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Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 10:49 am

Title says most of it. For those of you who left in years 2-4, what are you up to now? Do you enjoy it? Do you regret it? Feeling incredibly burnt out and only figured I’d last a few years anyway.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:14 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 10:49 am
Title says most of it. For those of you who left in years 2-4, what are you up to now? Do you enjoy it? Do you regret it? Feeling incredibly burnt out and only figured I’d last a few years anyway.
This is statistically a majority of biglaw juniors. I don't know if I can prove that with data but it sure feels accurate based on my personal experience as someone who did it. My law school peers who started in biglaw are virtually all out of biglaw now. A few are still in it, mainly in intellectual property.

I'm an AUSA now. You would have to drag my burning corpse back into biglaw in order to get me to go back to that world.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:31 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:14 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 10:49 am
Title says most of it. For those of you who left in years 2-4, what are you up to now? Do you enjoy it? Do you regret it? Feeling incredibly burnt out and only figured I’d last a few years anyway.
This is statistically a majority of biglaw juniors. I don't know if I can prove that with data but it sure feels accurate based on my personal experience as someone who did it. My law school peers who started in biglaw are virtually all out of biglaw now. A few are still in it, mainly in intellectual property.

I'm an AUSA now. You would have to drag my burning corpse back into biglaw in order to get me to go back to that world.
Seems to skew towards equity gunners here, so your viewpoint is very appreciated. How junior were you when you left? I’m already dreading the counsel years.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:40 pm

Different AUSA from the one above. I left biglaw after two years to become an ADA since criminal law was my real interest. Three years after that I became an AUSA. A job is still a job, but I definitely feel more passionate about the work I do and enjoy myself more. I regret the time I lost in biglaw dealing with the anxiety and stress and working on matters in which I had no interest.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:04 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:40 pm
Different AUSA from the one above. I left biglaw after two years to become an ADA since criminal law was my real interest. Three years after that I became an AUSA. A job is still a job, but I definitely feel more passionate about the work I do and enjoy myself more. I regret the time I lost in biglaw dealing with the anxiety and stress and working on matters in which I had no interest.
How do you deal with knowing that your AUSA comp is like $175k or whatever but you could be making close to $600k as a perma-counsel in biglaw with pretty much the same lifestyle? I get the enormous pleasure at escaping from the misery of being a junior/mid, but perma-counsel in biglaw seems like just a vastly better platform than a full time job that doesn't pay much.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:25 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:04 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:40 pm
Different AUSA from the one above. I left biglaw after two years to become an ADA since criminal law was my real interest. Three years after that I became an AUSA. A job is still a job, but I definitely feel more passionate about the work I do and enjoy myself more. I regret the time I lost in biglaw dealing with the anxiety and stress and working on matters in which I had no interest.
How do you deal with knowing that your AUSA comp is like $175k or whatever but you could be making close to $600k as a perma-counsel in biglaw with pretty much the same lifestyle? I get the enormous pleasure at escaping from the misery of being a junior/mid, but perma-counsel in biglaw seems like just a vastly better platform than a full time job that doesn't pay much.
I went in-house after a few years and it was a rough transition in a lot of ways, but I immediately adjusted to having borderline no weekend work and rare evening work. It was like drinking a cold glass of water on a hot day compared to biglaw. My salary is objectively very high compared to most Americans, thought it is substantially less than I would make in biglaw, but I knew if stayed in that world I'd burn out, be an angry depressive, maybe have a substance issue, or otherwise just be unable to sustain, so staying long-term wasn't something I considered realistic. If I wanted a mansion like the one the partner I worked for would host the Xmas party in, I'd be full of regret, but I like my home, I can afford the vacations I want, and I don't aspire to additional material comforts. I do have a relatively high-earning partner TBF. It depends a lot of values and goals, but I truly almost never think about what I could be earning back in biglaw. To each their own.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:25 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:04 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:40 pm
Different AUSA from the one above. I left biglaw after two years to become an ADA since criminal law was my real interest. Three years after that I became an AUSA. A job is still a job, but I definitely feel more passionate about the work I do and enjoy myself more. I regret the time I lost in biglaw dealing with the anxiety and stress and working on matters in which I had no interest.
How do you deal with knowing that your AUSA comp is like $175k or whatever but you could be making close to $600k as a perma-counsel in biglaw with pretty much the same lifestyle? I get the enormous pleasure at escaping from the misery of being a junior/mid, but perma-counsel in biglaw seems like just a vastly better platform than a full time job that doesn't pay much.
Is it that similar of a lifestyle, though? Not challenging—genuinely asking. I’ve understood the trade off to be work-life balance.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:34 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:25 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:04 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:40 pm
Different AUSA from the one above. I left biglaw after two years to become an ADA since criminal law was my real interest. Three years after that I became an AUSA. A job is still a job, but I definitely feel more passionate about the work I do and enjoy myself more. I regret the time I lost in biglaw dealing with the anxiety and stress and working on matters in which I had no interest.
How do you deal with knowing that your AUSA comp is like $175k or whatever but you could be making close to $600k as a perma-counsel in biglaw with pretty much the same lifestyle? I get the enormous pleasure at escaping from the misery of being a junior/mid, but perma-counsel in biglaw seems like just a vastly better platform than a full time job that doesn't pay much.
Is it that similar of a lifestyle, though? Not challenging—genuinely asking. I’ve understood the trade off to be work-life balance.
I don't think there is much daylight between a biglaw perma-counsel billing 1900-2000 hours a year with zero biz dev or other non-billable time, and an AUSA job, which is generally not considered a chill lifestyle gig (especially if you are doing trials frequently).

