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brdlw wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 11:34 am

I know that work/life balance does not exist in biglaw, but I am very interested in what specific niches are less miserable. Rephrased slightly - what are the most manageable corporate niches? Is transactional that different from regulatory? Does it matter more for specific subsection like PE vs CapM?

Interested to hear experiences/thoughts. I am small/midlaw gen corp and am pleased with the more "relaxed" lifestyle I currently enjoy of 50-60 hours a week. Always thinking about moving, but merely curious if there is a general consensus on a niche that is more predictable/manageable.

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 2:06 pm

Any practice that has less project management / sheep herding is going to be better work/life balance wise because otherwise everyone else's problem because your problem.

Like if you're in M&A or cap markets, you're chasing auditors or local counsel or yada yada yada so even when you think your docs are in good form you're still stuck working and joining status calls. It really adds up.

The solution is to make sure you're in a specialty practice. You still get pinged at 10pm for comments due at midnight, but once you send them off then you can go to bed instead of integrating them into the broader deal. The cap markets or M&A associate is the one pulling the all nighter.

brdlw wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 2:34 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 2:06 pm

Any practice that has less project management / sheep herding is going to be better work/life balance wise because otherwise everyone else's problem because your problem.

Like if you're in M&A or cap markets, you're chasing auditors or local counsel or yada yada yada so even when you think your docs are in good form you're still stuck working and joining status calls. It really adds up.

The solution is to make sure you're in a specialty practice. You still get pinged at 10pm for comments due at midnight, but once you send them off then you can go to bed instead of integrating them into the broader deal. The cap markets or M&A associate is the one pulling the all nighter.

Interesting. So what do you mean by specialty? I am a generalist, so I do not know the nuances.

LittleRedCorvette wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 3:31 pm

brdlw wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 2:34 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 2:06 pm

Any practice that has less project management / sheep herding is going to be better work/life balance wise because otherwise everyone else's problem because your problem.

Like if you're in M&A or cap markets, you're chasing auditors or local counsel or yada yada yada so even when you think your docs are in good form you're still stuck working and joining status calls. It really adds up.

The solution is to make sure you're in a specialty practice. You still get pinged at 10pm for comments due at midnight, but once you send them off then you can go to bed instead of integrating them into the broader deal. The cap markets or M&A associate is the one pulling the all nighter.

Interesting. So what do you mean by specialty? I am a generalist, so I do not know the nuances.

How can you be a generalist/practicing lawyer and not know what they mean by specialty? Tax, HSR/regulatory, environmental, labor and employment, etc...