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Did the same for my first year. It was miserable. My advice is to find a specialty you either really enjoy or that is marketable and load up on as much of that work as you can, and just generally do as much as you can to gain experience. Make up for the low salary by paying yourself in good experience and interesting things to talk about at your next interview. After exactly one year, I joined a mid-size regional firm. The pay is much better, I’m happier in a bigger office, and exit options are WAY better (big law, in-house, etc.). Hang in there!
Love this. Play the game and win
I was in a very similar position, except I was in a third tier market. I put in nearly three years because I had the opportunity to put in court room time constantly, like every week sometimes multiple times a week. Basically what I did was create a checklist of things I wanted to accomplish before I jumped ship like second chair x number of jury trials, first chair x number of trials, do this type of motion or that. So that when I applied to new jobs I could plainly lay out my experience in a concrete way. I checked off 7 of my 10 before I jumped ship.
My best advice is to not get frustrated if you can’t jump ship immediately. I tried to move on after a year and a lot of firms wanted 2 or 3 years experience. There is someone out there that will pay you what you’re worth.
You need a new job ASAP
My first job was in 2012 making 45k/yr with no benefits doing small balance collections litigation; the ambulance chasing of consumer debt litigation. I spent a year and three months there and disliked it more each day; I fought off tons of self doubt and negativity about my decision to go to law school. While working there I identified a practice area that both mid and biglaw firms worked on and then pounded pavement HARD on every midsize firm I could find that did the work; I sent resumes by hand delivery, Identified internal contacts who hired, trawled my network for common connections etc. Economy was in the garbage. No luck beyond some initial interviews or bad offers at bad midsize firms. One mid size firm told me they liked me but just filled their hole. I liked them too.
From there I started to look at small firms that did related work. Got a job at one and from my first day there I kept pinging the mid size firm that liked me; I checked in maybe twice a quarter. About a year later they had an opening and I jumped without blinking. I did three sweet years there working my ass off doing good work and making nice with all the players. At the end of year three I began pinging the big firms on my radar. I had some initial interest (and ended a discussion with my dream big firm) when a partner at the midsize firm told me that she was moving her practice to a big firm and that she wanted me to come along. And so I went.
I spent 13 months helping to migrate that practice and get it up and running when a client shared between my then big firm and dream firm let me know that my dream firm was hiring again. The client submitted my resume and I haven't looked back since.
TL;DR - I graduated from a ttt in a down economy and doing objectively immoral and bad work. I hustled, played a long game, found a bit of luck and am now at my dream large firm.
First year associate?
Are you gaining quality experience and mentoring? That's what matters at first. Worry about money after 3 years.
I agree with TS - it’s really easy to say don’t worry about money when you have it. It’s also really easy to say when law school was a small fraction of the cost it is now when you went to school. Of course experience is critical - no one would argue otherwise. Being paid a livable wage (that takes into account the cost of getting to that point, ie law school) is also important.
In a similar position in a small firm. I'm just trying to keep my head up while checking the network for other opportunities and applying for openings that are likely better opportunities.
Doing the same. Just lost a lot of motivation lately (at about the 6th month).
I think the replies you've gotten about this being a crappy situation you need to move on from aren't necessarily wrong, but someone should ask what type of substantive experience you are getting (and it looks like some folks have).
The reality here is you probably didn't have better options. Accordingly, if private practice is what you want, your focus right now needs to be on getting good experience that allows you to market yourself and help firms look past whatever landed you in your current position so that in a year or two you can work yourself into a better situation.
As a first year in your situation, the likelihood that you'll find a firm that isn't going to take advantage of your cheap labor and naievity is slim because you almost certainly don't know how to do much of anything yet.
Unless you are certain you want to go work for state or local government, I'd spend the next six months really devoting yourself to being a sponge and learning as much as you can. Then sit down and redo your resume to get a good accounting of what you've done and what you've learned. From there, after you really feel like you have a solid grasp of who you are, what you've learned, and what you have to offer, I'd start digging into job postings. Not necessarily to apply unless you see something you think is an especially good fit. More so to help your understanding of how to ensure the resume you drafted fits with what firms are looking for in 2-3 year associates and how you can draft your resume and orchestrate the next six months to a year to get more of the experience those postings are calling for.
The unfortunate fact is you will probably need to take your lumps and ensure you are learning from them with an eye toward more lucrative opportunities in year 2 or 3.
FYI, I’m a millennial who started off making between 60-90k in a midmarket; transitioned to a large market making 160k-180k; and moved on to another firm making 300k+ in about 6 years.
Hang in there and get the experience. I worked crazy hours in the beginning but it paid off because I learned a lot and was able to sell myself at interviews. I made 60k-70k my first year then jumped ship and now make 185k+ as a third year. The work is also easier once you find your niche.
I was in a similar situation although located in the Midwest. Is your firm letting you appear in court actually? You may be gaining more experience than others which you can leverage as you search for a new job. It may be worth it to try and stick out another 6 months.
Where are you located?
Even in a smaller firm/market $80-90k is more on par with retaining a quality 3-5/yr attorney. A third year should be billing AT LEAST 1600 collectable hours. Even at a low rate of $200/hr that’s $320k/yr. Even firms with the highest overhead can afford to pay at least 25% of that to an associate.
I started off there in 2011 in a similar type location, different state. Since then, I’ve ‘only’ slightly more than doubled my salary but have tons of valuable experience others cannot match. I could transition elsewhere for higher pay if I chose. I haven’t chosen to do so however because this firm has given me the ultimate in work life balance and even lets me work remotely now. Totally worth it for me but each of us has different goals and surely each firm is different.
Yep. I was in a similar situation my first year out of school. I was lucky to find another job within 9 months.
This entire thread makes me feel so much better. I started out doing 40 first year. In a town without much money but a lot of growth potential. It's slowly ratcheting up now that I've started my own title company. I'm in my second-third year mark now and feel much more on track.
Get out unless you’ve got great partners and truly enjoy where you work.