Makes perfect sense if you come from money or have a high earning spouse to be an AUSA, but hard to see it as a value maximizing move purely on the WLB/cash curve. Also the difference at fourth year comp may not be that stark, but at 10+ years experience the comp difference is already dramatic.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by ughbugchugplug » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:49 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:34 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:25 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:04 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:40 pm
Different AUSA from the one above. I left biglaw after two years to become an ADA since criminal law was my real interest. Three years after that I became an AUSA. A job is still a job, but I definitely feel more passionate about the work I do and enjoy myself more. I regret the time I lost in biglaw dealing with the anxiety and stress and working on matters in which I had no interest.
How do you deal with knowing that your AUSA comp is like $175k or whatever but you could be making close to $600k as a perma-counsel in biglaw with pretty much the same lifestyle? I get the enormous pleasure at escaping from the misery of being a junior/mid, but perma-counsel in biglaw seems like just a vastly better platform than a full time job that doesn't pay much.
Is it that similar of a lifestyle, though? Not challenging—genuinely asking. I’ve understood the trade off to be work-life balance.
I don't think there is much daylight between a biglaw perma-counsel billing 1900-2000 hours a year with zero biz dev or other non-billable time, and an AUSA job, which is generally not considered a chill lifestyle gig (especially if you are doing trials frequently).

Makes perfect sense if you come from money or have a high earning spouse to be an AUSA, but hard to see it as a value maximizing move purely on the WLB/cash curve. Also the difference at fourth year comp may not be that stark, but at 10+ years experience the comp difference is already dramatic.
If you stick out big law for 4-5 years and invest the money wisely, you can live well as an AUSA, especially if your spouse works too. Buy some cash flowing investment properties.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm

I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:56 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:34 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:25 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:04 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:40 pm
Different AUSA from the one above. I left biglaw after two years to become an ADA since criminal law was my real interest. Three years after that I became an AUSA. A job is still a job, but I definitely feel more passionate about the work I do and enjoy myself more. I regret the time I lost in biglaw dealing with the anxiety and stress and working on matters in which I had no interest.
How do you deal with knowing that your AUSA comp is like $175k or whatever but you could be making close to $600k as a perma-counsel in biglaw with pretty much the same lifestyle? I get the enormous pleasure at escaping from the misery of being a junior/mid, but perma-counsel in biglaw seems like just a vastly better platform than a full time job that doesn't pay much.
Is it that similar of a lifestyle, though? Not challenging—genuinely asking. I’ve understood the trade off to be work-life balance.
I don't think there is much daylight between a biglaw perma-counsel billing 1900-2000 hours a year with zero biz dev or other non-billable time, and an AUSA job, which is generally not considered a chill lifestyle gig (especially if you are doing trials frequently).

