Lateral bump and worried I won’t cut it ($130k to $270k) Forum

[Anonymous User]

I just lateraled from a firm (was paid $130k) to a biglaw black box firm as a mid-level (base now $270k). I am super grateful that a 2.0 GPA from an average school could get me here after so many years, but worried that I won’t meet the expectations the group has of me. Everyone loves me (still the beginning) and they all are great to work for. I do L&E and have been doing it for a while now, but I just imagine that the L&E work I would do in biglaw would just be too complicated or different than what I did in mid law. I don’t know. I am looking forward to non EPLI work and being more lax with block billing, but just overall worried about my work product not being up to par.

1) If you were in a similar situation (or could relate somehow) how did you get around it?

2) how different is biglaw L&E from mid law/boutique L&E?

[cheaptilts]

I just lateraled from a firm (was paid $130k) to a biglaw black box firm as a mid-level (base now $270k). I am super grateful that a 2.0 GPA from an average school could get me here after so many years, but worried that I won’t meet the expectations the group has of me. Everyone loves me (still the beginning) and they all are great to work for. I do L&E and have been doing it for a while now, but I just imagine that the L&E work I would do in biglaw would just be too complicated or different than what I did in mid law. I don’t know. I am looking forward to non EPLI work and being more lax with block billing, but just overall worried about my work product not being up to par.

1) If you were in a similar situation (or could relate somehow) how did you get around it?

2) how different is biglaw L&E from mid law/boutique L&E?

You were hired. The firm saw your resume. They passed it along to others. They ok’d a screener. Whoever talked to you liked you enough to move you forward. You met with others who all did the same. You’ve been vetted already. You will cut it and are “cutting it” right now.

If you’re worried about your work product (whether a rational or irrational fear), just work on your work product. If you make routine typos or dolling mistakes, make a checklist for what to look for. Make a plan to always print and read emails longer than a paragraph before sending (no joke—I do this still.) read a book or books or grammar girl on writing if your punctuation’s off. Read articles about your practice daily to get a better understanding of it. Bettering your work product is pretty easy to do on your own if you put the time into it, and you’ll then feel more confident that you belong.

But you already belong. The firm decided that question awhile ago. And by your own words things are going swimmingly right now. Get out of your head!

[Anonymous User]

I just lateraled from a firm (was paid $130k) to a biglaw black box firm as a mid-level (base now $270k). I am super grateful that a 2.0 GPA from an average school could get me here after so many years, but worried that I won’t meet the expectations the group has of me. Everyone loves me (still the beginning) and they all are great to work for. I do L&E and have been doing it for a while now, but I just imagine that the L&E work I would do in biglaw would just be too complicated or different than what I did in mid law. I don’t know. I am looking forward to non EPLI work and being more lax with block billing, but just overall worried about my work product not being up to par.

1) If you were in a similar situation (or could relate somehow) how did you get around it?

2) how different is biglaw L&E from mid law/boutique L&E?

You were hired. The firm saw your resume. They passed it along to others. They ok’d a screener. Whoever talked to you liked you enough to move you forward. You met with others who all did the same. You’ve been vetted already. You will cut it and are “cutting it” right now.

If you’re worried about your work product (whether a rational or irrational fear), just work on your work product. If you make routine typos or dolling mistakes, make a checklist for what to look for. Make a plan to always print and read emails longer than a paragraph before sending (no joke—I do this still.) read a book or books or grammar girl on writing if your punctuation’s off. Read articles about your practice daily to get a better understanding of it. Bettering your work product is pretty easy to do on your own if you put the time into it, and you’ll then feel more confident that you belong.

But you already belong. The firm decided that question awhile ago. And by your own words things are going swimmingly right now. Get out of your head!

Thank you! I so needed this, totally appreciate it. You are right that working on fixing work product isn’t an impossible task. Just have to put the work into it of making that happen. I really like that idea of printing out long emails to proof read (and for motions and docs in general, I’ve stopped doing that). Reading regular L&E blogs would be such an easy way to improve too and be in the know.

What other simple tips do people use to keep work product top notch?

[JM14]

I just lateraled from a firm (was paid $130k) to a biglaw black box firm as a mid-level (base now $270k). I am super grateful that a 2.0 GPA from an average school could get me here after so many years, but worried that I won’t meet the expectations the group has of me. Everyone loves me (still the beginning) and they all are great to work for. I do L&E and have been doing it for a while now, but I just imagine that the L&E work I would do in biglaw would just be too complicated or different than what I did in mid law. I don’t know. I am looking forward to non EPLI work and being more lax with block billing, but just overall worried about my work product not being up to par.

1) If you were in a similar situation (or could relate somehow) how did you get around it?

2) how different is biglaw L&E from mid law/boutique L&E?

You were hired. The firm saw your resume. They passed it along to others. They ok’d a screener. Whoever talked to you liked you enough to move you forward. You met with others who all did the same. You’ve been vetted already. You will cut it and are “cutting it” right now.

If you’re worried about your work product (whether a rational or irrational fear), just work on your work product. If you make routine typos or dolling mistakes, make a checklist for what to look for. Make a plan to always print and read emails longer than a paragraph before sending (no joke—I do this still.) read a book or books or grammar girl on writing if your punctuation’s off. Read articles about your practice daily to get a better understanding of it. Bettering your work product is pretty easy to do on your own if you put the time into it, and you’ll then feel more confident that you belong.

But you already belong. The firm decided that question awhile ago. And by your own words things are going swimmingly right now. Get out of your head!

Totally agreed. And I see the OP does as well. Wanted to add - don't send out rushed work 5-10 minutes early because you feel the pressure of someone wanting something ASAP. Everyone always wants it right first and foremost so really take a deep breath... remember that they will be happy when it is sent out and correct and 90% of the time the extra 10 minutes feels a lot longer to you than to the recipient or partner... take the time to chill for a minute and make the little perhaps seemingly unimportant revisions or cleanups that you need to make it pretty and something your proud of.

[2013]

What class year are you? Also stop doubting yourself. You are worthy of the job and money. If anything, you were getting shafted by your former employer.

[Anonymous User]

What class year are you? Also stop doubting yourself. You are worthy of the job and money. If anything, you were getting shafted by your former employer.

6th year, and thank you. Just seems like a wild amount of money to me, I imagine even crazier for those on a true cravath scale. But I am just grateful of a 2x salary bump.