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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by Anonymous User » Thu Jan 20, 2022 10:15 pm

Saami wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:41 pm
DoveBodyWash wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:29 pm
Can we get more stories about partners living paycheck to paycheck plz
He wakes up in his emperor-sized bed, eyes glued to the ceiling towering 16 feet above him. He looks to his alarm clock, perched upon his Restoration Hardware end table. 5:45AM. He lets out a sigh, which quickly forms into a misty cloud. He shivers as he reluctantly makes his way out of bed, stripping off the satin sheets and touching his feet to the chill marble floor. The winter cold penetrated his entire house, as his central heating system could not endure the task of bringing his seven-bedroom estate above 60 degrees on these harsh February mornings. He prepares a simple breakfast in his Vitamix blender: whey protein, organic bananas, unroasted peanut butter, and ice. As he sits in his breakfast nook, sipping on the concoction, he overlooks the Long Island Sound from his window and cannot help but notice how fewer yachts there are out there than there had been only a couple years prior. "Troubling times," he mutters to himself, and then gets up hesitantly to start the long day's work ahead of him. A man has to do what a man has to do though when living paycheck to paycheck in America.

He enters his 2019 Bentley Continental GT, and heads out on his daily trek to the Metro-North station. With today's car prices, he had to sacrifice and stick with the older model. On his drive, he glances at each house in his neighborhood that he passes, and shudders. "How much were these houses when I moved here? About two million each, on average. Now what are they worth? Only seven, maybe eight million tops." He ponders how he could have gained so little net worth since buying his house in 2010—just another sign of the state of affairs in this country. How will his children survive when he's gone?

Ah, his children. The lights of his life. He wondered what they were up to at the moment. It must be even chillier up in Andover than it is here. He would have to ask about it in their biweekly phone call—that is, if he has the time to call them between his meetings with clients. At the very least, he looks forward to spending a week with them in-person come June, when their vacation times align. He always tried his best to be a better father than his old man had been to him. Sure, while he doesn't get to see his kids as often as he may like, at least they are not subjected to the horrors of the public school system in the same way that he'd been. He did not even wish to imagine how his kids lives would turn out if they were forced to share a classroom with the ruffians of Westchester County. The $120,000 of annual tuition is well worth it.

Of course, he would have more money to offer his kids if he had not been put through three divorces. First there was Claire, who insisted that seeing her an hour per day (and two per day on weekends) was not the foundation of a healthy marriage. Then there was Elizabeth, who said it was "disturbing" how many family functions he missed. She certainly was the high maintenance one of the bunch. Finally, there was Patricia, who... well, he could not exactly remember why she divorced him. There was a huge deal being finalized that week. But now, through all the attorneys' fees and alimony, how much is he realistically bringing home annually at this point? Maybe five million, but that is before taxes. He couldn't bear keeping his mind on the topic.

He finally reaches the station. He locks his car, waits for the train, and sits down in a fairly empty section. He laments the distinct lack of people commuting into the city. Why are people so against going into the office these days? Do they have better things to do? He doesn't dwell on this too long, but instead starts to think about his own future. He was quickly approaching 50, and only had enough money in his 401k to live off a half-million per year. How would he survive? Would he have to sell the summer home in Cape Cod? Or give up his yacht club membership? Indeed, it began to dawn on him that he may never be able to properly retire. He may have to work day-in, day-out until the day he dies just to be able to make end's meet. For his sanity's sake, he distracts himself by answering emails on his smartphone, which had become a meditation of sorts for him. Still, in the back of his mind, he could not help but recall a homeless man he had seen in the streets years ago, as he was walking to work. The man had been carrying a sign that read "The American dream is dead." And the time, he paid little attention to this warning. But now, as the train starts to park at Grand Central, and he looks to his Rolex to see if he even has time to get a run in at Equinox before starting the work day, he realizes that the homeless man had been right all along.
I was expecting to see more blathering about secondary schooling, but this was an absolute treat.

omar1

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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by omar1 » Thu Jan 20, 2022 10:39 pm