Makes perfect sense if you come from money or have a high earning spouse to be an AUSA, but hard to see it as a value maximizing move purely on the WLB/cash curve. Also the difference at fourth year comp may not be that stark, but at 10+ years experience the comp difference is already dramatic.
I suspect there’s a big psychological difference between being perma-counsel (but not equity partner and never being equity partner) and calling all your own shots as an AUSA. For instance, if you don’t love the service element of private practice, being an AUSA is a much better place to be, mentally/emotionally. (Also, how permanent are perma-counsel jobs and what’s the ceiling on comp for such positions?) I agree that criminal AUSA isn’t exactly a chill lifestyle gig, but whether it’s actually comparable to biglaw varies quite a bit by office and individual temperament. Certainly in my office the people who came from biglaw find the lifestyle a huge improvement, but then, I’m not in SDNY.

But it’s totally fair if that kind of quality of life matters less to someone than the number in the bank account. I agree that the money as AUSA is usually enough for people to live on comfortably (even without investing in real estate), but that may not be enough for some people to make up for the pay cut they know they took.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:19 pm

Biglaw for 4 years, small boutique for 2, in-house for 5, and now GC at a start-up. It was great to start in Biglaw, couldn't have achieved what I did without that start, but no regrets getting out.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:29 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm
I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Making $450k in house in a relatively pleasent job is likely equal to or better than making $600k as a biglaw perma-counsel. Its the people who are only making like $175k in government that I have questions about, because it really is a staggering pay cut as a 10 year+, and I'm not sure how you are supposed to be accumulating significant wealth for retirement at that salary level.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Excellent117 » Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:43 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:29 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm
I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Making $450k in house in a relatively pleasent job is likely equal to or better than making $600k as a biglaw perma-counsel. Its the people who are only making like $175k in government that I have questions about, because it really is a staggering pay cut as a 10 year+, and I'm not sure how you are supposed to be accumulating significant wealth for retirement at that salary level.
Aren't AUSA's entitled to the FERS retirement benefit plan? Also, "significant wealth" is going to have vastly different meanings for different people.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:56 pm

Honestly at $175k/year you won't have to do much more than max out your 401k every year to sustain a similar lifestyle through retirement.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by TigerIsBack » Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:58 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:29 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm
I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Making $450k in house in a relatively pleasent job is likely equal to or better than making $600k as a biglaw perma-counsel. Its the people who are only making like $175k in government that I have questions about, because it really is a staggering pay cut as a 10 year+, and I'm not sure how you are supposed to be accumulating significant wealth for retirement at that salary level.
I don't think $450k in-house is all that common though even as you get pretty senior. Comp just doesn't scale up like it does it biglaw and you can only have 1 GC at any given company (many of which aren't clearing that number annually). That's even a bit above realistic comp expectations at FAANG.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:00 pm

TigerIsBack wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:58 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:29 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm
I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Making $450k in house in a relatively pleasent job is likely equal to or better than making $600k as a biglaw perma-counsel. Its the people who are only making like $175k in government that I have questions about, because it really is a staggering pay cut as a 10 year+, and I'm not sure how you are supposed to be accumulating significant wealth for retirement at that salary level.
I don't think $450k in-house is all that common though even as you get pretty senior. Comp just doesn't scale up like it does it biglaw and you can only have 1 GC at any given company (many of which aren't clearing that number annually). That's even a bit above realistic comp expectations at FAANG.
I mean basically everyone at an investment bank/fund is making $450k at the level of seniority we are talking about. Rando F500 jobs will pay less, but a lot of those are super relaxed and barely a real 9-5.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by TigerIsBack » Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:05 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:00 pm
TigerIsBack wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:58 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:29 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm
I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Making $450k in house in a relatively pleasent job is likely equal to or better than making $600k as a biglaw perma-counsel. Its the people who are only making like $175k in government that I have questions about, because it really is a staggering pay cut as a 10 year+, and I'm not sure how you are supposed to be accumulating significant wealth for retirement at that salary level.
I don't think $450k in-house is all that common though even as you get pretty senior. Comp just doesn't scale up like it does it biglaw and you can only have 1 GC at any given company (many of which aren't clearing that number annually). That's even a bit above realistic comp expectations at FAANG.
I mean basically everyone at an investment bank/fund is making $450k at the level of seniority we are talking about. Rando F500 jobs will pay less, but a lot of those are super relaxed and barely a real 9-5.
That's a totally different "in-house" experience and based on OP's question, not what they were referring to. Yes it's technically in-house, but working at a bank/fund will not include "rarely working late/weekends" as described above and will be much more akin to the biglaw lifestyle.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by nealric » Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:21 pm

