Big Law 1st Year Associate Taking Questions Forum

[Anonymous User]

Some basics I can get out of the way right off the bat:

First year litigation associate at a T2 big firm. Went to a regionally favored (but not particularly highly ranked) law school. Undergrad GPA 3.97, LSAT 168. Law school GPA around 3.75. Not URM. Not a legacy. Female. Got this gig through on campus interview process and summer associateship.

Ask away.

[sublime]

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[Anonymous User]

How did you come to decide to work lit over transactional? And what, to you, are the benefits of doing litigation? DDrawbacks?

tyia!

I had a little experience with litigation as an undergrad when I worked with a solo practitioner, but honestly wasn't sure what I wanted to do when I began my 1L summer at the firm where I currently work. Obviously the focus in law school is litigation predominantly, so I suppose that felt a little more familiar to me. I basically just sampled as many different types of assignments as possible during my summer, seemed to like my litigation work most, and stuck with it. This was a good decision for me, particularly at my firm, because I find that my transactional colleagues have more wild swings in their workload than I do, and a more consistent schedule jives a little better with my personality. And I'm sure deals can be very exciting, but working on trial teams is right up my alley.

[BobsYourMan30]

What's a "T2" big firm?

[SemperLegal]

Do you get along with/"like" your coworkers?

[Anonymous User]

What's a "T2" big firm?

I am referring to the US News methodology of ranking firms. It is also an NLJ 250 and AmLaw 100 firm if you are more familiar with those designations.

[Anonymous User]

Do you get along with/"like" your coworkers?

I really like my true peers (my incoming class), am moderately friendly with the junior associates slightly more senior to me, and really like the partners I work for, with very limited exceptions. Most tension I am aware of in the firm is junior associate to junior associate or partner to partner, but it is not very common.

[Sgt Brody.]

How is your typical day like? what do you like about litigation? what do you not like about it? thanks!

[Anonymous User]

How is your typical day like? what do you like about litigation? what do you not like about it? thanks!

Not OP but similar situation - first year lit associate at a V100 firm in a secondary market. In the office and taking a little break from writing this brief, so I can answer a few questions also.

Typical day is hard to pin down. One of the things I don't always love about litigation is the ebb and flow. Some days are exclusively doc review or research and writing, others are fast paced jumping around trying to get a brief ready to be filed, drafting affidavits, pulling exhibits, etc. My average days are really driven by what kind of work more senior associates are pushing down on my cases.

I had some fairly average (i.e. no filings) days earlier this week, so for instance looking at my time sheet for Thursday, I did an hour and a half or so of editing a draft brief going out to client largely just plugging in cites, finished drafting a section of a reply brief we are filing in a week and a half and discussed it with the more senior associate doing most of the drafting, did two hours of doc review, and did a few hours of research.

[sublime]

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[Anonymous User]

For both of you guys, what is your billables requirement, what does that translate to in actual hours worked per week and how is the work/life balance generally?

V100 secondary market guy here:

My firm requires 1850 although it has been in recent years very common for people to not hit that in the non-lit groups. The litigation group is generally very busy and the large majority of people (myself included) will likely hit their hours.

I generally get in around 9 and leave around 7, and maybe one or two days a week I'll do an hour or two more at home. At least one day with maybe 3-4 hours of weekend work is common for me, but that's mostly a personal decision to push things to the weekend if I can (I like a little more relaxed schedule during the week, and it can often be hard to focus on a specific task during the week with people calling you for little things, random tasks, etc.). I don't have a spouse/SO, so I find the work/life balance manageable. Furthermore, at least at my firm, facetime isn't a point of emphasis. People with families often come in at 8 and leave at 5 on the dot with no ill will.

The last thing I will say is that I could definitely be more efficient when I am in the office. Whether it's because I'm K-JD, have always struggled with focusing for long sustained periods, or just because I'm still adjusting to the law firm world, I find it difficult to bill more than 75% of the time I'm 'working.'

