New associate banter Forum

[mr. wednesday]

I let my managers know I'm free and then do nothing at work with zero guilt until they give me something. Sometimes that includes CLEs or reading new cases, and sometimes that includes personal stuff or shopping for something or whatever. I wouldn't tell them a second time in two days that you need work.

[DwightSchruteFarms]

How often are you all asking for more work during a downtime? I asked yesterday, and all my partners said they didnt have anything...so i basically sat around and researched waiver wire pickups for week 7. Today, I get in and do a small 15 min assignment, nothing major. But now i have nothing to do. I don't want to get on their nerves with my constant requests but I honestly can't research fantasy football anymore.

this is my fear of big law: i know i'll have to cope with extremely busy weeks and extremely slow weeks, but, unlike busy weeks, slow weeks do not result in a change in the amount of hours spent at the office. what happens if you just go home when you have nothing to do (especially after informing the need-to-knows that you need work)?

Edited: this is a fear for me because doing nothing in an office, even if there is nothing to do, results in weird guilt emotions/time moves slow as fuck.

Edited again: do NYC big law firms provide associates with a way to get grammar/punctuation proof reads before submitting assignments?

I talked to a few of the associates in my gruop and they all said "enjoy the time you are a law clerk" and "enjoy downtimes while your billables mean nothing." I guess I'm still nervous about my impression givent hat I got my ass handed to me for my last assignment (see few pages back) eventho everything has gone really well.

I guess while we (most of us i presume) are still waiting for bar results and admission and since billables mean nothing, downtime could be used to read a good book or scotusblog maybe?

To answer your first question, id highly recc NOT leaving early. Everyone keeps telling me that facetime is huge at any big firm. Esp this early in our careers, you dont wanna be known as the dude who peaces earlier than everyone else.

To answer your second question, I'm working in LA, but I just give it to my secretary to review after I've read it 3/4 times over. It always helps having an extra pair fo eyes

[KeepitKind]

How often are you all asking for more work during a downtime? I asked yesterday, and all my partners said they didnt have anything...so i basically sat around and researched waiver wire pickups for week 7. Today, I get in and do a small 15 min assignment, nothing major. But now i have nothing to do. I don't want to get on their nerves with my constant requests but I honestly can't research fantasy football anymore.

Do research that pertains to your practice. In my downtime I've been reading about startups and investment round term sheets.

link to good reads on investment round term sheets and good startup blogs?

[Stanford4Me]

How often are you all asking for more work during a downtime? I asked yesterday, and all my partners said they didnt have anything...so i basically sat around and researched waiver wire pickups for week 7. Today, I get in and do a small 15 min assignment, nothing major. But now i have nothing to do. I don't want to get on their nerves with my constant requests but I honestly can't research fantasy football anymore.

Do research that pertains to your practice. In my downtime I've been reading about startups and investment round term sheets.

link to good reads on investment round term sheets and good startup blogs?

The main partner I work with just printed out a bunch of stuff (I guess he has a folder with this stuff saved) and separated it by categories. A lot of it comes from FeldThought.

Docracy also has a term sheet guide that discusses pretty much every major component of term sheets with links to various sources. This is probably the most helpful.

There are also articles on Venture Hacks and A VC

I also bought a few books on Amazon for more "concrete" reading.

- Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital
- Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur
- The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs

It's going to take me a long time to read this stuff, but it's real helpful for what I do, especially considering that this is the fastest growing area of the firm I'm at.

[KeepitKind]

How often are you all asking for more work during a downtime? I asked yesterday, and all my partners said they didnt have anything...so i basically sat around and researched waiver wire pickups for week 7. Today, I get in and do a small 15 min assignment, nothing major. But now i have nothing to do. I don't want to get on their nerves with my constant requests but I honestly can't research fantasy football anymore.

Do research that pertains to your practice. In my downtime I've been reading about startups and investment round term sheets.

link to good reads on investment round term sheets and good startup blogs?

The main partner I work with just printed out a bunch of stuff (I guess he has a folder with this stuff saved) and separated it by categories. A lot of it comes from FeldThought.

Docracy also has a term sheet guide that discusses pretty much every major component of term sheets with links to various sources. This is probably the most helpful.

There are also articles on Venture Hacks and A VC

I also bought a few books on Amazon for more "concrete" reading.

- Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital
- Raising Venture Capital for the Serious Entrepreneur
- The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs

It's going to take me a long time to read this stuff, but it's real helpful for what I do, especially considering that this is the fastest growing area of the firm I'm at.

Thanks, this stuff looks great. I would also like to position myself to be valuable in advising startups or VCs - maybe at the firm, maybe later on.

[DwightSchruteFarms]

How often are you all asking for more work during a downtime? I asked yesterday, and all my partners said they didnt have anything...so i basically sat around and researched waiver wire pickups for week 7. Today, I get in and do a small 15 min assignment, nothing major. But now i have nothing to do. I don't want to get on their nerves with my constant requests but I honestly can't research fantasy football anymore.

Do research that pertains to your practice. In my downtime I've been reading about startups and investment round term sheets.

My field is "business litigation." It doesn't get any broader. What reads would you recc?

[beach_terror]

First night in the office past 8. Getting a comped dinner is nice. Also got paid today, which is nice. Staying this late, not so nice. Ill probably be out by 9 at least.