TigerIsBack wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:58 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:29 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm
I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Making $450k in house in a relatively pleasent job is likely equal to or better than making $600k as a biglaw perma-counsel. Its the people who are only making like $175k in government that I have questions about, because it really is a staggering pay cut as a 10 year+, and I'm not sure how you are supposed to be accumulating significant wealth for retirement at that salary level.
I don't think $450k in-house is all that common though even as you get pretty senior. Comp just doesn't scale up like it does it biglaw and you can only have 1 GC at any given company (many of which aren't clearing that number annually). That's even a bit above realistic comp expectations at FAANG.
$450k all-in is a bit on the high side for a middle range senior counsel type role outside banking/funds, but $300s is pretty common for such roles. A lot can depend on equity comp, which of course is very company specific. Also don't forget that there are hidden financial benefits from being at a more chill job. If you have kids, you are dealing with less childcare/housework/etc. Even if you don't, you can still outsource less of your life (cook meals, buy groceries, etc.). Benefits tend to be better in-house (cheaper healthcare, etc.)

Being a major company GC is more akin to being a biglaw equity partner- those jobs pay well into the 7 figures and can get into the 8 figures at some companies. Their immediate reports typically make a good chunk more than $450k (that level is closer to income partners in biglaw). Hierarchy and payscale will depend a lot on the size and industry of the company.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:28 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:29 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm
I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Making $450k in house in a relatively pleasent job is likely equal to or better than making $600k as a biglaw perma-counsel. Its the people who are only making like $175k in government that I have questions about, because it really is a staggering pay cut as a 10 year+, and I'm not sure how you are supposed to be accumulating significant wealth for retirement at that salary level.
You can absolutely save enough for a comfortable retirement on $175k a year (including government benefits). If you compare yourself to biglaw partners, you’re going to be dissatisfied, but the vast majority of people in the world aren’t biglaw partners.

Plus I’m not sure why you’re talking about a 10+ yr biglaw person when the OP was asking about leaving as a junior. They’re not sticking around 10+ years.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:55 pm

Left biglaw after 3 years. Been in-house for 2 years. Don't regret it at all. Overall comp is still much higher than most people make so it's hard to complain too much. I've never worked a weekend and rarely much past 5pm. Work is still intellectually challenging with room for advancement. It also comes with stress and in a lot of ways much more responsibility than I had in biglaw, but in a less soul-crushing way because after 5pm I don't need to worry about it until the next day.

I think a lot of it comes down to finding the right role where you're going to get to do interesting stuff with clear advancement opportunities. There's definitely negatives (difficult internal clients, being a cost-center, sometimes less "lawyering" and more business advice, you need a lot more risk tolerance, etc.) which I think are legitimate reasons for some people to stay away from in-house work, but the pros outweigh the cons by a lot for me.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:19 pm

Question for everyone who replied, did you always expect to leave after getting some experience? Or initially planning on the long haul until one day it was just too much. (Or you were asked to leave -- no shame in that).

