BL Metro Comparison Forum

[KijiStewart]

Sorry for such a broad post. Can anybody give me the rundown on what BL is like in the following cities: Miami, Boston, Chicago and Philly.

By this I mean, are exit ops comparable, is working at a satellite office in some of these still a valuable experience, is not being in NY really a huge deal. (What is all the fuss about NY anyway, from what I hear you have no free time to enjoy the city, cost of living makes your bonus look like nothing .. is there a point to NYC if you don't love M&A's/IPOS)

[Anonymous User]

Sorry for such a broad post. Can anybody give me the rundown on what BL is like in the following cities: Miami, Boston, Chicago and Philly.

By this I mean, are exit ops comparable, is working at a satellite office in some of these still a valuable experience, is not being in NY really a huge deal. (What is all the fuss about NY anyway, from what I hear you have no free time to enjoy the city, cost of living makes your bonus look like nothing .. is there a point to NYC if you don't love M&A's/IPOS)

Honestly. This is the kind of question that someone in Biglaw would love to answer. Either a partner or associate that loves to shit on other markets.

Whether or not you think NYC is going to be bes for your career depends on where you want to live in the long run; whether you are going litigation or transactional, and in particular what practice group you are in. Everything people say about NY is generally true.

The other markets are harder to break into if are not from the city/region or your law school is not in the city or region.
Biglaw experience in each city is also going to be different depending on the firm. Some large firms started in philly, so they think philly is the shit because they run the town. Same goes for the equivalents in Boston, Chicago and Miami.

[KijiStewart]

Sorry for such a broad post. Can anybody give me the rundown on what BL is like in the following cities: Miami, Boston, Chicago and Philly.

By this I mean, are exit ops comparable, is working at a satellite office in some of these still a valuable experience, is not being in NY really a huge deal. (What is all the fuss about NY anyway, from what I hear you have no free time to enjoy the city, cost of living makes your bonus look like nothing .. is there a point to NYC if you don't love M&A's/IPOS)

Honestly. This is the kind of question that someone in Biglaw would love to answer. Either a partner or associate that loves to shit on other markets.

Whether or not you think NYC is going to be bes for your career depends on where you want to live in the long run; whether you are going litigation or transactional, and in particular what practice group you are in. Everything people say about NY is generally true.

The other markets are harder to break into if are not from the city/region or your law school is not in the city or region.
Biglaw experience in each city is also going to be different depending on the firm. Some large firms started in philly, so they think philly is the shit because they run the town. Same goes for the equivalents in Boston, Chicago and Miami.

Is Miami the only major metro whose BL firms actually care about the work-life balance. I KNOW the FL based firms do (e.g. Akerman, Sterns Weaver ..) if you'll count those as BL. I'm sorry but i don't want to work 80 hour weeks to bill 60 hours and earn the same net income as those Miami lawyers who also get to live in an awesome city lol

[lavarman84]

Sorry for such a broad post. Can anybody give me the rundown on what BL is like in the following cities: Miami, Boston, Chicago and Philly.

By this I mean, are exit ops comparable, is working at a satellite office in some of these still a valuable experience, is not being in NY really a huge deal. (What is all the fuss about NY anyway, from what I hear you have no free time to enjoy the city, cost of living makes your bonus look like nothing .. is there a point to NYC if you don't love M&A's/IPOS)

Honestly. This is the kind of question that someone in Biglaw would love to answer. Either a partner or associate that loves to shit on other markets.

Whether or not you think NYC is going to be bes for your career depends on where you want to live in the long run; whether you are going litigation or transactional, and in particular what practice group you are in. Everything people say about NY is generally true.

The other markets are harder to break into if are not from the city/region or your law school is not in the city or region.
Biglaw experience in each city is also going to be different depending on the firm. Some large firms started in philly, so they think philly is the shit because they run the town. Same goes for the equivalents in Boston, Chicago and Miami.

Is Miami the only major metro whose BL firms actually care about the work-life balance. I KNOW the FL based firms do (e.g. Akerman, Sterns Weaver ..) if you'll count those as BL. I'm sorry but i don't want to work 80 hour weeks to bill 60 hours and earn the same net income as those Miami lawyers who also get to live in an awesome city lol

I don't know if you're from Miami, but FL firms tend to care about ties if you're aiming for a SA. And FL firms may care more about work-life balance than NYC firms, but it's still biglaw. Don't expect work-life balance. Expect to work 60+ hour weeks.

[Pokemon]

Sorry for such a broad post. Can anybody give me the rundown on what BL is like in the following cities: Miami, Boston, Chicago and Philly.

By this I mean, are exit ops comparable, is working at a satellite office in some of these still a valuable experience, is not being in NY really a huge deal. (What is all the fuss about NY anyway, from what I hear you have no free time to enjoy the city, cost of living makes your bonus look like nothing .. is there a point to NYC if you don't love M&A's/IPOS)

Honestly. This is the kind of question that someone in Biglaw would love to answer. Either a partner or associate that loves to shit on other markets.

