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Let me premise this by saying that I have no strong desire to go to BigLaw. I read a lot of posts on here about people wanting to jump from Big4 to BigLaw and the responses are that is an extremely hard jump, but that is not my goal (particularly because I have a family and little debt from school).

So, I studied finance in undergrad then went to a lower tier law school (think of those ranked in the 60-80 range). Now, I have two job offers (both out of my home state). At the Big4 job, I would work with the M&A team in a city/state that I want to live and build a career. In a perfect world, I would have gotten a decent law firm job in this city. The law firm offer is with a smaller firm (~30 attorneys) in which I would work primarily on business transactions with some trust & estates work thrown in. Also, the law firm pays ~20k more. However, the law firm position is in a city/state that neither I nor my family have any connection to, and I feel like we would want to leave after a few years.

Both cities are relatively cheap CoL when compared to NYC, SF, Chicago, etc.

My main question is which is better for an overall career, particularly if I want to be in a mid-sized law firm doing transactional work in the future?

Edit: I did not attend a high-tier law school (think ranked in the 60s or 70s), but I did graduate magna cum laude.

I would caution against assuming the big4 has good work life balance. The hours aren't going to be biglaw status for JDs at these firms, but they are still a far cry from a 9-5.

I would take the big4 gig. Understand that it will be hard to switch to transaction work outside of tax.

One factor to consider is traveling. Big4 M&A consulting might require a bit of traveling.

OP here. Thanks for your replies. I know Big4 is not just a simple 9-5 job, but it should have a better work/life balance than BigLaw. Additionally, I'm not trying to get into BigLaw. I want to hopefully get into a mid-sized law firm and do M&A transactions.

I just really want to work and live in the city the Big4 position is in, but I don't know if it's better to go to the law firm in another area then try to transition to that city/state in 3 years or go straight to the Big4 position then try to lateral to a mid-sized law firm in the same city.

Thanks again guys.

Anonymous User wrote:OP here. Thanks for your replies. I know Big4 is not just a simple 9-5 job, but it should have a better work/life balance than BigLaw. Additionally, I'm not trying to get into BigLaw. I want to hopefully get into a mid-sized law firm and do M&A transactions.

I just really want to work and live in the city the Big4 position is in, but I don't know if it's better to go to the law firm in another area then try to transition to that city/state in 3 years or go straight to the Big4 position then try to lateral to a mid-sized law firm in the same city.

Thanks again guys.

The general TLS wisdom seems to be that law firm>Big 4 in terms of quality of work assignment/long-term development as a lawyer. Based on the salary, I feel that the law firm offer you received is a pretty decent one. If you don't mind living in another city/state for a couple of years, I would say it is a better option and you can always lateral back into the city you want to live in later.

If you don't mind my asking how did you get your big 4 offer? I'm interested in big 4 opportunities like this but not really sure where to start

acr wrote:If you don't mind my asking how did you get your big 4 offer? I'm interested in big 4 opportunities like this but not really sure where to start

Finishing my LLM in tax at one of the top 3 LLM school. Lots of Big4 recruiting, but you have to weigh that against another year of school (lost income) and paying tuition.

Anonymous User wrote:I want to hopefully get into a mid-sized law firm and do M&A transactions.

Isn't this line of work sort of fundamentally incompatible with a good work life balance?