When did you realize you hate your biglaw job? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Some of us who recently started, either fresh from law school or after 1-2 years' clerking, may be realizing already that we just plain don't want to be here. How long was the honeymoon period?

[nealric]

Some of us who recently started, either fresh from law school or after 1-2 years' clerking, may be realizing already that we just plain don't want to be here. How long was the honeymoon period?

I never got to the point of hating it, but after 3 years I was confident it wasn't where I wanted to spend the rest of my career.

[Anonymous User]

Some of us who recently started, either fresh from law school or after 1-2 years' clerking, may be realizing already that we just plain don't want to be here. How long was the honeymoon period?

I don't think there was a honeymoon period. Then again, I also worked like a dog first year (billing 55-60 hour weeks, every week). My hours have gotten better since first year. Still dream about doing non-office work on a daily basis though.

[fats provolone]

I love it. Dunno what you're talking about

[Anonymous User]

I love it. Dunno what you're talking about

What are you on track to bill?

[dixiecupdrinking]

Liked it ok for the first 6 months or so, hated the next 6 months, then settled into a low-grade tolerance marked by periods of genuine interest in and utter contempt for my job.

[Anonymous User]

Some of us who recently started, either fresh from law school or after 1-2 years' clerking, may be realizing already that we just plain don't want to be here. How long was the honeymoon period?

Honeymoon period about 1 year.

by the end of year 2- personal life hanging by a thread and started hating it.

by the end of year 3- no personal life and all that's left is the job. Now it's like some co-dependent relationship.

[fats provolone]

I love it. Dunno what you're talking about

What are you on track to bill?

About 2500

[Anonymous User]

I love it. Dunno what you're talking about

What are you on track to bill?

About 2500

lol wut. why like it? What about your s/o/spouse, friends, hobbies, etc.?

[barkschool]

I love it. Dunno what you're talking about

What are you on track to bill?

About 2500

lol wut. why like it? What about your s/o/spouse, friends, hobbies, etc.?

There we go, see where your logic now works out?

[fats provolone]

i just really enjoy the work. it's very fulfilling and challenging. i get to do lots of exciting stuff and make other people millions of dollars.

[84651846190]

Almost immediately.

[Cogburn87]

First week. I didn't like being a SA either so it wasn't really that big of a surprise.

[jfernandes16]

i just really enjoy the work. it's very fulfilling and challenging. i get to do lots of exciting stuff and make other people millions of dollars.

This should be in a movie

The Paper Chase 2: TLS Edition

[patentlitigatrix]

I love it. Dunno what you're talking about

Same here. But I bill way less than this guy. And am thinking about moving to a reduced hours or part-time schedule in a few years.

[Big Shrimpin]

about 1.5 yrs in

but got jerb at new firm about 2.5 yrs in and stopped hating it

my exp has been highly dependent upon the ppl with whom i work

[Anonymous User]

Hated it pretty fast, but thats because I was in an area I had no interest in being in, working with people with whom I did not gel. Thats a toxic combination right there. You can do without one or the other and still make it workable. But if you don't like the substance of the work and don't really gel with the people, its a nightmare.

[Anonymous User]

I started in house and I really enjoy it. I've never worked for a large law firm, parts of the job sound great and other parts sound miserable.

[los blancos]

Took about 1 month to realize I had zero interest in it medium to long term, took another 2-3 months after that to start really hating it, but I also got dealt sort of a shitty hand wrt assignments.

[wons]

I really liked it, pretty much from day 1. Still do.

[BaiAilian2013]

I really liked it, pretty much from day 1. Still do.

Same. And I get that it's not for everyone, but if you're hating it in your stub year as OP seems to be, you haven't given it a chance. Get out of the TLS self pity echo chamber and get some perspective.

[Anonymous User]

In stub year, not hating it by any stretch. It has been much more of a relaxed environment than I expected. I thought the summer was all a charade and that it would be brutal right when I started. I've had 1 or 2 nights where I was required to stay past 7 pm and 1 saturday where I needed to work 2-3 hours. I'm sure it will get more intense as I get more responsbility but not complaining now when I'm working ~40 hours pulling in 160k.

My 2 cents: It's tough to compare biglaw jobs even within firms, let alone against other firms. I've had a chill run but I know people in other groups within my firm have had a totally different experience. The people I get work from seem to have a solid work life balance and no one expects a tight turnaround. Not the same for another stub year in a different group. Different groups are different.

[Cogburn87]

Same. And I get that it's not for everyone, but if you're hating it in your stub year as OP seems to be, you haven't given it a chance. Get out of the TLS self pity echo chamber and get some perspective.

Dumb. If you're having a miserable time in your stub year, it might truly be because the job is miserable and not just a matter of "giving it a chance."

[Anonymous User]

As others have said it is highly dependent on who you work for.

I have worked for superiors who make things as easy as possible, 9 hours in the office and 8 hours billed, day in and day out, plenty of advance notice on assignments, etc.

I have worked for superiors who make life a living hell, 8 am saturday firedrills that last until Sunday AM, stopping by your office Friday afternoon to dump an all-weekend assignment on you, demanding routine all nighters, yelling, intense pressure to keep bills down, etc.

I'd say the "honeymoon" ended about 3 months in, but even after that biglaw was tolerable since most of my work came from the former category of superior. I wouldn't say I enjoyed going into work every day but I was pretty happy given the size of the check coming in. The awful days were few and far between and most of the time they did occur it was my own doing so I didn't mind.

Since that case has gone away, I've usually had the "bad" experiences listed above and on a good day, I don't mind work, on a bad day, I spend half of it planning what I'm going to do after I quit the law entirely. And there are far more bad than good.

[Anonymous User]

Liked it ok for the first 6 months or so, hated the next 6 months, then settled into a low-grade tolerance marked by periods of genuine interest in and utter contempt for my job.

100% this to a T.