense lol

edit: read this opposite, nvm

[Sackboy]

Conventional wisdom over the past decade on this form is NYC > DC > Chicago/TX/Cali/BOS > Secondary/Tertiary markets with some variance at each firm.

[Anonymous User]

first-year corporate associate

This was all you needed to say lol

[Anonymous User]

Conventional wisdom over the past decade on this form is NYC > DC > Chicago/TX/Cali/BOS > Secondary/Tertiary markets with some variance at each firm.

At least in my secondary/tertiary biglaw office, there is not really a difference in our hours billed versus our NYC/DC/other major market offices. Plenty of folks are over 2500 hours...a few close to or over 3k, etc. Friends at other biglaw firms in my market have similar horror stories. I'm not suggesting that NYC corporate isn't its own animal, but the grass is certainly not always--and maybe not even usually-- greener in smaller markets (though at least I don't have to take the subway and biglaw salary goes really far here).

[Anonymous User]

Curious if anyone can comment on hours expected at the big 4 firms in Wilmington, DE. More chill than NYC?

[12YrsAnAssociate]

Conventional wisdom over the past decade on this form is NYC > DC > Chicago/TX/Cali/BOS > Secondary/Tertiary markets with some variance at each firm.

At least in my secondary/tertiary biglaw office, there is not really a difference in our hours billed versus our NYC/DC/other major market offices. Plenty of folks are over 2500 hours...a few close to or over 3k, etc. Friends at other biglaw firms in my market have similar horror stories. I'm not suggesting that NYC corporate isn't its own animal, but the grass is certainly not always--and maybe not even usually-- greener in smaller markets (though at least I don't have to take the subway and biglaw salary goes really far here).

I started off at biglaw office in a secondary market and it was terrible. The lack of competition among other firms in the market was the biggest things because if you wanted biglaw money, that was the only local firm you could go to, so the partners knew they could treat you like crap. I left and it was a good choice.

[ignorantfoot96]

first-year corporate associate in DC who works ~50% for NYC partners -- i've had a different experience than that described in this thread. my most demanding partners, who give the most weekend work, are all based out of DC. when i check to see who's online with me at 10pm on a tuesday, it's usually both DC and NYC people. there is a very genteel, intellectual air to the DC folks, but they still work like crazy. might be firm specific

Would you mind pming me? I am curious as to how this dynamic works because I will hopefully be doing this next year (current 3L)

[Anonymous User]

I know of recent Supreme Court clerks who began private practice in Birmingham, Columbus, and Cleveland.

Genius move, especially Cleveland. You could buy a literal mansion there with just the signing bonus.

Can confirm. Making close to market in Cleveland as a 4th year and have more money than I know what to do with. I was in the Top 5 students (not %) in a mid T-14 and clerked D. Ct. and COA. Credentials are more appreciated than they would be in a big market. Hours are still 2100+ though. Big law is big law. Live where your money goes the furthest.

[Anonymous User]

Can confirm. Making close to market in Cleveland as a 4th year and have more money than I know what to do with. I was in the Top 5 students (not %) in a mid T-14 and clerked D. Ct. and COA. Credentials are more appreciated than they would be in a big market. Hours are still 2100+ though. Big law is big law. Live where your money goes the furthest.

I actually recently turned down a D. Ct. clerkship for a well-respected judge in Cleveland. I don't regret it, but I did for a minute consider how nice my quality of life could have potentially been if I took it and stayed afterwards to practice.

[Anonymous User]

I know of recent Supreme Court clerks who began private practice in Birmingham, Columbus, and Cleveland.

Genius move, especially Cleveland. You could buy a literal mansion there with just the signing bonus.

Can confirm. Making close to market in Cleveland as a 4th year and have more money than I know what to do with. I was in the Top 5 students (not %) in a mid T-14 and clerked D. Ct. and COA. Credentials are more appreciated than they would be in a big market. Hours are still 2100+ though. Big law is big law. Live where your money goes the furthest.

Yeah if you can land in one of the near-market places that competes for elite litigation talent in the Midwestern secondaries—often but not always Jones Day—you’ll make a killing compared to traditional biglaw, and likely have a reasonably good shot at elite exits like the judiciary, being appointed the U.S. Attorney or state SG, etc.