Law

How do you know your firm is not a good fit? I feel like I’m getting freezed out. I find no joy or excitement in the job. I was promised mentorship, and collaboration. But can’t seem to find my footin… more

Heard Benesch over hired and has been laying off a lot of recent or semi-recent hires…. Pretty shitty if true.

Homeowners: how much is your mortgage compared to your annual base salary? Not talking monthly payment, the actual total cost of the loan. Would you consider a home 4x your annual salary to be a bad m… more

Are there good in-house opportunities for policyholder-side coverage litigators? Has anyone gone through this process?

6th year associate. Getting a $40-50k bonus. How much are you gifting your staff? 3 legal assistants and one paralegal.

I interviewed at a firm where the partner spent the entire time bragging about how little sleep he gets. He actually said if you’re not averaging 5 hours a night, you’re not working hard enough. That … more

Any insights on Saul Ewing?

Anyone use monitor extensions for their laptops? Looking for recs that are not too heavy. Thank you!

Our office is either a full-blown sauna or a meat locker. There is absolutely no middle ground. Every day turns into a climate war: people hoarding space heaters, others cracking windows in January, a… more

Anyone have experience with Littler as outside employment counsel?

How important is it to go to the office/firm Christmas party? I started a couple of months ago and I really don’t want to. I feel awkward, just not my thing. Is this super frowned upon?

A partner scheduled a “quick 15-minute check-in” today that somehow lasted an hour and a half. It happens every time. My whole afternoon derails because their definition of quick is whatever suits the… more

What are some freelance or part time lawyer roles or gigs? Any companies or firms that hire lawyers to do freelance jobs? Looking for something family friendly / will allow you to work remotely.

Any insight into Polsinelli’s real estate division in Kansas City?

I joined DSiD seeking a place where teamwork and client care mattered, and I found it.

Our collaborative team takes on challenging cases, celebrates life-changing wins, and supports each other. Growth brings com… more

FL attorneys: what is the billable hour requirement at Stearns Weaver Miller? Thank you!!

I’ve worked with partners whose moods dictate the entire floor... everyone whispering, triple-checking drafts, bracing for whatever version of them walks in that day. It’s exhausting tiptoeing around … more

What’s the biggest pay cut by percentage you’d take for an in-house job with good WLB if you knew you could still make ends meet and save a little after? 50%? 75%?

Partner here dealing with snarky billing department. I’m relatively new to bringing business and the issue is receiving appropriate credit timely (it affects my pay and ability to advance to EP) for m… more

A recruiter asked if I’d trade prestige for a strict 40-hour workweek at the same salary, and it genuinely rattled me. Part of me wants the bragging rights of a big-name firm, but another part despera… more

Anybody have any experiences with Reinhart Boerner (Milwaukee)? Thanks in advance!

Need help deciding on an offer I got today. Junior lateral. Corporate practice area. Small firm to mid-sized firm. 195k salary (which is a pretty big bump for me). Everything sounds great on paper as … more

What is standard annual raise for smaller-mid sized firm?

Has anyone ever heard of a salary decrease based on performance? I just got an offer at a midsized firm and I noticed this in the fine print. Hours are 1800, but a friend on the inside told me it’s ac… more

Escaped the hell of general liability insurance defense. Got some commercial lit experience. Moving out to a new commercial lit boutique. 4/5 of the partners said that I’d definitely be spread through… more

How normal is it to ask for a billable hour expectation in writing in the contract? Just did an interview and they kind of waffled on the question and ultimately settled on 1800 is a reasonable goal t… more

Yesterday was supposed to be my first real day off in weeks, but one quick email turned into a three-hour drafting spiral. I blinked and suddenly my day off was gone. I can’t even remember the last ti… more

Completely forgot about a filing deadline today (didn’t think anything needed to be filed, and luckily nothing did), but I’m worried now that the partner overseeing that case hates me 😭 Is this somet… more

I came to my current midsize firm as a partner after only being an associate previously with the idea that I’d build out a practice area. Finishing my first full year and depending on how much I can c… more

I’ve been here long enough to know the written promotion criteria are meaningless. What actually gets people promoted is invisible. How do you figure out the real rules of advancement without being in… more

Bad first year review. I tried to do better but it seems it wasn’t enough. Can anyone else relate or am I just not cut out for this.

Weird scenario. Graduated in 2022 missed my state bar score by 1 point. So I transferred my score to a neighboring state. Got licensed. Also got licensed in the Federal district for my state so I coul… more

Young attorney 2 years in. Really don’t like my current civil litigation firm. Make 55K a year to do a myriad of paralegal and attorney tasks at a small 4 lawyer office. I do intakes, runs to the cour… more

After a lot of reflection, I’m officially open to litigation opportunities in the Atlanta area.

For the last several years, I’ve focused my practice on general civil matters—handling cases from intake through trial.

I’m … more

Are there any fully remote jobs that would allow you to work from, eg, Europe? I’m a biglaw associate who is just done and wants to return to the expat life (did it before law school)

70% of the work my new firm does is ID but they make no mention of this during interviews or on the firm’s website. Is this common and is it appropriate? I do mostly real estate/business law so I’m no… more

Our firm keeps rolling out new platforms like timekeeping apps, billing tools, productivity dashboards... and each one adds more steps to my day. Innovation is starting to feel like busywork with bran… more

I am very wary of AI. I don’t like the environmental impacts and it still feels like an ethical grey area to me. Am I alone in this? Wondering how some of you actually use AI effectively in your pract… more

Anyone exited law into a well paying second act? What’s your story? I’m 10 years into this career, went to a top 10 law school, top of class, spent a few years at a big firm, been in house for several… more

Fellow partner questioned my competency to a client with no basis (we have no active litigation together). So steamed. Recommended course of action?!