Saami wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:41 pm
DoveBodyWash wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:29 pm
Can we get more stories about partners living paycheck to paycheck plz
He wakes up in his emperor-sized bed, eyes glued to the ceiling towering 16 feet above him. He looks to his alarm clock, perched upon his Restoration Hardware end table. 5:45AM. He lets out a sigh, which quickly forms into a misty cloud. He shivers as he reluctantly makes his way out of bed, stripping off the satin sheets and touching his feet to the chill marble floor. The winter cold penetrated his entire house, as his central heating system could not endure the task of bringing his seven-bedroom estate above 60 degrees on these harsh February mornings. He prepares a simple breakfast in his Vitamix blender: whey protein, organic bananas, unroasted peanut butter, and ice. As he sits in his breakfast nook, sipping on the concoction, he overlooks the Long Island Sound from his window and cannot help but notice how fewer yachts there are out there than there had been only a couple years prior. "Troubling times," he mutters to himself, and then gets up hesitantly to start the long day's work ahead of him. A man has to do what a man has to do though when living paycheck to paycheck in America.

He enters his 2019 Bentley Continental GT, and heads out on his daily trek to the Metro-North station. With today's car prices, he had to sacrifice and stick with the older model. On his drive, he glances at each house in his neighborhood that he passes, and shudders. "How much were these houses when I moved here? About two million each, on average. Now what are they worth? Only seven, maybe eight million tops." He ponders how he could have gained so little net worth since buying his house in 2010—just another sign of the state of affairs in this country. How will his children survive when he's gone?

Ah, his children. The lights of his life. He wondered what they were up to at the moment. It must be even chillier up in Andover than it is here. He would have to ask about it in their biweekly phone call—that is, if he has the time to call them between his meetings with clients. At the very least, he looks forward to spending a week with them in-person come June, when their vacation times align. He always tried his best to be a better father than his old man had been to him. Sure, while he doesn't get to see his kids as often as he may like, at least they are not subjected to the horrors of the public school system in the same way that he'd been. He did not even wish to imagine how his kids lives would turn out if they were forced to share a classroom with the ruffians of Westchester County. The $120,000 of annual tuition is well worth it.

Of course, he would have more money to offer his kids if he had not been put through three divorces. First there was Claire, who insisted that seeing her an hour per day (and two per day on weekends) was not the foundation of a healthy marriage. Then there was Elizabeth, who said it was "disturbing" how many family functions he missed. She certainly was the high maintenance one of the bunch. Finally, there was Patricia, who... well, he could not exactly remember why she divorced him. There was a huge deal being finalized that week. But now, through all the attorneys' fees and alimony, how much is he realistically bringing home annually at this point? Maybe five million, but that is before taxes. He couldn't bear keeping his mind on the topic.

He finally reaches the station. He locks his car, waits for the train, and sits down in a fairly empty section. He laments the distinct lack of people commuting into the city. Why are people so against going into the office these days? Do they have better things to do? He doesn't dwell on this too long, but instead starts to think about his own future. He was quickly approaching 50, and only had enough money in his 401k to live off a half-million per year. How would he survive? Would he have to sell the summer home in Cape Cod? Or give up his yacht club membership? Indeed, it began to dawn on him that he may never be able to properly retire. He may have to work day-in, day-out until the day he dies just to be able to make end's meet. For his sanity's sake, he distracts himself by answering emails on his smartphone, which had become a meditation of sorts for him. Still, in the back of his mind, he could not help but recall a homeless man he had seen in the streets years ago, as he was walking to work. The man had been carrying a sign that read "The American dream is dead." And the time, he paid little attention to this warning. But now, as the train starts to park at Grand Central, and he looks to his Rolex to see if he even has time to get a run in at Equinox before starting the work day, he realizes that the homeless man had been right all along.
Dis the reason I still stick around TLS. Bravo! Brilliant!

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cornerstone

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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by cornerstone » Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:53 am

Monochromatic Oeuvre wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:42 pm
"There is a moment of sheer panic when I realize that Paul's apartment overlooks the park, and is obviously more expensive than mine."
True to character, bravo.

