Job at at a biglaw firm vs Forum

[Adrian Monk]

job at a real estate brokerage firm.

discuss. given today's legal market, what do u guys think. would love lawyers to chime in.

note- i mentioned a real estate brokerage firm, so its somewhat fair, so these do not include solo real estate agents , or 1-3 realtors agencies.

the way i see it as of course big law wins the salary catergory by a long shot and it snot even close. entry level big law is 160k?, entry level at a real estate brokerage firm is prob anywhere from 40-55 and as its with any sales or commision types job, there might be good months, great months, and horrible months. so there is no "security" that there is like the big law firm.

loans- i think real estate wins and this is by a long shot. if any, there might be some undergrad loans, but nowhere near the 200k figure u often see lawyers have.

other than that, what do u guys think, couldnt think about more categories.

[Adrian Monk]

now thinking about it, isnt it fair to compare job at a small law firm or mid law firm and not a big law, and the salary difference is just too huge.

[jess]

.

[Adrian Monk]

was just interested in this, and wondering what people think. And i cannot post this in the employment forum right, not sure, because i am a 0l. as a naive 0l, just wanted to know what do people think.

[DELG]

Wow this is a great topic. One interesting thing is that who cares keep this out of the lounge.

Now now, be fair.

If he does biglaw, we all knows what will happen. Work for a while, burn out, find something else, live out a life of mediocrity, death.

OTOH, if he goes to the brokerage firm, work for 5-7 years there, do something else, live out life of mediocrity, death.

nm agree with jessuf

[A. Nony Mouse]

You can't post in the Legal Employment forum as a 0L, no, but you can post in Ask a Law Student/Grad, so I've moved this there, where you may get more receptive answers.

[pancakes3]

How do you resist the urge to snark so gracefully, Nony?

[Adrian Monk]

You can't post in the Legal Employment forum as a 0L, no, but you can post in Ask a Law Student/Grad, so I've moved this there, where you may get more receptive answers.

thank you Nony!

[Adrian Monk]

so guys, any thoughts? both could suck, but which do u think is the lesser of two evils?. any lawyers would absoultely not be a real estate agent?

[Attax]

Why would you go to law school to be a real estate agent?

[Adrian Monk]

bump

[Adrian Monk]

bump? any opinions?

[pancakes3]

Go do real estate.

[Adrian Monk]

Go do real estate.

why? is it that much better than working at a law firm?

[Adrian Monk]

ok will further disclose something, i am a college senior with the intial plan of going to law school, but something happened in the last couple of weeks that changed some plans. I got a job offer at Redfin, for those of you who do not know about Redfin, its a real estate brokerage that is absoultely making a splash right now in the real estate space. I love the company, its not a traditional brokerage, its a part software company and part real estate company, so its a new age brokerage, I have not worked for a day for them, but still can confidantly say I am the biggest fan, just love the company, what they are doing and feel like i am great fit. Redfin is a still a start up in many aspects, with only a couple a hundred employees, and is rapidly expanding. Investors who have invested in Amazon and Facebook recently invested 50 million into Redfin, so that shows that theres some value in Redfin, and they are getting ready to be a big player and become a public company soon. So, enough about all that. bottomline, If i take up the job offer, and start the job right after graduating college (in june), my biggest fear is that say after a year or two, if i really want to stay in this line and real estate become my career, then what do i do? keep doing it? because law was always my life long dream, I never aspired to work in real estate (i think nobody working in real estate aspires that as a kid). but my thing is that I love Redfin and they just happen to be in the real estate space. So, is the legal market that bad right now , that I would be better off in the real estate space? thanks guys!, its kinda overwhelming and its a huge decision.

[sundance95]

How the hell do you expect other ppl to tell you what you'd be happiest doing? How is anyone other than you better situated to make that guess?

You want certainty? Read a book you've read already.

[Adrian Monk]

How the hell do you expect other ppl to tell you what you'd be happiest doing? How is anyone other than you better situated to make that guess?

You want certainty? Read a book you've read already.

yup, I probably now see that how nobody else but me can answer this question, but I will be more interested in knowing what some of you guys will do in this situation? Also, this might sound really stupid, and i even feel stupid typing it right now, but I do know that lay prestige wise, a "lawyer" gets more respect than a "realtor", and while im not too worried aboiut that, still at the corner of my heart im thinking to myself that well I am not a doctor or a lawyer, and those are prestigious professions. Now, can i be happy being a realtor even though it might not be "super prestigious"? absoultely, I think i will be happy, but do u guys ever think of profession prestige ever? or is that a really stupid thing.

[sundance95]

It's a stupid thing. Also realtors are the biggest joke of any profession that fiduciary duties attach to. But some realtors are suited to the work and make a killing doing it. They dgaf about prestige and neither should you

[sundance95]

Also ask contract attorneys how preftigious law is

[Adrian Monk]

It's a stupid thing. Also realtors are the biggest joke of any profession that fiduciary duties attach to. But some realtors are suited to the work and make a killing doing it. They dgaf about prestige and neither should you

thanks, and regarding realtors being a joke thing, well i agree just like lawyers, they seem to have a little negative reputation, but Redfin is truly changing that, they are a company that really helps the consumers than a lot of other traditional brokerages. Thats why I like Redfin, Just for example, traditionally real estate agents are known to be kinda scummy as they can push the buyer to buy the house at a higher price as they can get more commision right. traditionally all real estate agents are paid only in comissions. What redfin is doing is that for their agents, they have eliminated the comission only model. Their agents are paid a salary (never been done before in real estate) and then bonuses, so just like law firms. So, yeah, there is really no incentive for a redfin agent to try to raise the price of the house, as he gets no extra comission for doing that. So, you find honest, ethical agents and thats just way Redfin is different from other brokerages.

[El Pollito]

you could try doing less blow

[kevgogators]

...Are you mental, by chance?

[sundance95]

Great, you've already drunk the koolaid so do it. Law school will still be there if you hate it. But lol just lol at comparing realtor ethics to lawyer's when realtors get paid more to represent parties with adverse interests in the same transaction

[sundance95]

Also if you think that the bonus structure isn't tied to total dollar sales then I'd like to be your realtor when you buy that bridge

[Adrian Monk]

Great, you've already drunk the koolaid so do it. Law school will still be there if you hate it. But lol just lol at comparing realtor ethics to lawyer's when realtors get paid more to represent parties with adverse interests in the same transaction

haha dude, no i have not drank the kool aid, i have never even worked for them!. have u looked into their buisness model? the bonus is not tied to the dollar sales at all, doesnt matter if the sale is 200,000 or 8000,000. its tied to "customer satisfaction". so after a transaction is closed, every client is sent a review form, and their review is posted on the site!. Every review is posted, good or bad. there is total transparency. so a five star review is given like a full bonus, its 1000 or 1050 dollars i think. So, yeah again no incentive fo the agent to drive up the price, as long as he goes the extra mile to satisfy the client, and of the client gives a good review at the end of it,the redfin agent gets a bonus. and remember, its the client's best interest that he gest the best deal when buying or selling a house right, only then he will be happy, so why would the redfin agent try to drive up the price and get a bad review at the end and lose his bonus? get it now? i really mean it when i say that redfin puts the clients intersts first, soemthing that real estate brokerages never used to do, thus the negavtive reputation.