A day in the life of a v5 biglaw attorney (corporate) Forum

[codeandcodes]

Hi guys,

I've received some requests from some users to describe what a normal day was like for me (an IP trans associate), so here it is: Keep in mind that this is only my experience and I was in a speciality group. Hope this helps someone!

http://www.biglawrefuge.com/articles/2- ... w-attorney

[5ky]

I do general corporate and not IP, but thought this was really well done. It won't quite apply to most of the folks on here who will be doing general corporate and would be handling the "corporate" side of what you're dealing with, but it's still very illuminating and representative of what a day is like (other than the lack of Seamless for food ordering)

[UpandDown97]

.

[5ky]

Hi guys,

I've received some requests from some users to describe what a normal day was like for me (an IP trans associate), so here it is: Keep in mind that this is only my experience and I was in a speciality group. Hope this helps someone!

http://www.biglawrefuge.com/articles/2- ... w-attorney

So you regularly work ~16 hours a day?

working isn't billing. probably billed ~12 hours based on that day, maybe a little more if he/she is really focused. when you're very busy, then this is not an uncommon day.

[UpandDown97]

.

[Ron Howard]

Hi guys,

I've received some requests from some users to describe what a normal day was like for me (an IP trans associate), so here it is: Keep in mind that this is only my experience and I was in a speciality group. Hope this helps someone!

http://www.biglawrefuge.com/articles/2- ... w-attorney

So you regularly work ~16 hours a day?

working isn't billing. probably billed ~12 hours based on that day, maybe a little more if he/she is really focused. when you're very busy, then this is not an uncommon day.

I know billing does not equal working. I'm asking hours worked. So it's common for a big law attorney to work 16 hour days? 12 I could handle. 16 seems like too much.

ETA: Also, is there a shower in your office or something? Or do you just sit in your workout clothes for that long?

For most folks, the worst part is not even the hours. It is working the hours, knowing you are going to have to give a huge chunk of your pay check to your creditors and taxes. Even with 160K in NY, you may only take home $100,000 after federal and state withholdings, and then you still have to pay high rent and your loans back.

[UpandDown97]

.

[5ky]

i can just say this day isn't something i would describe as uncommon. it won't be day-in, day-out, but it is also not what you would call a 'horrible' day in transactional biglaw. you really should think very hard about signing up for that if you don't want to do it. it's pretty awful.

[Ron Howard]

Hi guys,

I've received some requests from some users to describe what a normal day was like for me (an IP trans associate), so here it is: Keep in mind that this is only my experience and I was in a speciality group. Hope this helps someone!

http://www.biglawrefuge.com/articles/2- ... w-attorney

So you regularly work ~16 hours a day?

working isn't billing. probably billed ~12 hours based on that day, maybe a little more if he/she is really focused. when you're very busy, then this is not an uncommon day.

I know billing does not equal working. I'm asking hours worked. So it's common for a big law attorney to work 16 hour days? 12 I could handle. 16 seems like too much.

ETA: Also, is there a shower in your office or something? Or do you just sit in your workout clothes for that long?

For most folks, the worst part is not even the hours. It is working the hours, knowing you are going to have to give a huge chunk of your pay check to your creditors and taxes. Even with 160K in NY, you may only take home $100,000 after federal and state withholdings, and then you still have to pay high rent and your loans back.

I'm not sure what that first sentence means. It's hard to work long hours because you have to work?

Either this is a bad troll, stupidly sarcastic, or you need to check your reading skills (I am not kidding). But I will help you. You need to read the first sentence, and then the second sentence to understand the meaning. If you do so, you will understand that: The worst part of big law is not the horrendous hours by themselves, but rather completing the hours knowing you will have little financial gain to show for it. This is because you have to pay taxes and your ungodly loan payments. As a result, you will have a negative net worth for years to come, and if you don't love the work (which you probably won't) you may feel very sad.

ETA: Have you started law school yet, UpandDown97?

[UpandDown97]

.

[hdunlop]

Tldr: Thanks Obama: (i am not kidding),

Making fun of that guy aside, thanks op

[codeandcodes]

OP here, it's hard to say what a normal day is/was.

If I was in the middle of a deal that was heating up, yes that's normal. At the tail end of a deal? Probably more than that. In between deals, I probably went home around 6PM, but was still "on call" and fearing that red blinking light until I went to bed. It's hard to capture, hope I did it some justice.

If you guys like it, I'll be posting up more at http://www.biglawrefuge.com from time to time. Stay tuned!

[jbagelboy]

do you feel like saying "yes" to the partner who comes in while you're completing diligence on your current deal is an obligatory move at this stage in your career, or do you feel like admitting you're already swamped is an acquired confidence that you build over time and will help you manage your life/schedule?

I've been told by several midlevel associates that standing your ground and learning your work boundaries is one of the hardest but most important skills to gain in your first two years. Curious whether you feel this is feasible or whether declining add'l work at this stage would hurt your image/prospects.

[UpandDown97]

do you feel like saying "yes" to the partner who comes in while you're completing diligence on your current deal is an obligatory move at this stage in your career, or do you feel like admitting you're already swamped is an acquired confidence that you build over time and will help you manage your life/schedule?

I've been told by several midlevel associates that standing your ground and learning your work boundaries is one of the hardest but most important skills to gain in your first two years. Curious whether you feel this is feasible or whether declining add'l work at this stage would hurt your image/prospects.

Would like to hear on this too. Like in school, you can't say no when a big project is due. But I would bet that so long as you're on target for hours, it is crucial to learn to say no to more work. How that would go over I suppose depends on the partner asking.

[dixiecupdrinking]

It's a lot easier to say no to a new matter. Unless you really just can't do it, it's more frowned upon to say no to tasks on a matter you're already on. I'm lit, not corp, but I imagine the same dynamic applies.

[codeandcodes]

do you feel like saying "yes" to the partner who comes in while you're completing diligence on your current deal is an obligatory move at this stage in your career, or do you feel like admitting you're already swamped is an acquired confidence that you build over time and will help you manage your life/schedule?

I've been told by several midlevel associates that standing your ground and learning your work boundaries is one of the hardest but most important skills to gain in your first two years. Curious whether you feel this is feasible or whether declining add'l work at this stage would hurt your image/prospects.

Would like to hear on this too. Like in school, you can't say no when a big project is due. But I would bet that so long as you're on target for hours, it is crucial to learn to say no to more work. How that would go over I suppose depends on the partner asking.

It gets easier with time and I got better at it. I'm not sure if I was just improving my political maneuvering or if I just stopped caring as much (probably a little of both). I still never flat out turned down work, even towards the end of my tenure at my firm, but could often finagle a way to get help if needed.

[Johann]

It's a lot easier to say no to a new matter. Unless you really just can't do it, it's more frowned upon to say no to tasks on a matter you're already on. I'm lit, not corp, but I imagine the same dynamic applies.

Yeah. I try at all costs to turn down all new matters unless I will gain some sort of substantive experience that is useful. I don't get the option of turning down new tasks on matters I'm already on.