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bruinfan10

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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by bruinfan10 » Fri Jan 21, 2022 7:44 pm

Monochromatic Oeuvre wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:42 pm
Saami wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:41 pm
DoveBodyWash wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:29 pm
Can we get more stories about partners living paycheck to paycheck plz
He wakes up in his emperor-sized bed, eyes glued to the ceiling towering 16 feet above him. He looks to his alarm clock, perched upon his Restoration Hardware end table. 5:45AM. He lets out a sigh, which quickly forms into a misty cloud. He shivers as he reluctantly makes his way out of bed, stripping off the satin sheets and touching his feet to the chill marble floor. The winter cold penetrated his entire house, as his central heating system could not endure the task of bringing his seven-bedroom estate above 60 degrees on these harsh February mornings. He prepares a simple breakfast in his Vitamix blender: whey protein, organic bananas, unroasted peanut butter, and ice. As he sits in his breakfast nook, sipping on the concoction, he overlooks the Long Island Sound from his window and cannot help but notice how fewer yachts there are out there than there had been only a couple years prior. "Troubling times," he mutters to himself, and then gets up hesitantly to start the long day's work ahead of him. A man has to do what a man has to do though when living paycheck to paycheck in America.
"There is a moment of sheer panic when I realize that Paul's apartment overlooks the park, and is obviously more expensive than mine."
180

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Posts: 428117
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by Anonymous User » Fri Feb 11, 2022 11:38 am

Monochromatic Oeuvre wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:42 pm
Saami wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:41 pm
DoveBodyWash wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:29 pm
Can we get more stories about partners living paycheck to paycheck plz
He wakes up in his emperor-sized bed, eyes glued to the ceiling towering 16 feet above him. He looks to his alarm clock, perched upon his Restoration Hardware end table. 5:45AM. He lets out a sigh, which quickly forms into a misty cloud. He shivers as he reluctantly makes his way out of bed, stripping off the satin sheets and touching his feet to the chill marble floor. The winter cold penetrated his entire house, as his central heating system could not endure the task of bringing his seven-bedroom estate above 60 degrees on these harsh February mornings. He prepares a simple breakfast in his Vitamix blender: whey protein, organic bananas, unroasted peanut butter, and ice. As he sits in his breakfast nook, sipping on the concoction, he overlooks the Long Island Sound from his window and cannot help but notice how fewer yachts there are out there than there had been only a couple years prior. "Troubling times," he mutters to himself, and then gets up hesitantly to start the long day's work ahead of him. A man has to do what a man has to do though when living paycheck to paycheck in America.

He enters his 2019 Bentley Continental GT, and heads out on his daily trek to the Metro-North station. With today's car prices, he had to sacrifice and stick with the older model. On his drive, he glances at each house in his neighborhood that he passes, and shudders. "How much were these houses when I moved here? About two million each, on average. Now what are they worth? Only seven, maybe eight million tops." He ponders how he could have gained so little net worth since buying his house in 2010—just another sign of the state of affairs in this country. How will his children survive when he's gone?

Ah, his children. The lights of his life. He wondered what they were up to at the moment. It must be even chillier up in Andover than it is here. He would have to ask about it in their biweekly phone call—that is, if he has the time to call them between his meetings with clients. At the very least, he looks forward to spending a week with them in-person come June, when their vacation times align. He always tried his best to be a better father than his old man had been to him. Sure, while he doesn't get to see his kids as often as he may like, at least they are not subjected to the horrors of the public school system in the same way that he'd been. He did not even wish to imagine how his kids lives would turn out if they were forced to share a classroom with the ruffians of Westchester County. The $120,000 of annual tuition is well worth it.

Of course, he would have more money to offer his kids if he had not been put through three divorces. First there was Claire, who insisted that seeing her an hour per day (and two per day on weekends) was not the foundation of a healthy marriage. Then there was Elizabeth, who said it was "disturbing" how many family functions he missed. She certainly was the high maintenance one of the bunch. Finally, there was Patricia, who... well, he could not exactly remember why she divorced him. There was a huge deal being finalized that week. But now, through all the attorneys' fees and alimony, how much is he realistically bringing home annually at this point? Maybe five million, but that is before taxes. He couldn't bear keeping his mind on the topic.

