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This is a serious question. I just think that there must be SOME people out there who like biglaw. Maybe in some niche specialty, or maybe people who've been wildly successful.

I know that a lot of people hate biglaw. Does anyone like it? If you're here, make your presence known, and please talk about your experience.

yeah bro a bunch of people like it, that's why they do it, if your obsessed with making money and spending zero time with your family, you should do it

That is like asking: Do people like working? Only if it is your own business; you are doing what you truly love; or only care about making money at the expense of everything else.

The partners at my firm love the shit out of big law...

dallasstar wrote:This is a serious question. I just think that there must be SOME people out there who like biglaw. Maybe in some niche specialty, or maybe people who've been wildly successful.

I know that a lot of people hate biglaw. Does anyone like it? If you're here, make your presence known, and please talk about your experience.

I e-spoke with an older woman who had got very defensive of BigLaw when someone else damned it for being full of self-centered assholes. She said she appreciated BigLaw for the opportunities it had given her to put her kids in private schools and afford a very nice lifestyle. Apparently, she liked BigLaw.

Ok, so the hours don't get better as you progress in your career? That sounds pretty brutal. In banking, hours for associates, vps, and MDs are better than for analysts... and the work gets more interesting as you go on.

It sounds like you guys are saying that the hours stay awful, even for partners, and the work is really lame. I just can't understand why people would put themselves through that... Is there no satisfaction at the end of a difficult case, the filing of a patent, or anything like that?

So... none of the work is even mildly satisfying, hours aside?

LaBarrister wrote:

dallasstar wrote:This is a serious question. I just think that there must be SOME people out there who like biglaw. Maybe in some niche specialty, or maybe people who've been wildly successful.

I know that a lot of people hate biglaw. Does anyone like it? If you're here, make your presence known, and please talk about your experience.

I e-spoke with an older woman who had got very defensive of BigLaw when someone else damned it for being full of self-centered assholes. She said she appreciated BigLaw for the opportunities it had given her to put her kids in private schools and afford a very nice lifestyle. Apparently, she liked BigLaw.

I think this falls under the money category. Of course she'd like the money, but that doesn't mean she got any satisfaction out of her time working aside from the paycheck.

dallasstar wrote:Ok, so the hours don't get better as you progress in your career? That sounds pretty brutal. In banking, hours for associates, vps, and MDs are better than for analysts... and the work gets more interesting as you go on.

It sounds like you guys are saying that the hours stay awful, even for partners, and the work is really lame. I just can't understand why people would put themselves through that... Is there no satisfaction at the end of a difficult case, the filing of a patent, or anything like that?

So... none of the work is even mildly satisfying, hours aside?

When you are a lawyer, your job is to clean up the messes of others, to rubber stamp and make legal someone else’s real work, to essentially be a paper custodian for the people who actually do important things. The people at Yahoo and Cisco and Network Solutions (all our clients) actually did something; what did I do? Stupid, mindless, and ultimately irrelevant bullshit. I was a junior paper-monkey, and I hated every second of it.

Flash wrote:

dallasstar wrote:Ok, so the hours don't get better as you progress in your career? That sounds pretty brutal. In banking, hours for associates, vps, and MDs are better than for analysts... and the work gets more interesting as you go on.

It sounds like you guys are saying that the hours stay awful, even for partners, and the work is really lame. I just can't understand why people would put themselves through that... Is there no satisfaction at the end of a difficult case, the filing of a patent, or anything like that?

So... none of the work is even mildly satisfying, hours aside?

When you are a lawyer, your job is to clean up the messes of others, to rubber stamp and make legal someone else’s real work, to essentially be a paper custodian for the people who actually do important things. The people at Yahoo and Cisco and Network Solutions (all our clients) actually did something; what did I do? Stupid, mindless, and ultimately irrelevant bullshit. I was a junior paper-monkey, and I hated every second of it.

In this case, I may propose the argument that litigation can be more rewarding than being strictly a paper pusher. I know a few happy lawyers who have had their lives changed by big litigations, winning the case for the innocent client, fighting for justice with every last ounce of their energy, etc.

Interestingly enough, I've never met a BigLaw lawyer in my life. I have no idea what their lives are like.