[rayiner]

What's a "T2" big firm?

I am referring to the US News methodology of ranking firms. It is also an NLJ 250 and AmLaw 100 firm if you are more familiar with those designations.

This has to be nipped in the bud, stat. We can't let USNWR law firm rankings become relevant.

[thesealocust]

What's a "T2" big firm?

I am referring to the US News methodology of ranking firms. It is also an NLJ 250 and AmLaw 100 firm if you are more familiar with those designations.

This has to be nipped in the bud, stat. We can't let USNWR law firm rankings become relevant.

I'm torn. Obviously you're objectively correct, but if you kill the USNWR ones don't you just add more legitimacy to Vault? Like won't that have the effect of implying "BOO US News we don't need you we already have a random survey of what shit-for-brains associates think is prestigious!"

[IAFG]

What's a "T2" big firm?

I am referring to the US News methodology of ranking firms. It is also an NLJ 250 and AmLaw 100 firm if you are more familiar with those designations.

This has to be nipped in the bud, stat. We can't let USNWR law firm rankings become relevant.

I'm torn. Obviously you're objectively correct, but if you kill the USNWR ones don't you just add more legitimacy to Vault? Like won't that have the effect of implying "BOO US News we don't need you we already have a random survey of what shit-for-brains associates think is prestigious!"

Chambers bands.

[foundingfather]

Do you see yourself being in this for the long haul? If not, what are your future goals?

Is BigLaw what you expected it to be?

[Anonymous User]

I am really into MMA, and have been competing on an amateur circuit for years. I have continued this through my first year of law school. However, I'm working in a big east coast firm this summer. My MMA training means that *sometimes* I will have a fat lip/black eye/etc... Not often but it happens. Would this be inappropriate or reflect badly upon me at the office this summer? Is this something I would need to give up for my entire tenure in BigLaw?

Every time I end up talking about it in interviewers or whatever, they seem to love it, as its listed on my interests. But, I feel like this may change if they saw looking beat up once in a while. Opinions?

[09042014]

I am really into MMA, and have been competing on an amateur circuit for years. I have continued this through my first year of law school. However, I'm working in a big east coast firm this summer. My MMA training means that *sometimes* I will have a fat lip/black eye/etc... Not often but it happens. Would this be inappropriate or reflect badly upon me at the office this summer? Is this something I would need to give up for my entire tenure in BigLaw?

Every time I end up talking about it in interviewers or whatever, they seem to love it, as its listed on my interests. But, I feel like this may change if they saw looking beat up once in a while. Opinions?

This is going to depend on who you work for specifically.

[Anonymous User]

what have SA candidates said in the past to make you think they would make a good addition to your firm?

[Anonymous User]

I'll also jump in to represent the transactional side.

First year at V20, transactional, T2 -> T10 transfer.

Happy to answer questions.

[Anonymous User]

I am really into MMA, and have been competing on an amateur circuit for years. I have continued this through my first year of law school. However, I'm working in a big east coast firm this summer. My MMA training means that *sometimes* I will have a fat lip/black eye/etc... Not often but it happens. Would this be inappropriate or reflect badly upon me at the office this summer? Is this something I would need to give up for my entire tenure in BigLaw?

Every time I end up talking about it in interviewers or whatever, they seem to love it, as its listed on my interests. But, I feel like this may change if they saw looking beat up once in a while. Opinions?

This is going to depend on who you work for specifically.

What do you mean by this? I could understand different markets having different views (i.e. Texas vs NY). So let's assume NY... would it really be just a firm to firm thing? How about just general impressions?

[Anonymous User]

I am really into MMA, and have been competing on an amateur circuit for years. I have continued this through my first year of law school. However, I'm working in a big east coast firm this summer. My MMA training means that *sometimes* I will have a fat lip/black eye/etc... Not often but it happens. Would this be inappropriate or reflect badly upon me at the office this summer? Is this something I would need to give up for my entire tenure in BigLaw?

