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Hi all,

Please help me decide. I’m a third year associate t25 3.0 gpa. End game is defense commercial lit or in-house

Firm 1: L&E and consumer plaintiff class action; 90k; friendly environment safe place to grow; beach city LA county

Firm 2: mass tort Defense firm; 125k; great litigators seems a little more like sink or swim but with guidance; LA near or in downtown

Depends a bit on how financially secure you are and how good you are at networking. I think Option 2 makes sense if you need the extra $35k and are average or bad at networking because (1) you'll at least be on the defense side, with the possibility of jumping groups later, fewer conflicts issues, and maybe clients to go in-house to; and (2) more money now likely means more money later, because outside biglaw, comp is not really lockstep and is partly based on what you've been paid before. Option 1 is better if the money doesn't make a huge difference to you and you're confident in your ability to network and spin relevant work experience across the table into the next (defense-side) opportunity.