Whether or not you think NYC is going to be bes for your career depends on where you want to live in the long run; whether you are going litigation or transactional, and in particular what practice group you are in. Everything people say about NY is generally true.

The other markets are harder to break into if are not from the city/region or your law school is not in the city or region.
Biglaw experience in each city is also going to be different depending on the firm. Some large firms started in philly, so they think philly is the shit because they run the town. Same goes for the equivalents in Boston, Chicago and Miami.

Someone on biglaw might love to answer it but it is a terrible question to ask in the first place. No ny interviewing attorney wants to hear how NYC compares to the city they have ties to.

[KijiStewart]

Sorry for such a broad post. Can anybody give me the rundown on what BL is like in the following cities: Miami, Boston, Chicago and Philly.

By this I mean, are exit ops comparable, is working at a satellite office in some of these still a valuable experience, is not being in NY really a huge deal. (What is all the fuss about NY anyway, from what I hear you have no free time to enjoy the city, cost of living makes your bonus look like nothing .. is there a point to NYC if you don't love M&A's/IPOS)

Honestly. This is the kind of question that someone in Biglaw would love to answer. Either a partner or associate that loves to shit on other markets.

Whether or not you think NYC is going to be bes for your career depends on where you want to live in the long run; whether you are going litigation or transactional, and in particular what practice group you are in. Everything people say about NY is generally true.

The other markets are harder to break into if are not from the city/region or your law school is not in the city or region.
Biglaw experience in each city is also going to be different depending on the firm. Some large firms started in philly, so they think philly is the shit because they run the town. Same goes for the equivalents in Boston, Chicago and Miami.

Is Miami the only major metro whose BL firms actually care about the work-life balance. I KNOW the FL based firms do (e.g. Akerman, Sterns Weaver ..) if you'll count those as BL. I'm sorry but i don't want to work 80 hour weeks to bill 60 hours and earn the same net income as those Miami lawyers who also get to live in an awesome city lol

I don't know if you're from Miami, but FL firms tend to care about ties if you're aiming for a SA. And FL firms may care more about work-life balance than NYC firms, but it's still biglaw. Don't expect work-life balance. Expect to work 60+ hour weeks.

By "ties" do you mean either you grew up in Fl. or did your JD in Fl. ?

[lavarman84]

I don't know if you're from Miami, but FL firms tend to care about ties if you're aiming for a SA. And FL firms may care more about work-life balance than NYC firms, but it's still biglaw. Don't expect work-life balance. Expect to work 60+ hour weeks.

By "ties" do you mean either you grew up in Fl. or did you JD in Fl. ?

Either could suffice.

[KijiStewart]

I don't know if you're from Miami, but FL firms tend to care about ties if you're aiming for a SA. And FL firms may care more about work-life balance than NYC firms, but it's still biglaw. Don't expect work-life balance. Expect to work 60+ hour weeks.

By "ties" do you mean either you grew up in Fl. or did you JD in Fl. ?

Either could suffice.

Any other markets have BL with ~ 60 hour weeks?

I'm guessing Boston and Chicago are similar to NY.

What about Houston, ATL, Philly .. ?

[sublime]

I work in NY biglaw and only rarely work more than 60ish in a week, fwiw. Many are around there though.

[lavarman84]

I don't know if you're from Miami, but FL firms tend to care about ties if you're aiming for a SA. And FL firms may care more about work-life balance than NYC firms, but it's still biglaw. Don't expect work-life balance. Expect to work 60+ hour weeks.

By "ties" do you mean either you grew up in Fl. or did you JD in Fl. ?

Either could suffice.

Any other markets have BL with ~ 60 hour weeks?

I'm guessing Boston and Chicago are similar to NY.

What about Houston, ATL, Philly .. ?

It's not really about markets. It's more about firms and practice groups. The point I'm making is that Miami biglaw might be slightly better than NYC biglaw in terms of hours on average, but it's not going to be that different. If your practice group is busy, they're going to give you as much work as they can.

The biggest reason primary markets tend to demand more hours is because they tend to be busier (among other reasons). Basically, if you want to do biglaw, you need to be comfortable with the idea that you're going to be working a lot. Frankly, that holds true for a lot more than just lawyers in biglaw.

[RaceJudicata]

Lol at miami being an awesome city. Sure, nice place to visit for a weekend...but awesome place to live long term? No thanks.

[acr]

Lol at miami being an awesome city. Sure, nice place to visit for a weekend...but awesome place to live long term? No thanks.

this

[KijiStewart]

Lol at miami being an awesome city. Sure, nice place to visit for a weekend...but awesome place to live long term? No thanks.

Can you elaborate on why you think so?

I understand the city gets a bad rap for the south beach superficial vibe, but there's tons of other areas in the city with grounded people. Plus, it's a very doable commute from the Ft. Lauderdale area which is not superficial and has tons to offer.