Specialized Boutique vs Big Law Forum

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I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on the pros and cons of going to a specialized boutique vs big law firm? Specifically, if I wanted to practice L&E, what would be the pros and cons of choosing a lower v100 vs one of the specialized firms (like Littler, Jackson, Ogletree)? Would exit options at one be significantly better than the other? Better work life balance? Pay vs hours? Office would be in a midwestern market (think Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee). I would appreciate any insight.

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Bump

[tyroneslothrop1]

Pay at the L&E shops (Littler, Ogltree, etc) is significantly lower. They do a lot of EPL work (insurance defense) and have lower rates and therefore lower pay. Firms like Morgan Lewis have L&E departments but pay market.

[Anonymous User]

Not getting into the specifics of comparing firms so much, but: The advice I got when I was deciding between a boutique in a specialized area (not L&E but FinReg) and a market firm was that it's a lot easier to go from the big firm to the boutique than vice versa.

[wwwcol]

Pay at the L&E shops (Littler, Ogltree, etc) is significantly lower. They do a lot of EPL work (insurance defense) and have lower rates and therefore lower pay. Firms like Morgan Lewis have L&E departments but pay market.

the day to day work is also very different. Market paying biglaw firms are generally only doing (putative or certified) class action work with the occasioanl single-plaintiff cases for institutional clients

At an L&E firm you’re grinding through single plaintiff cases. It’s horrible tedious repetitive work in a way that class work isn’t

[Iowahawk]

Some of this advice might not be right if you're not looking in Chicago. First, in many Midwestern secondaries, there is not one consistent mid/biglaw market rate, and whatever mid/biglaw firm you go for may or may not pay more than e.g. Jackson Lewis. I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson Lewis Omaha is near the top of the market there, for example. Second, many full-service mid/biglaw firms in secondary Midwestern markets don't do exclusively (or even mostly) class-action work because they have lower rates.

[wwwcol]

Some of this advice might not be right if you're not looking in Chicago. First, in many Midwestern secondaries, there is not one consistent mid/biglaw market rate, and whatever mid/biglaw firm you go for may or may not pay more than e.g. Jackson Lewis. I wouldn't be surprised if Jackson Lewis Omaha is near the top of the market there, for example. Second, many full-service mid/biglaw firms in secondary Midwestern markets don't do exclusively (or even mostly) class-action work because they have lower rates.

this is a good qualifier to my comment

[2013]

This is just a random comment, but Littler, Jackson Lewis, etc., are not boutiques. They’re gigantic full-service firms that are focused heavily on employment law.

Also, I wouldn’t choose them over Paul Hastings, Winston & Strawn, Morgan Lewis, or any of the biglaw firms that do a lot of employment law.

It’ll be harder to go from Littler to a traditional biglaw firm because the lack of transferable skills. People definitely do it, but it seems to take a few steps (Littler to non-market paying biglaw to market paying biglaw)

[Iconix]

Pay at the L&E shops (Littler, Ogltree, etc) is significantly lower. They do a lot of EPL work (insurance defense) and have lower rates and therefore lower pay. Firms like Morgan Lewis have L&E departments but pay market.

the day to day work is also very different. Market paying biglaw firms are generally only doing (putative or certified) class action work with the occasioanl single-plaintiff cases for institutional clients

At an L&E firm you’re grinding through single plaintiff cases. It’s horrible tedious repetitive work in a way that class work isn’t

Thanks to everyone for all of the responses!

I am not sure if you have direct experience with this, but could you elaborate more on the differences between class action work vs single-plaintiff cases re the tedious and repetitive aspect. Why do you think the class action work is better than the latter? I have a lot of experience working on single-plaintiff cases from summer and externship experience, but I am not as familiar with the differences that come with a more big law centric client base.

[Iconix]

Also does anyone have any thoughts on pay when the big law pay (lower v100 and not market) is essentially the same as one of Jackson Lewis/Ogletree/Littler in a different market when factoring a lower CoL? Think Chicago vs Cincinnati. Assuming the market location itself is not really a factor.