He finally reaches the station. He locks his car, waits for the train, and sits down in a fairly empty section. He laments the distinct lack of people commuting into the city. Why are people so against going into the office these days? Do they have better things to do? He doesn't dwell on this too long, but instead starts to think about his own future. He was quickly approaching 50, and only had enough money in his 401k to live off a half-million per year. How would he survive? Would he have to sell the summer home in Cape Cod? Or give up his yacht club membership? Indeed, it began to dawn on him that he may never be able to properly retire. He may have to work day-in, day-out until the day he dies just to be able to make end's meet. For his sanity's sake, he distracts himself by answering emails on his smartphone, which had become a meditation of sorts for him. Still, in the back of his mind, he could not help but recall a homeless man he had seen in the streets years ago, as he was walking to work. The man had been carrying a sign that read "The American dream is dead." And the time, he paid little attention to this warning. But now, as the train starts to park at Grand Central, and he looks to his Rolex to see if he even has time to get a run in at Equinox before starting the work day, he realizes that the homeless man had been right all along.
"There is a moment of sheer panic when I realize that Paul's apartment overlooks the park, and is obviously more expensive than mine."
:lol: :lol:

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Zerosumgame

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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by Zerosumgame » Fri Feb 11, 2022 7:39 pm

They want a reservation for two at Dorsia.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428117
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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Feb 12, 2022 7:17 pm

glitched wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:40 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:34 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:41 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:12 pm

2. Education: I have never heard of a partner sending their kid to public school regardless of how good the local public school is. They're spending $60k/year per kid to go private school. Some of this is because of networking opportunities (guess where the client's kids are going - now you get to rub shoulders with clients on the pretense of giving your kids a better education. Basically a business expense.)
This must be a New York thing. Every single partner I know at my DC firm who has kids in school chooses to live in a nice suburb (Montgomery County, Fairfax County, or Arlington) rather than DC and sends their kids to public schools out there. Granted those kids (like many others at those public high schools) get tutoring and go off to Columbia, Georgetown, UVA, USC, William and Mary, etc.
It's very much a NY thing and some other areas. I've seen discussions about this before -- the NE has a weird obsession w/ private schools (I believe parts of the South too) whereas people at the same level of affluence in e.g., the Mid-Atlantic or Midwest are more comfortable sending their kids to public. Some whiz linked it to differences in pubic schooling structure or something I can't remember but I suspect a lot of it is just cultural and keeping up w/ the Joneses.
Public schools in Jersey and Manhattan probably suck.
Public schools in the Jersey suburbs are among the best in the country. It's a Northeast cultural thing, same reason they have a crazy ratio of public to private universities compared to most of the rest of the country. Children of the wealthy there typically never attend a public educational institution, children of the wealthy in Texas go to Plano public schools, then UT Austin.

Anonymous User
Posts: 428117
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am

Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Feb 12, 2022 7:31 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:51 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:24 pm
For posters who require “good schools” for your kids, what does that mean and why? Isn’t your kids result more to do with them rather than the school? Leaving aside long term network effects for boarding schools, this always puzzles me. Going to a “good public school” doesn’t really guarantee anything other than fewer fights and generally less diversity.
Some people care about academics. Like duh. How can you even ask that question lol?


Also, how does networking even work at schools? I have attended fancy-ass private schools from HS onward and have never felt a networking bump. Are we talking about like trading a week in Vail for a week in St. Tropez at our families’ ostensible summer/winter houses or something into adulthood?
There is no meaningful difference in academics among high schools as long as it's not a seriously struggling high school that doesn't have AP programs. E.g. research generally shows that there is no long-term earnings benefit to attending a magnet school, unless you are poor, in which case you get college know-how/etc. benefits that help long-term.

There are networking benefits to fancy high schools, though. College admissions favor graduates from fancy high schools as a back-door way to do wealth discrimination, since all of the top colleges officially have need-blind admissions. My Ivy+ ug supposedly had an admissions officer just for Harvard-Westlake. Fancy high schools also typically have fancy and well-connected admissions counselors. And obviously you'll have a wealthier peer group that will eventually be a more professionally useful network as an adult.

