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How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:43 pm
by thekingiv
Obviously it is all relative to the practice area and the location, but for the most part, I would think that lawyers don't travel much...To be clear, by travel, I mean across state lines or internationally.

Anyone have an idea?

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:44 pm
by bceagles182
thekingiv wrote:Obviously it is all relative to the practice area and the location, but for the most part, I would think that lawyers don't travel much...To be clear, by travel, I mean across state lines or internationally.

Anyone have an idea?
Going to have to be WAY more specific about what type of lawyer, where they work, etc.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:47 pm
by gwuorbust
every time I log off TLS I think "I've seen the dumbest thread possible." and yet every time I login I find a dumber thread.


TLS, I am disappoint.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:52 pm
by kwais
Biglaw: 14
PI: 21.6
Midlaw: 11
Personal Injury: 33
International Human Rights Law: 90
Constitutional Law: 6


You are welcome

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2011 4:54 pm
by kapital98
gwuorbust wrote:every time I log off TLS I think "I've seen the dumbest thread possible." and yet every time I login I find a dumber thread.


TLS, I am disappoint.
:D

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:35 am
by thekingiv
bceagles182 wrote:
thekingiv wrote:Obviously it is all relative to the practice area and the location, but for the most part, I would think that lawyers don't travel much...To be clear, by travel, I mean across state lines or internationally.

Anyone have an idea?
Going to have to be WAY more specific about what type of lawyer, where they work, etc.
How about transactional work at a big firm in Atlanta.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:36 am
by thekingiv
kwais wrote:Biglaw: 14
PI: 21.6
Midlaw: 11
Personal Injury: 33
International Human Rights Law: 90
Constitutional Law: 6


You are welcome
I'm guessing this is days out of the year they are traveling? Source?

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:46 am
by GeePee
thekingiv wrote:
kwais wrote:Biglaw: 14
PI: 21.6
Midlaw: 11
Personal Injury: 33
International Human Rights Law: 90
Constitutional Law: 6


You are welcome
I'm guessing this is days out of the year they are traveling? Source?
Image

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:48 am
by vanwinkle
thekingiv wrote:
bceagles182 wrote:
thekingiv wrote:Obviously it is all relative to the practice area and the location, but for the most part, I would think that lawyers don't travel much...To be clear, by travel, I mean across state lines or internationally.

Anyone have an idea?
Going to have to be WAY more specific about what type of lawyer, where they work, etc.
How about transactional work at a big firm in Atlanta.
You'll travel to NYC, and then stay there, because that's where most corporate jobs are these days.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:51 am
by Moxie
gwuorbust wrote:every time I log off TLS I think "I've seen the dumbest thread possible." and yet every time I login I find a dumber thread.


TLS, I am disappoint.
But if he had asked about traveling to Panama. . . .

On a serious note, OP it is obviously going to depend on firm size and practice area, but it is nowhere near the level of travel in mgmt consulting offices. At least at my summer firm, there is almost never traveling except by partners to meet clients, or rare exceptions to acquire and review documents.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 9:59 am
by CanadianWolf
Labor lawyers representing management are sometimes required to travel to work sites during labor disputes & during lock-out periods.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:01 am
by alumniguy
Since there is little useful information in this thread, I'll comment. Yes it depends on practice area, but also depends on seniority. Juniors don't typically travel unless it is a document review or due diligence project (and even that is rare). More senior attorneys may need to travel, more so in litigation/bankruptcy realm, if the court is located outside NYC.

Transactional practices typically do not involve much travel, period. Whereas transactional lawyers used to have to travel for a closing, that is no longer the case because everyone closes on .pdf signature pages with originals to follow (or originals held in escrow pending release by attorney's representing the signer). In my three years of biglaw, I haven't traveled out of state on a transactional deal yet and I can count on one hand the number of associates that have traveled out of state (those that did went to not so nice locations for due diligence purposes).

Litigation/Bankruptcy/Arbitration attorneys do some, but very little traveling. This is a direct result of where a particular case is located. If you are working on a litigation matter (or a bankruptcy matter), and the court is located outside of NYC, then you are likely going to be traveling to that court. Similar situation for document reviews and depositions where the principal parties are located outside of NYC. As a junior, it is unlikely that you will travel more than once or twice a year in these groups given that (i) juniors don't typically go before judges in court, (ii) juniors aren't typically taking/defending depositions and (iii) most document reviews are electronic these days.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:04 am
by vanwinkle
CanadianWolf wrote:Labor lawyers representing management are sometimes required to travel to work sites during labor disputes & during lock-out periods.
If we're giving real answers now... I believe there are situations where transactional attorneys have to go visit a site to do due diligence. For example, the other party in a deal may insist that its files at a particular site not be removed from that site. In that case, if you want to do diligence, you kind of have to go there yourself.

