better salary/ job than big law Forum

[Old Gregg]

I'm not sure c3pO4 realizes that not every CS major ends up like Mark Zuckerberg.

[BruceWayne]

just curious. is there a better job out there, in the non legal world, that pays its first years better than big law, i.e 160k. how much do ppl at finance jobs make when they start

Basically no. Particularly not one that offers so many different options in terms of location. For all the crap people on here talk about law pay, it's actually awesome when you look at the barriers of entry. Finance has a huge barrier of entry in that most of their hiring is done from elite u-grads. Meaning that the wrong decision at the age of 17 borderline cuts that field off to you for life--same with management consulting. The other issue is that finance works even worse hours, and if you happen to be math averse/mathematically challenged you're out of luck as well (for both finance and consulting).

[thesealocust]

The banking industry has also been conducting layoffs constantly, and tons of banks and financial firms are either slashing or not paying bonuses. Bonus figures are also often quoted for the people who get the biggest bonuses, but unlike big law firms bonuses vary substantially.

With biglaw, you can say "entry level is 160K." With finance, you can't generalize nearly as easily.

There's generally speaking more money in banking than in law, but TLS suffers from a huge "grass is greener" bias whenever the topic comes up.

[2LLLL]

Most jobs are better than BigLaw in terms of your quality of life, stress level, ability to spend time with friends and family, etc... As for better salary, that's another story.

[caputlupinum]

computer science starts at 80-100k from a top 10 engineering program, mid-career is 150k and tops out at 250k. all the while, you get sick amounts of equity with potential for 200k all the way up to millions if companies exit or go through multiple rounds and you unload your shares on secondary markets. you can start your own co and get talent aquired at huge multiples of compensation as well. most new billionaires today? computer science. largest / most successful companies in the world right now? computer science. reason for law rebounding in some markets like SV? computer science. nuff said.

My cousin did a Computer Engineer BS at a crappy state school. Got a job in IT for a chain of hospitals now (10 years later) is the head IT administrator (or some shit like that) for the hospital making 300k+ profit sharing or some shit drives a Maserati to family holidays bastard...

[Bronck]

computer science starts at 80-100k from a top 10 engineering program, mid-career is 150k and tops out at 250k. all the while, you get sick amounts of equity with potential for 200k all the way up to millions if companies exit or go through multiple rounds and you unload your shares on secondary markets. you can start your own co and get talent aquired at huge multiples of compensation as well. most new billionaires today? computer science. largest / most successful companies in the world right now? computer science. reason for law rebounding in some markets like SV? computer science. nuff said.

My cousin did a Computer Engineer BS at a crappy state school. Got a job in IT for a chain of hospitals now (10 years later) is the head IT administrator (or some shit like that) for the hospital making 300k+ profit sharing or some shit drives a Maserati to family holidays bastard...

And your point is....?

Desert Fox is still right. No one is disputing the possibility of getting rich with a CS/Engineering degree. You can certainly live a very comfortable lifestyle, but that's just not going to happen for the overwhelming majority.

[NoleinNY]

My cousin is a financial advisor at one of the top financial companies in the country, makes BigLaw money 100-200K, and works BigLaw hours.

[dr123]

professional athlete

[crazycanuck]

I've decided a junior mining company as a corporate secretary is the way to go.

The corporate secretary at a mining company I was just working at makes about 250k salary, works 10-3 with a 2 hour lunch, and made ~3 million in options this year. The only job responsibility that I could discern was taking board meeting minutes.

Hell the sales associate who is 22, started with the company when they started 3-4 years ago made ~1 million from stock options. This persons salary is about 35k. The sales associate still has a bunch of options exercisable at ~$.20 and the share price is $20.

Once the mining company opens up a mine or discovers a rich mineral deposit, there is A LOT of money to be made off stock options. It's nuts. Just gotta pick the right junior mining company. It's actually shockingly common in the mining industry.

[thesealocust]

Holy shit, look at the GIGANTIC bonuses being paid to vice presidents at Barclays! http://dealbreaker.com/2012/02/bonus-wa ... clays-vps/

Damn we should all just pack up and be bankers now!!!

[ruski]

base salary for first year analyst is 80k right not at all bulge bracket banks. Technically, it's 70k but they get a 10k signing bonus, and then after first year they get a 10k raise to 80k. so pretty much for the first two years they get 80k. bonuses vary. i understand last year however they were pretty good (about 50k). however, this year everyone is expecting really low bonuses. and these are analysts - aka 22-23 year olds. it's not unheard of for associates (post mba) to get total comp of half a mil (bonuses included) (not sure what it is now). it would take a lawyer 8-9 years to prob earn half a mil. plus the mba studied for a year less.

comparing salary at HF and PE is too difficult b/c there is no real market rate. and several of the ibanking analysts dont get into a top shop. banking is not a career. they definitely work more hours than lawyers though.

[Anonymous User]

How much do big law partners make?

[ahnhub]

How much do big law partners make?

Equity partners at V20-ish firms make around 1-3 mil a year. At a couple of the real money factories like Wachtell they can make over 3-4 million. Partners in regional Biglaw make around 350-600K depending on COL.

[c3pO4]

How much do big law partners make?

Equity partners at V20-ish firms make around 1-3 mil a year. At a couple of the real money factories like Wachtell they can make over 3-4 million. Partners in regional Biglaw make around 350-600K depending on COL.

and successful plaintiffs small firm lawyers can make 10+ million in a year.

and the lawyer who stopped practicing law to found groupon is worth over 1 billion dollars.

i think his job is probably better than biglaw.