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What's the first year timeline once you start in big law?
Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 4:56 am
by Anonymous User
Do you dive in as soon as you're through with training and know you've passed the bar?
Is there a period where you're only working on one issue at a time?
How long are you a clerk?
Re: What's the first year timeline once you start in big law?
Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 10:54 am
by randomthrowaway
Anonymous User wrote: ↑Tue Feb 08, 2022 4:56 am
Do you dive in as soon as you're through with training and know you've passed the bar?
Is there a period where you're only working on one issue at a time?
How long are you a clerk?
How long is a piece of string? This is going to vary wildly from firm to firm and practice group to practice group.
You'll generally start in the fall, before you even know whether or not you passed the bar (at least in my state). You'll have a few days to a week or two weeks of training. Then you'll start doing actual work. How much work and what type of work is going to be completely firm and practice group dependent.
By clerk, do you mean summer associate? Most summer associate programs are 10 weeks.
Re: What's the first year timeline once you start in big law?
Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:21 am
by nixy
If the OP is talking about the title “clerk” on a firm website - that just means you haven’t been admitted to the bar yet. Once you find out you’ve passed the bar and formally get admitted, you become an associate. It doesn’t have anything to do with your work or training or timeline as an associate beyond that.
Re: What's the first year timeline once you start in big law?
Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 12:44 pm
by Anonymous User
nixy wrote: ↑Tue Feb 08, 2022 11:21 am
If the OP is talking about the title “clerk” on a firm website - that just means you haven’t been admitted to the bar yet. Once you find out you’ve passed the bar and formally get admitted, you become an associate. It doesn’t have anything to do with your work or training or timeline as an associate beyond that.
This is what I meant. Thank you.
Re: What's the first year timeline once you start in big law?
Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2022 3:13 pm
by almostperfectt
In my experience people are slow from starting until around this time of year when a bunch of people quit/lateral. Then people sort into either (1) ramping up to be very busy or (2) falling through the cracks and leaving/coasting.