It's sporadic, because it's so situation-driven.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:24 am
by thekingiv
alumniguy wrote:Since there is little useful information in this thread, I'll comment. Yes it depends on practice area, but also depends on seniority. Juniors don't typically travel unless it is a document review or due diligence project (and even that is rare). More senior attorneys may need to travel, more so in litigation/bankruptcy realm, if the court is located outside NYC.

Transactional practices typically do not involve much travel, period. Whereas transactional lawyers used to have to travel for a closing, that is no longer the case because everyone closes on .pdf signature pages with originals to follow (or originals held in escrow pending release by attorney's representing the signer). In my three years of biglaw, I haven't traveled out of state on a transactional deal yet and I can count on one hand the number of associates that have traveled out of state (those that did went to not so nice locations for due diligence purposes).

Litigation/Bankruptcy/Arbitration attorneys do some, but very little traveling. This is a direct result of where a particular case is located. If you are working on a litigation matter (or a bankruptcy matter), and the court is located outside of NYC, then you are likely going to be traveling to that court. Similar situation for document reviews and depositions where the principal parties are located outside of NYC. As a junior, it is unlikely that you will travel more than once or twice a year in these groups given that (i) juniors don't typically go before judges in court, (ii) juniors aren't typically taking/defending depositions and (iii) most document reviews are electronic these days.
Thanks.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:48 am
by gwuorbust
Moxie wrote:
gwuorbust wrote:every time I log off TLS I think "I've seen the dumbest thread possible." and yet every time I login I find a dumber thread.


TLS, I am disappoint.
But if he had asked about traveling to Panama. . . .
Panama is an amazing place.

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:55 am
by Aston2412
thekingiv wrote:
kwais wrote:Biglaw: 14
PI: 21.6
Midlaw: 11
Personal Injury: 33
International Human Rights Law: 90
Constitutional Law: 6


You are welcome
I'm guessing this is days out of the year they are traveling? Source?
I'm guessing that these are arbitrary numbers that someone made up/pulled out of a hat/ got out of a fortune cookie to mirror the lack of a defined answer for your original question...

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:57 am
by kwais
Aston2412 wrote:
thekingiv wrote:
kwais wrote:Biglaw: 14
PI: 21.6
Midlaw: 11
Personal Injury: 33
International Human Rights Law: 90
Constitutional Law: 6


You are welcome
I'm guessing this is days out of the year they are traveling? Source?
I'm guessing that these are arbitrary numbers that someone made up/pulled out of a hat/ got out of a fortune cookie to mirror the lack of a defined answer for your original question...
no no, these are real, they just aren't days out of the year. They are a super secret unit of time that I can only share if you PM me. oh, and the source is Marcus Bachmann

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 11:08 am
by gwuorbust
kwais wrote:
no no, these are real, they just aren't days out of the year. They are a super secret unit of time that I can only share if you PM me. oh, and the source is Marcus Bachmann
How much travel do you get to do if you practice Bird Law?

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 11:11 am
by kwais
gwuorbust wrote:
kwais wrote:
no no, these are real, they just aren't days out of the year. They are a super secret unit of time that I can only share if you PM me. oh, and the source is Marcus Bachmann
How much travel do you get to do if you practice Bird Law?
depends on the bird

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 11:18 am
by gwuorbust
kwais wrote:
gwuorbust wrote:
kwais wrote:
no no, these are real, they just aren't days out of the year. They are a super secret unit of time that I can only share if you PM me. oh, and the source is Marcus Bachmann
How much travel do you get to do if you practice Bird Law?
depends on the bird
I want to specialize in OstrichInjuryLaw

Re: How much do lawyers travel in general?

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2011 11:29 am
by Aston2412
kwais wrote:
gwuorbust wrote:
kwais wrote:
no no, these are real, they just aren't days out of the year. They are a super secret unit of time that I can only share if you PM me. oh, and the source is Marcus Bachmann
How much travel do you get to do if you practice Bird Law?
depends on the bird
Purple Martin.