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:52 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:28 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:29 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 1:50 pm
I left for an in-house gig during that time frame. I've been in-house for almost 10 years now with no regrets. I rarely work late/weekends, get to travel to interesting places for work from time to time, and have continued to learn/grow as a practitioner. I'd much rather be where I am now than grinding it out for 2,000 billables as a perma-counsel making only marginally more money than I make in-house.
This makes a lot of sense to me. Making $450k in house in a relatively pleasent job is likely equal to or better than making $600k as a biglaw perma-counsel. Its the people who are only making like $175k in government that I have questions about, because it really is a staggering pay cut as a 10 year+, and I'm not sure how you are supposed to be accumulating significant wealth for retirement at that salary level.
You can absolutely save enough for a comfortable retirement on $175k a year (including government benefits). If you compare yourself to biglaw partners, you’re going to be dissatisfied, but the vast majority of people in the world aren’t biglaw partners.

Plus I’m not sure why you’re talking about a 10+ yr biglaw person when the OP was asking about leaving as a junior. They’re not sticking around 10+ years.
"where are you now" doesn't have to mean 5 seconds later, it can also mean 5 years later. And for the type of social groups that lawyers keep, its going to be very tough to retire comfortably on $175k/year. For a lot of people that means 0 savings outside your 401k, with perhaps substantial debt as well. If you are going to live in rural Pennsylvania and your friends are in manual labor, then a $175k career cap on earnings can lead to a reasonable retirement. If you live in Manhattan and your friends are lawyers/doctors/bankers it is basically the road to bankruptcy.

Also the opportunity cost of going to law school to cap your career earnings at $175k is really really high, relative to other jobs you could have done.

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by Anonymous User » Wed Jan 25, 2023 5:27 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:52 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:28 pm

You can absolutely save enough for a comfortable retirement on $175k a year (including government benefits). If you compare yourself to biglaw partners, you’re going to be dissatisfied, but the vast majority of people in the world aren’t biglaw partners.

Plus I’m not sure why you’re talking about a 10+ yr biglaw person when the OP was asking about leaving as a junior. They’re not sticking around 10+ years.
"where are you now" doesn't have to mean 5 seconds later, it can also mean 5 years later. And for the type of social groups that lawyers keep, its going to be very tough to retire comfortably on $175k/year. For a lot of people that means 0 savings outside your 401k, with perhaps substantial debt as well. If you are going to live in rural Pennsylvania and your friends are in manual labor, then a $175k career cap on earnings can lead to a reasonable retirement. If you live in Manhattan and your friends are lawyers/doctors/bankers it is basically the road to bankruptcy.

Also the opportunity cost of going to law school to cap your career earnings at $175k is really really high, relative to other jobs you could have done.
lol, okay. Enjoy biglaw.

ughbugchugplug

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Re: Any juniors who have left biglaw and never looked back?

Post by ughbugchugplug » Wed Jan 25, 2023 6:03 pm

Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 5:27 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:52 pm
Anonymous User wrote:
Wed Jan 25, 2023 3:28 pm

You can absolutely save enough for a comfortable retirement on $175k a year (including government benefits). If you compare yourself to biglaw partners, you’re going to be dissatisfied, but the vast majority of people in the world aren’t biglaw partners.

Plus I’m not sure why you’re talking about a 10+ yr biglaw person when the OP was asking about leaving as a junior. They’re not sticking around 10+ years.
"where are you now" doesn't have to mean 5 seconds later, it can also mean 5 years later. And for the type of social groups that lawyers keep, its going to be very tough to retire comfortably on $175k/year. For a lot of people that means 0 savings outside your 401k, with perhaps substantial debt as well. If you are going to live in rural Pennsylvania and your friends are in manual labor, then a $175k career cap on earnings can lead to a reasonable retirement. If you live in Manhattan and your friends are lawyers/doctors/bankers it is basically the road to bankruptcy.

Also the opportunity cost of going to law school to cap your career earnings at $175k is really really high, relative to other jobs you could have done.
lol, okay. Enjoy biglaw.
Continually shocked to learn people consider my extremely nice and comfortable lifestyle is not possible

Seriously? What are you waiting for?

Now there's a charge.
Just kidding ... it's still FREE!


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