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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by Anonymous User » Sat Feb 12, 2022 11:01 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Feb 12, 2022 7:31 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:51 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 19, 2022 7:24 pm
For posters who require “good schools” for your kids, what does that mean and why? Isn’t your kids result more to do with them rather than the school? Leaving aside long term network effects for boarding schools, this always puzzles me. Going to a “good public school” doesn’t really guarantee anything other than fewer fights and generally less diversity.
Some people care about academics. Like duh. How can you even ask that question lol?


Also, how does networking even work at schools? I have attended fancy-ass private schools from HS onward and have never felt a networking bump. Are we talking about like trading a week in Vail for a week in St. Tropez at our families’ ostensible summer/winter houses or something into adulthood?
There is no meaningful difference in academics among high schools as long as it's not a seriously struggling high school that doesn't have AP programs. E.g. research generally shows that there is no long-term earnings benefit to attending a magnet school, unless you are poor, in which case you get college know-how/etc. benefits that help long-term.

There are networking benefits to fancy high schools, though. College admissions favor graduates from fancy high schools as a back-door way to do wealth discrimination, since all of the top colleges officially have need-blind admissions. My Ivy+ ug supposedly had an admissions officer just for Harvard-Westlake. Fancy high schools also typically have fancy and well-connected admissions counselors. And obviously you'll have a wealthier peer group that will eventually be a more professionally useful network as an adult.
Still remember my first week at UG teaching the private school kids how to use a washing machine and not burn down the dorm with the microwave. But yes, there are enormous benefits to attending fancy, expensive private schools. Not only do you network with the absurdly rich, but college admissions also become a breeze.

These are rough generalizations, but out of the valedictorians of the no-name public school I went to that I know, so a 7 year period or so, not a single one of us was accepted to an Ivy league school (let alone anyone else in the student body). Looking back at the school receipts, only UPenn, Harvard, and Cornell had ever in history accepted a student from our school. Only 1 USNews top 20 school accepted me, and I had a 2360 SAT and perfect grades in classes and on AP exams. And unsurprisingly, it was the school geographically closest to mine. Admissions committees across the spectrum literally had no idea what our school was. That type of thing doesn't happen at private schools.

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bokampers

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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by bokampers » Sun Feb 13, 2022 1:19 am

Saami wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 1:41 pm
DoveBodyWash wrote:
Thu Jan 20, 2022 12:29 pm
Can we get more stories about partners living paycheck to paycheck plz
He wakes up in his emperor-sized bed, eyes glued to the ceiling towering 16 feet above him. He looks to his alarm clock, perched upon his Restoration Hardware end table. 5:45AM. He lets out a sigh, which quickly forms into a misty cloud. He shivers as he reluctantly makes his way out of bed, stripping off the satin sheets and touching his feet to the chill marble floor. The winter cold penetrated his entire house, as his central heating system could not endure the task of bringing his seven-bedroom estate above 60 degrees on these harsh February mornings. He prepares a simple breakfast in his Vitamix blender: whey protein, organic bananas, unroasted peanut butter, and ice. As he sits in his breakfast nook, sipping on the concoction, he overlooks the Long Island Sound from his window and cannot help but notice how fewer yachts there are out there than there had been only a couple years prior. "Troubling times," he mutters to himself, and then gets up hesitantly to start the long day's work ahead of him. A man has to do what a man has to do though when living paycheck to paycheck in America.

He enters his 2019 Bentley Continental GT, and heads out on his daily trek to the Metro-North station. With today's car prices, he had to sacrifice and stick with the older model. On his drive, he glances at each house in his neighborhood that he passes, and shudders. "How much were these houses when I moved here? About two million each, on average. Now what are they worth? Only seven, maybe eight million tops." He ponders how he could have gained so little net worth since buying his house in 2010—just another sign of the state of affairs in this country. How will his children survive when he's gone?

