Top Law Schools

cotiger wrote:I love the tendency of the 0Ls who push back in these threads to assume that the attorneys on here somehow didn't consider these really basic arguments back when they were thinking about going to law school/aiming for biglaw.

It's not like the difficult work environment of biglaw has been a big secret until just now. They knew it required grueling hours going into, and (assumedly) they too thought that it wouldn't be too big of a deal in exchange for the high paycheck. It ended up being significantly worse than they expected.

LeDique wrote:Will you believe everyone when you get no positive replies?

IAFG wrote: I still think people should go to law school, and even for a couple hundred grand in debt. I just want them to be less pleased with themselves about it.

Flanker1067 wrote:
2. In law school, the school always brought in graduates that seemed happily employed in biglaw. Personally I think it was the prestige, especially the prestige among law students. They had that smug self satisfaction thing going on. That being said, it's hard to tell from those encounters whether they were really happy, but I think many of them genuinely were. My theory is that because many law students are nerds who never developed interests outside resume building activities, they don't value free time because they wouldn't know what to do with it if they had it. I mean, if your interests outside work are limited to watching tv, following sports, and hanging out with boring friends, then working isn't so bad.

kcdc1 wrote:Worked at a small boutique as a patent agent. Everyone was nice, 40-50 hour work weeks were typical, reasonable compensation. My wife works as a government attorney. Works 40 hours per week with every other Friday off, and earns 6 figures. Law jobs that aren't awful do exist--you just don't get paid 160k right out of school.

J3987 wrote: reasonable work/life balance (compared to i-bankers, hedge fund analysts, etc.)

J3987 wrote:I am considering applying to law school this upcoming cycle, and as I've browsed this forum I have found a ton of negativity surrounding practice in BigLaw. This is surprising, because there seem to be clear benefits to practicing in a BigLaw environment -- you work with the biggest clients on relatively important matters, you deal with unique and complex cases, reasonable work/life balance (compared to i-bankers, hedge fund analysts, etc.) and you enjoy a fairly high salary, though this is by far the least compelling reason to go into practice.

I am unsure if this overwhelming negativity is due to a selection bias (the minority of lawyers who hate their jobs are more likely to post on TLS and vent), or if such a large percentage of BigLaw lawyers really had no idea what they were getting into when they went to law school.

I mean, the things that many seem to complain about -- long hours, meaningless work that amounts to semantic tail-chasing (in their opinion), hierarchical firm culture, etc. they should have known about before they went to law school. There is a lot of information out there about all these issues and they should not have been caught off guard when they excitedly walked through the door on day 1 at BigLaw Firm A. They chose to go to law school, which implies that, after careful consideration, they viewed it as their best option (as opposed to continuing working where they were, getting a different degree, etc.).

So, I am just looking for a more balanced perspective. I am asking any current/former BigLaw Associates, do you have any positive things to say about your experience? Did you actually enjoy the work and manage to have a life outside of it? Did you grow intellectually and professionally? Do you NOT regret your decision to go to law school? Let's hear it.

J3987 wrote:I am considering applying to law school this upcoming cycle, and as I've browsed this forum I have found a ton of negativity surrounding practice in BigLaw. This is surprising, because there seem to be clear benefits to practicing in a BigLaw environment -- you work with the biggest clients on relatively important matters, you deal with unique and complex cases, reasonable work/life balance (compared to i-bankers, hedge fund analysts, etc.) and you enjoy a fairly high salary, though this is by far the least compelling reason to go into practice.

I am unsure if this overwhelming negativity is due to a selection bias (the minority of lawyers who hate their jobs are more likely to post on TLS and vent), or if such a large percentage of BigLaw lawyers really had no idea what they were getting into when they went to law school.

I mean, the things that many seem to complain about -- long hours, meaningless work that amounts to semantic tail-chasing (in their opinion), hierarchical firm culture, etc. they should have known about before they went to law school. There is a lot of information out there about all these issues and they should not have been caught off guard when they excitedly walked through the door on day 1 at BigLaw Firm A. They chose to go to law school, which implies that, after careful consideration, they viewed it as their best option (as opposed to continuing working where they were, getting a different degree, etc.).

So, I am just looking for a more balanced perspective. I am asking any current/former BigLaw Associates, do you have any positive things to say about your experience? Did you actually enjoy the work and manage to have a life outside of it? Did you grow intellectually and professionally? Do you NOT regret your decision to go to law school? Let's hear it.

Danger Zone wrote:

kcdc1 wrote:Worked at a small boutique as a patent agent. Everyone was nice, 40-50 hour work weeks were typical, reasonable compensation. My wife works as a government attorney. Works 40 hours per week with every other Friday off, and earns 6 figures. Law jobs that aren't awful do exist--you just don't get paid 160k right out of school.

Does this post serve any purpose other than bragging about your and your wife's jobs? The OP was about working at a big law firm.

kcdc1 wrote:

Danger Zone wrote:

kcdc1 wrote:Worked at a small boutique as a patent agent. Everyone was nice, 40-50 hour work weeks were typical, reasonable compensation. My wife works as a government attorney. Works 40 hours per week with every other Friday off, and earns 6 figures. Law jobs that aren't awful do exist--you just don't get paid 160k right out of school.

Does this post serve any purpose other than bragging about your and your wife's jobs? The OP was about working at a big law firm.

Friendly crowd. I suppose I thought that the OP was mostly looking to hear whether a law degree could lead to decent-paying jobs that don't ruin your life. I thought my experience might be relevant to the question. YMMV.

Danger Zone wrote:It was a bit harsh, but as a 0L answering questions in the "ask a law student/grad" forum you kinda brought it on yourself.