[Anonymous User]

If you're purely in it for the money, Texas biglaw is the obvious choice.

Ya. Charlotte has a nice COL too and a fair amount of work, if the Deep South ain't your thing.

Biglaw bro of mine in Charlotte was renting a massive 3br for a fraction of what I paid for a smallish 1br in MFH. But then again, he had to live in Charlotte.

Eh, Charlotte is actually a pretty cool city. Im from a big city "up north" and find there is plenty to do here, just on an obviously smaller scale. COL is pretty low like you said (I'm renting a 2bed/2.5 bath in a nice part of town for 1400) and at least in my practice group the hour expectations are very tolerable. The tradeoff is that pay increases are pretty small (think 5k or so per year) your first 3-4 years.

[desertlaw]

Charlotte's airport is the tits. Every time I fly to the east coast, I try to get a layover thru Charlotte. If I lived there, I'd try to travel for business every week and get to the hotel a few hours early.

[Big Shrimpin]

First night in the office past 8. Getting a comped dinner is nice. Also got paid today, which is nice. Staying this late, not so nice. Ill probably be out by 9 at least.

JFC

[Big Shrimpin]

If you're purely in it for the money, Texas biglaw is the obvious choice.

Ya. Charlotte has a nice COL too and a fair amount of work, if the Deep South ain't your thing.

Biglaw bro of mine in Charlotte was renting a massive 3br for a fraction of what I paid for a smallish 1br in MFH. But then again, he had to live in Charlotte.

Eh, Charlotte is actually a pretty cool city. Im from a big city "up north" and find there is plenty to do here, just on an obviously smaller scale. COL is pretty low like you said (I'm renting a 2bed/2.5 bath in a nice part of town for 1400) and at least in my practice group the hour expectations are very tolerable. The tradeoff is that pay increases are pretty small (think 5k or so per year) your first 3-4 years.

Yeah it's a great way to save money for sure.

[beach_terror]

First night in the office past 8. Getting a comped dinner is nice. Also got paid today, which is nice. Staying this late, not so nice. Ill probably be out by 9 at least.

JFC

Yeah yeah, my hours aren't horrible, but I still get to complain.

[ragelion]

First night in the office past 8. Getting a comped dinner is nice. Also got paid today, which is nice. Staying this late, not so nice. Ill probably be out by 9 at least.

JFC

Yeah yeah, my hours aren't horrible, but I still get to complain.

lol

[DwightSchruteFarms]

lol

[Big Shrimpin]

First night in the office past 8. Getting a comped dinner is nice. Also got paid today, which is nice. Staying this late, not so nice. Ill probably be out by 9 at least.

JFC

Yeah yeah, my hours aren't horrible, but I still get to complain.

I would toss a baby kitten out my office window if it meant I could leave before 9.

[Anonymous User]

Eh, Charlotte is actually a pretty cool city. Im from a big city "up north" and find there is plenty to do here, just on an obviously smaller scale. COL is pretty low like you said (I'm renting a 2bed/2.5 bath in a nice part of town for 1400) and at least in my practice group the hour expectations are very tolerable. The tradeoff is that pay increases are pretty small (think 5k or so per year) your first 3-4 years.

What part of town are you in? I moved back down here from my school up north. I have a 3 BR/2 full bath/2 half bath townhouse with a less than terrible commute for about 1350 (South Charlotte - steering clear of 77 and 485). Same thing in my previous city for a comparable level of quality/updates would have been a lot more. I assume you work uptown?

The hours at my firm are very reasonable too. Home in time for dinner with the wife almost every day.

[Dr. Review]

Just got my first substantive feedback, and it was all positive.

[ragelion]

Just got my first substantive feedback, and it was all positive.

Your reward is more work.

[Anonymous User]

How many hours did everyone work the first week? I barely have any billable hours.....but it does look like next week will be busy.

[ragelion]

How many hours did everyone work the first week? I barely have any billable hours.....but it does look like next week will be busy.

5.2, apparently.

[thesealocust]

How many hours did everyone work the first week? I barely have any billable hours.....but it does look like next week will be busy.

First month: 1.6 billable hours / calendar (not business) day average

4th month: 9.7 billable hours / calendar (not business) day average

[Dr. Review]

Just got my first substantive feedback, and it was all positive.

Your reward is more work.

Less than an hour later, I got a project that has to be done by Monday.

[brotherdarkness]

.

[Anonymous User]

Eh, Charlotte is actually a pretty cool city. Im from a big city "up north" and find there is plenty to do here, just on an obviously smaller scale. COL is pretty low like you said (I'm renting a 2bed/2.5 bath in a nice part of town for 1400) and at least in my practice group the hour expectations are very tolerable. The tradeoff is that pay increases are pretty small (think 5k or so per year) your first 3-4 years.

What part of town are you in? I moved back down here from my school up north. I have a 3 BR/2 full bath/2 half bath townhouse with a less than terrible commute for about 1350 (South Charlotte - steering clear of 77 and 485). Same thing in my previous city for a comparable level of quality/updates would have been a lot more. I assume you work uptown?

The hours at my firm are very reasonable too. Home in time for dinner with the wife almost every day.

South Park. And ya, working in uptown doing the big law thing.

[Anonymous User]

Would it be a mistake to wear a really nice watch to the office as a first year? (Think cartier, panerai, etc.)