Ah, his children. The lights of his life. He wondered what they were up to at the moment. It must be even chillier up in Andover than it is here. He would have to ask about it in their biweekly phone call—that is, if he has the time to call them between his meetings with clients. At the very least, he looks forward to spending a week with them in-person come June, when their vacation times align. He always tried his best to be a better father than his old man had been to him. Sure, while he doesn't get to see his kids as often as he may like, at least they are not subjected to the horrors of the public school system in the same way that he'd been. He did not even wish to imagine how his kids lives would turn out if they were forced to share a classroom with the ruffians of Westchester County. The $120,000 of annual tuition is well worth it.

Of course, he would have more money to offer his kids if he had not been put through three divorces. First there was Claire, who insisted that seeing her an hour per day (and two per day on weekends) was not the foundation of a healthy marriage. Then there was Elizabeth, who said it was "disturbing" how many family functions he missed. She certainly was the high maintenance one of the bunch. Finally, there was Patricia, who... well, he could not exactly remember why she divorced him. There was a huge deal being finalized that week. But now, through all the attorneys' fees and alimony, how much is he realistically bringing home annually at this point? Maybe five million, but that is before taxes. He couldn't bear keeping his mind on the topic.

He finally reaches the station. He locks his car, waits for the train, and sits down in a fairly empty section. He laments the distinct lack of people commuting into the city. Why are people so against going into the office these days? Do they have better things to do? He doesn't dwell on this too long, but instead starts to think about his own future. He was quickly approaching 50, and only had enough money in his 401k to live off a half-million per year. How would he survive? Would he have to sell the summer home in Cape Cod? Or give up his yacht club membership? Indeed, it began to dawn on him that he may never be able to properly retire. He may have to work day-in, day-out until the day he dies just to be able to make end's meet. For his sanity's sake, he distracts himself by answering emails on his smartphone, which had become a meditation of sorts for him. Still, in the back of his mind, he could not help but recall a homeless man he had seen in the streets years ago, as he was walking to work. The man had been carrying a sign that read "The American dream is dead." And the time, he paid little attention to this warning. But now, as the train starts to park at Grand Central, and he looks to his Rolex to see if he even has time to get a run in at Equinox before starting the work day, he realizes that the homeless man had been right all along.
Stopping by only to say: thank you.

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HenryHankPalmer

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Re: How do BigLaw partners spend all their money?

Post by HenryHankPalmer » Sun Feb 13, 2022 4:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Sat Feb 12, 2022 7:17 pm
glitched wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:40 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:34 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:41 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:12 pm

2. Education: I have never heard of a partner sending their kid to public school regardless of how good the local public school is. They're spending $60k/year per kid to go private school. Some of this is because of networking opportunities (guess where the client's kids are going - now you get to rub shoulders with clients on the pretense of giving your kids a better education. Basically a business expense.)
This must be a New York thing. Every single partner I know at my DC firm who has kids in school chooses to live in a nice suburb (Montgomery County, Fairfax County, or Arlington) rather than DC and sends their kids to public schools out there. Granted those kids (like many others at those public high schools) get tutoring and go off to Columbia, Georgetown, UVA, USC, William and Mary, etc.
It's very much a NY thing and some other areas. I've seen discussions about this before -- the NE has a weird obsession w/ private schools (I believe parts of the South too) whereas people at the same level of affluence in e.g., the Mid-Atlantic or Midwest are more comfortable sending their kids to public. Some whiz linked it to differences in pubic schooling structure or something I can't remember but I suspect a lot of it is just cultural and keeping up w/ the Joneses.
Public schools in Jersey and Manhattan probably suck.
Public schools in the Jersey suburbs are among the best in the country. It's a Northeast cultural thing, same reason they have a crazy ratio of public to private universities compared to most of the rest of the country. Children of the wealthy there typically never attend a public educational institution, children of the wealthy in Texas go to Plano public schools, then UT Austin.
There is definitely a strong private school culture in the major Texas cities, or at least in Dallas or Houston. The majority of the Dallas Biglaw partners that I know send their kids to St. Marks/Hockaday/Jesuit or Highland Park if they go the public route. In Houston it’s Kinkaid or St. John’s (Elizabeth Holmes’s alma mater). The “where did you go to high school” thing is particularly pervasive in Dallas. Less so in Austin, because everyone just lives in Westlake.

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