New associate banter Forum

[09042014]

Pro-tip: Feelings can't swim in whiskey.

Not an Irishman I see. Feelings can only swim in whiskey for us.

[Big Shrimpin]

Hit my goal of billing ~200 hours for my first full month, feels good... an emptyish good, but good.

Welcome to the big leagues.

Wait until you bill your first ~300 month.

You'll be changing your tune REAL fast.

[thesealocust]

Pro-tip: Feelings can't swim in whiskey.

Not an Irishman I see. Feelings can only swim in whiskey for us.

I'm actually more Irish than anything else, I just can't be arsed to ever keep the various spellings straight.

[keg411]

Hit my goal of billing ~200 hours for my first full month, feels good... an emptyish good, but good.

Welcome to the big leagues.

Wait until you bill your first ~300 month.

You'll be changing your tune REAL fast.

I don't know if I want to know what that's like....

[Old Gregg]

Billed 450 one month. It sucked.

[Anonymous User]

Hit my goal of billing ~200 hours for my first full month, feels good... an emptyish good, but good.

Welcome to the big leagues.

Wait until you bill your first ~300 month.

You'll be changing your tune REAL fast.

Just almost did hit 300 - totally doable, so long as you don't mind part of your life falling apart. Not like, irreparably fall apart, but things certainly go on hold and get prioritized. However, now I know that doing the basic bonus hours isn't terrible, just kinda inconvenient.

I have no idea how people do this with a family is beyond me. I guess a great home office and ability to split your attention?

[Anonymous User]

Billed 450 one month. It sucked.

I'd have to set-up a cot and live in the office, no other way I can even imagine it.

[Great Satchmo]

Young associates spend 90%+ of their day in their office doing stuff by themselves. That's too much social interaction for some people?

I look forward to phone calls now.

[FlightoftheEarls]

Is it crazy to be shy about taking advantage of Seamless, cars home, etc.? Been working enough to qualify, but feel like the stuff I'm doing isn't important or complicated enough yet to justify it and I'm just being inefficient. And I don't want to call attention to it.

I guess I'm still not used to the notion that these firms really don't bat an eye about picking up $50-60 tabs (between food and cab fare) on a regular basis for people just staying late. It will probably fade with time.

Seamless, cars, etc. are psychological warfare the firm is waging with you. It's designed to make you say "fuck it" and work an extra hour or two or four.

Pro-tip: If your dinner + car cost the firm $100, that means you have to bill roughly 15-20 extra minutes to cover it and any time after is revenue. Stop thinking like a normal human being and start thinking like a corporate law firm gunning for 7-figure revenue per lawyer.

Thanks, I feel both better and worse, a sensation that seems common to the process of learning more about working in a law firm.

Another way to help you feel better about it if you're feeling guilty about the expense (even if you know you shouldn't) is that you are probably much more productive working in the office with all its resources. I would say I'm legitimately 50% more efficient when I have the full computing/dual-monitor/printing power of my office at my disposal. If you can do a job in 2 hours of staying late that might require 3 at home, you just saved your client $400 and they should be grateful for your $25 seamless dinner and $30 car ride home.

[Big Shrimpin]

Billed 450 one month. It sucked.

Just, wow. I thought 300 was brutal.

I didn't understand attrition until I had a few 300ish months in a row.

People I know are starting to leave for greener pastures (not yet at my firm but I know of others).

[ragelion]

Is it crazy to be shy about taking advantage of Seamless, cars home, etc.? Been working enough to qualify, but feel like the stuff I'm doing isn't important or complicated enough yet to justify it and I'm just being inefficient. And I don't want to call attention to it.

I guess I'm still not used to the notion that these firms really don't bat an eye about picking up $50-60 tabs (between food and cab fare) on a regular basis for people just staying late. It will probably fade with time.

Seamless, cars, etc. are psychological warfare the firm is waging with you. It's designed to make you say "fuck it" and work an extra hour or two or four.

Pro-tip: If your dinner + car cost the firm $100, that means you have to bill roughly 15-20 extra minutes to cover it and any time after is revenue. Stop thinking like a normal human being and start thinking like a corporate law firm gunning for 7-figure revenue per lawyer.

