So you want to be a NY Corporate Associate? Forum

[mickey_mouse]

Advice for someone in their first year of law school to avoid your terrible fate?

[mvp99]

Naah you just can't handle biglaw. It won't happen to me.

[zot1]

Naah you just can't handle biglaw. It won't happen to me.

[BernieTrump]

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[BernieTrump]

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[Danger Zone]

OP is amazingly true, thank you for sharing

[Biglaw1990]

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[Leonardo DiCaprio]

is being a NY Lit associate any better?

Much, at least for the first 2-3 years. Much more predictable than deal work. You may miss vacations, but you don't get the call that you need to be in front of a computer in 30 minutes for the next 18 hours on your way to the airport in the way that happens with deal work.

What happens after 2-3 years?

Should I pick Lit to avoid your fate?

[JTIII]

is being a NY Lit associate any better?

Much, at least for the first 2-3 years. Much more predictable than deal work. You may miss vacations, but you don't get the call that you need to be in front of a computer in 30 minutes for the next 18 hours on your way to the airport in the way that happens with deal work.

Thanks for the insight. I've actually heard the opposite from some corporate associates—that deals are more predictable, and more tolerable to the extent that they are discrete projects with an end date v. the years-long cases that litigators often find themselves in. Can you speak to this?

[usernotfound]

Thoughts on how NY might differ to secondary markets on issues you mentioned?

[jarofsoup]

The billable hour and life do not usually go hand in hand.

[BernieTrump]

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[BernieTrump]

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[BernieTrump]

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[Leonardo DiCaprio]

is being a NY Lit associate any better?

Much, at least for the first 2-3 years. Much more predictable than deal work. You may miss vacations, but you don't get the call that you need to be in front of a computer in 30 minutes for the next 18 hours on your way to the airport in the way that happens with deal work.

What happens after 2-3 years?

Should I pick Lit to avoid your fate?

After 2-3 years, you travel more (depositions, interviews, the like). You also get more client contact, which sounds good but is terrible in terms of having a life. You start doing more substantive work, with more real-world deadlines. Corporate associates get all that, except travel, much earlier most places. It's easier to fly under the radar as a junior in litigation for those reasons and because litigation is more leveraged. There are just more juniors per partner. That also makes it tougher to become an 8th year associate or partner if your goals involve either of those things. These are generalizations, and some firms are different. That's the overall pattern.

I think I would pick litigation if doing it again and with the knowledge I was going to be here for a decade. If I had a time machine and could do anything, I would pay off my loans at GTFO the next day.

Thanks for that.

My sense from speaking with attorneys is that in corporate you get pwned at work b/c it sucks so much on a day to day basis, whereas with lit, while it's much better QOL day to day, you get no-exit pwned.

Also lit seems like a never ending legal writing homework.

What do I do man. I am already on this path. I am you as a 1L.

[Tempo]

is being a NY Lit associate any better?

Much, at least for the first 2-3 years. Much more predictable than deal work. You may miss vacations, but you don't get the call that you need to be in front of a computer in 30 minutes for the next 18 hours on your way to the airport in the way that happens with deal work.

What happens after 2-3 years?

Should I pick Lit to avoid your fate?

After 2-3 years, you travel more (depositions, interviews, the like). You also get more client contact, which sounds good but is terrible in terms of having a life. You start doing more substantive work, with more real-world deadlines. Corporate associates get all that, except travel, much earlier most places. It's easier to fly under the radar as a junior in litigation for those reasons and because litigation is more leveraged. There are just more juniors per partner. That also makes it tougher to become an 8th year associate or partner if your goals involve either of those things. These are generalizations, and some firms are different. That's the overall pattern.

I think I would pick litigation if doing it again and with the knowledge I was going to be here for a decade. If I had a time machine and could do anything, I would pay off my loans at GTFO the next day.

How would the transition go from doing private litigation work until loans are paid off to government work? Is that a feasible plan to have?

[Stardust84]

tldr

KYS

I second this motion.

I second Wittgenstein.

[BernieTrump]

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[BernieTrump]

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[Biglaw1990]

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[xael]

OP is amazingly true, thank you for sharing

damn you too

[BernieTrump]

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[BernieTrump]

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[AspiringAspirant]

What does the OP, and others who can relate, think about saying screw NY and going to a mid-market firm in a city like Portland or Denver, make around 110-130k, and have significantly less billable hours expected of you? It seems like such a better life to me, you can actually enjoy weekend breaks from work, and at least ease several of the negatives you mentioned.

[mvp99]

sharing http://news.efinancialcareers.com/us-en ... t-banking/