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Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:08 pm
by 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.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:09 pm
by 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.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:10 pm
by jess
.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:15 pm
by 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.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:17 pm
by DELG
Jessuf wrote: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
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:30 pm
by 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.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:37 pm
by pancakes3
How do you resist the urge to snark so gracefully, Nony?

Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:40 pm
by Adrian Monk
A. Nony Mouse wrote: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!
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 8:54 pm
by 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?
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 11:14 pm
by Attax
Why would you go to law school to be a real estate agent?
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:20 pm
by Adrian Monk
bump
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:17 pm
by Adrian Monk
bump? any opinions?
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 8:48 pm
by pancakes3
Go do real estate.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:36 pm
by Adrian Monk
pancakes3 wrote:Go do real estate.
why? is it that much better than working at a law firm?
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 10:46 pm
by 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.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:04 pm
by 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.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:11 pm
by Adrian Monk
sundance95 wrote: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.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:15 pm
by 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
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:16 pm
by sundance95
Also ask contract attorneys how preftigious law is
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:22 pm
by Adrian Monk
sundance95 wrote: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.
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:25 pm
by El Pollito
you could try doing less blow
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:27 pm
by kevgogators
...Are you mental, by chance?
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:27 pm
by 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
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:29 pm
by 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
Re: Job at at a biglaw firm vs
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:51 pm
by Adrian Monk
sundance95 wrote: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.