I walk over on weekends to put in a few hours because I'm too cheap to pass up 90 dollars of free food.

[RodneyBoonfield]

This may seem stupid, but what do people do on thos days where there is nothing to do? Do people just screw around on the net or try to do productive things (ie learn stuff)?

[Old Gregg]

This may seem stupid, but what do people do on thos days where there is nothing to do? Do people just screw around on the net or try to do productive things (ie learn stuff)?

I read practice-related materials (i.e., PLI, books, etc.), take care of pro bono work and clean up odds and ends.

[thesealocust]

Stare at my phone and outlook inbox while nervously twitching and chain smoking.

Alternatively, read relevant news/blogs (has been incredibly useful more than once), pro bono (try to find something that fits with whatever time commitments your private practice entails), life maintenance (if your usually busy nobody is going to bust your balls over taking care of your life when you aren't), non-urgent work (things you know are coming and can prepare for), and the most important: actively avoiding work / eye contact with people who can give you work.

[mr. wednesday]

This may seem stupid, but what do people do on thos days where there is nothing to do? Do people just screw around on the net or try to do productive things (ie learn stuff)?

Lately I've been shopping online for things for my office. I'm almost completely done decorating at this point, and I have to say it is getting quite comfortable to be here. I also shop online for work clothes, or review training materials that my department sends to our management officials to see what advice we're giving them. And there is always random walks to Starbucks or other nearby shops.

[philosoraptor]

Alternatively, read relevant news/blogs (has been incredibly useful more than once)

TSL, what does your down-time reading list usually look like?

[seespotrun]

Billed 450 one month. It sucked.

How?

[Gorki]

Billed 450 one month. It sucked.

How?

15 hour days, obv.

[thesealocust]

Alternatively, read relevant news/blogs (has been incredibly useful more than once)

TSL, what does your down-time reading list usually look like?

Dealbreaker, TLS, WSJ, NYT dealbook, dealbreaker. I really like dealbreaker. On exceptionally slow days I'll pinch my nose and look at ATL. Sometimes see what the gold/Ron Paul '08/libertarian/bitcoin crew are up to, because it's so amusingly not what I'm up to.

[Big Shrimpin]

Billed 450 one month. It sucked.

How?

I was kinda wondering this too. Unless I was block billing, I don't think I could physically do this.

[thesealocust]

Billed 450 one month. It sucked.

How?

I was kinda wondering this too. Unless I was block billing, I don't think I could physically do this.

Anything I've heard over 300 has generally involved assignments that make huge swaths of time billable, like staying at the printers or going to a company for on-site diligence or something. Never heard of over 400 though...

[Old Gregg]

Specifics could out me. I know other associates who've done just as much, though.

It was partly my fault. I took on too many deals (had around seven going at the same time). But most of them weren't actively moving along, so it was just one of the deals that completely destroyed me.

In retrospect, it was one of my favorite deals. Highly sophisticated client that made my life extremely easy, very commercial counterparties that wanted to GIT ER' DONE, legendary partners I got to work with and learn from, also the opportunity to talk to some very, very famous billionaires.

[thesealocust]

^ you like what you do.

You're doomed.

[Big Shrimpin]

Specifics could out me. I know other associates who've done just as much, though.

It was partly my fault. I took on too many deals (had around seven going at the same time). But most of them weren't actively moving along, so it was just one of the deals that completely destroyed me.

In retrospect, it was one of my favorite deals. Highly sophisticated client that made my life extremely easy, very commercial counterparties that wanted to GIT ER' DONE, legendary partners I got to work with and learn from, also the opportunity to talk to some very, very famous billionaires.

Rad, breh.

[seespotrun]

Specifics could out me. I know other associates who've done just as much, though.

It was partly my fault. I took on too many deals (had around seven going at the same time). But most of them weren't actively moving along, so it was just one of the deals that completely destroyed me.

In retrospect, it was one of my favorite deals. Highly sophisticated client that made my life extremely easy, very commercial counterparties that wanted to GIT ER' DONE, legendary partners I got to work with and learn from, also the opportunity to talk to some very, very famous billionaires.

I'm with BigShrimpin. I don't know how you physically were able to do this. I've billed over 300 the past two months and it's been backbreaking. In fact, any month I've billed over 250 has been balls.