Top Law Schools

After interning at a law firm, I realized I can't really handle that amount of work and pressure....
Is there ANY legal job that is around 40 working hours per week? (At least under 60...)
And I'm talking about the ones that can give me a work visa as I'm a foreigner.

Thanks!

Maybe some gov't gigs.

law prof

PD offices are generally 40-60. I'd imagine DA offices are probably easier considering that they generally have better funding. Academia and FedGov are probably the lowest.

... wut?

not firm but I work for the feds... 8 hours per day 5 days per week 3 days per week working at home.

I feel ya bro but it's honestly a bad sign if a firm isn't busy.

bjohnsobf wrote:not firm but I work for the feds... 8 hours per day 5 days per week 3 days per week working at home.

What do you do, if you don't mind me asking?

City government lawyer. I usually do like 830-530, a lot of people work a little less, very few work a little more. Try interning as a 3L and hope they end up hiring you.

Write disability decisions for SSA ALJs... its really easy some have said its basically not even legal work. It aint DOJ and I'm capped at GS-13 without going into mgmt. but after reading about DF and Johnann's all nighters I don't have many regrets

Danger Zone wrote:I feel ya bro but it's honestly a bad sign if a firm isn't busy.

valid but on the other hand, who wants to work 80 hr weeks for shitlaw? i'm assuming shitlaw bc it'd just be lol if OP was overwhelmed by his preftigious, fast paced, high stakes SA to the point of pivoting to low key DUI defense.

Anonymous User wrote:City government lawyer. I usually do like 830-530, a lot of people work a little less, very few work a little more. Try interning as a 3L and hope they end up hiring you.

shit pay with no upward mobility though, amirite?

Depends on what you call shit pay (and probably what city). In bigger cities the pay seems to be comparable to the feds.

my 1L was with city gov and just from what i gathered, it's shitpay (like 40-60kk) for people straight out of law school (basically fellows) and though there's comfortable pay for the senior attorneys, they were exclusively biglaw refugees - either starting-a-family laterals or semi-retired partners.

bjohnsobf wrote:Write disability decisions for SSA ALJs... its really easy some have said its basically not even legal work. It aint DOJ and I'm capped at GS-13 without going into mgmt. but after reading about DF and Johnann's all nighters I don't have many regrets

How do you get a job like that? I feel like gov hiring is super competitive/you need to know people.

An ex of mine worked as a para for at a legal aid place in a small city. Lawyers there made ~45k to start (with really small increases) and worked 37.5 weekly with probably 30% efficiency. Evictions, consumer debt, simple family, ect. Hardest part of the job, apparently, was doing all one's time entry at the end of the month (or halfway through the next month when management finally got on their ass about it).

So these places do exist. A few attorneys started out volunteering there and got in that way.

krads153 wrote:

bjohnsobf wrote:Write disability decisions for SSA ALJs... its really easy some have said its basically not even legal work. It aint DOJ and I'm capped at GS-13 without going into mgmt. but after reading about DF and Johnann's all nighters I don't have many regrets

How do you get a job like that? I feel like gov hiring is super competitive/you need to know people.

The job comes up from time to time on usajobs... you just drop your resume into the blackhole that is usajobs and you get surprised by a callback 3 to 6 months later and ask the caller to remind you what you applied for. I guess its fairly competitive but Ive never met anyone who came from biglaw. Most people went to Tier 1 and 2 schools, I've met one Gtown grad that's the highest I've heard of. I went to a state school biglaw was never really a realistic option, but having read this forum over the past 5 years I wouldn't want it, I wouldn't want to work that much in the prime of my life regardless of the money. Knowing someone might help but I didn''t know anyone.

Shit... I thought ALJs were basically retired bigfeds, but now that I think about it, I do remember hearing that SSA is a different beast because it's massive.

bjohnsobf wrote:

krads153 wrote:

bjohnsobf wrote:Write disability decisions for SSA ALJs... its really easy some have said its basically not even legal work. It aint DOJ and I'm capped at GS-13 without going into mgmt. but after reading about DF and Johnann's all nighters I don't have many regrets

How do you get a job like that? I feel like gov hiring is super competitive/you need to know people.

The job comes up from time to time on usajobs... you just drop your resume into the blackhole that is usajobs and you get surprised by a callback 3 to 6 months later and ask the caller to remind you what you applied for. I guess its fairly competitive but Ive never met anyone who came from biglaw. Most people went to Tier 1 and 2 schools, I've met one Gtown grad that's the highest I've heard of. I went to a state school biglaw was never really a realistic option, but having read this forum over the past 5 years I wouldn't want it, I wouldn't want to work that much in the prime of my life regardless of the money. Knowing someone might help but I didn''t know anyone.

One of my friends got a job straight out doing this in DC. Was from T-14. Not sure how they landed it either, but some of my friends in fed gov hooked up some of my other friends with a job in fed gov....I think connections help a ton. My friend basically told me that they don't read most of the apps.

StayCalm wrote: And I'm talking about the ones that can give me a work visa as I'm a foreigner.

How come everyone's missing this crucial last sentence? This rules out feds for sure, and makes most city/state jobs much harder too. Outside of biglaw, most private firms aren't equipped to handle H-1B visas, and pretty rare for them to need someone with a foreign background for them to be worth the extra cost. I guess academia is achievable, but picking up a clerkship on the way is more difficult and unpaid so I guess the JD/PhD route might be preferable.

heythatslife wrote:

StayCalm wrote: And I'm talking about the ones that can give me a work visa as I'm a foreigner.

How come everyone's missing this crucial last sentence? This rules out feds for sure, and makes most city/state jobs much harder too. Outside of biglaw, most private firms aren't equipped to handle H-1B visas, and pretty rare for them to need someone with a foreign background for them to be worth the extra cost. I guess academia is achievable, but picking up a clerkship on the way is more difficult and unpaid so I guess the JD/PhD route might be preferable.

pancakes3 wrote:... wut?

I think only in the sense that it'll get you a visa.

There are a lot of firms that are like that. They wont be in business much longer and layoffs will likely happen often. If that sounds like a good path for you, go for it!

Traynor Brah wrote:

heythatslife wrote:

StayCalm wrote: And I'm talking about the ones that can give me a work visa as I'm a foreigner.

How come everyone's missing this crucial last sentence? This rules out feds for sure, and makes most city/state jobs much harder too. Outside of biglaw, most private firms aren't equipped to handle H-1B visas, and pretty rare for them to need someone with a foreign background for them to be worth the extra cost. I guess academia is achievable, but picking up a clerkship on the way is more difficult and unpaid so I guess the JD/PhD route might be preferable.

pancakes3 wrote:... wut?

I didn't say it was likely or realistic, only that it's within the theoretical range of possible options.

The taxing component of big law isn't staying up all night. It's the expectation that you'll be back at 9 AM able to turn in perfect work, and that the work product you create at 4 AM will match the work product you create at 4 PM.

I have some busier weeks like when big motions are due to be filed or I am at trial, but I regularly work in the 50 hour a week range, and bill about 40, at a biglaw firm in litigation. Combined with the busier times, this gets you to 2000 a year easily.

And yeah, you don't want a "firm that is not so busy." It means likely financial problems.