Every time I end up talking about it in interviewers or whatever, they seem to love it, as its listed on my interests. But, I feel like this may change if they saw looking beat up once in a while. Opinions?

This is going to depend on who you work for specifically.

What do you mean by this? I could understand different markets having different views (i.e. Texas vs NY). So let's assume NY... would it really be just a firm to firm thing? How about just general impressions?

Transactional first year here: I think it depends on the group you're in (I.e. Much more exposure to public/client/judges in lit v. Transactional). Will also depend on who you work for (young bro-ish partner/sr associate v. Stodgy old school rainmaker about to reach the partnership age limit). My suggestion: feel things out this summer and ask a mid level.

[Anonymous User]

Do you see yourself being in this for the long haul? If not, what are your future goals?

Is BigLaw what you expected it to be?

V100 secondary guy here:

I definitely do not see this as a long term career for me. I will be starting a district court clerkship (in a major market) fairly shortly and am applying/interviewing for COA for the year after. I'm still deciding if I want to transition to government (AUSA/DOJ) as soon as possible after clerking or if I'll come back to big law for a few years to make some more headway on my loans.

I would say big law is what I expected it to be (i.e. long hours, annoying people, weird prestige complexes), but there are some dimensions of the work that maybe aren't what I expected. I would imagine this is true on the transactional side (although I had no interest in that and did zero transactional work as a summer), but you get a fairly skewed picture of what life as a litigation associate is like as a summer. In other words, I certainly never drafted an affidavit or proposed order or random non-dispositive motion, assembled exhibits, pieced together witness kits, or did doc review as a summer. Yet these are all a fairly significant part of what you'll do as a junior associate in litigation. That didn't necessarily surprise me when I started, but I was surprised how steep the learning curve was on these tasks once I started.

[Anonymous User]

what have SA candidates said in the past to make you think they would make a good addition to your firm?

I haven't interviewed candidates yet, but I have friends who have and I am pretty tight with our recruiting folks. The only thing I would say is that when you are talking to junior associates don't assume you know what we do and don't say anything that suggests you actually know what big law is really like (unless you really REALLY do). I know the temptation is there because you want to look like a go-getter who is going in with your eyes open and will grind day and night, etc., but even if that's true it can raise questions in the associate's mind about how aware you really are, how self aware you are, and how you'll react when, like many of us, you are surprised by the drudgery of most days.

[Anonymous User]

Do you get along with/"like" your coworkers?

I really like my true peers (my incoming class), am moderately friendly with the junior associates slightly more senior to me, and really like the partners I work for, with very limited exceptions. Most tension I am aware of in the firm is junior associate to junior associate or partner to partner, but it is not very common.

I think there is plenty of tension between senior/mid-level associates and juniors, at least on larger cases where juniors report to seniors rather than partners. Seniors and mid-levels seem to have two goals: (1) give juniors all the dogshit work so they do not have to do it (2) take as much credit for the work as possible.

A big part of your career is developing connections and relationships with partners, and it is in the best interest of the seniors/mid-levels to make sure that does not happen, because they want all the connections themselves (probably even more important to a senior trying to make partner in a couple years). If you do doc review for months on end, the sad reality is no one that matters will know who the hell you are and your standing/reputation in the firm is not going to increase at all.

[oblig.lawl.ref]

I'll also jump in to represent the transactional side.

First year at V20, transactional, T2 -> T10 transfer.

Happy to answer questions.

Hi, I'm going to be summering at a V20 and want to do transactional work this summer. I had some general questions for you.

1. Are you in NYC or a secondary market?

2. What kind of work do you do specifically? What kind of deals and for what kind of clients? More specifically, what is your contribution on the deals you do work?

3. How do you find the work load? Is it unpredictable like I hear? Does it vary within transactions (i.e. Finance v. M&A)?

4. How do you like your job generally so far? How do you think your peers like their jobs?

5. Do you have any sense of the kind of exit options available yet or is that not something you've really had a chance to see?