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Sea of thieves anyone?
Thoughts on gme
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I’m at a smaller firm now, and at least in my case, the WLB is not even comparable. The client base is totally different and there just isn’t that expectation of 24/7 availability coming from either clients or partners. That said, there are plenty of tradeoffs including $, sophistication of clients and matters, cost sensitivity, training, resources, growth opportunities, etc.
Non partners make around 150-200 plus bonus for a true 1600, and like I said above, just a really different expectation as far as availability. But I’m still at work all day even though billing fewer hours—unlike BL, there are days when I’m at work 9 hours and somehow have only billed 4.5—and I have school age kids, so weekdays still feel pretty busy, just in a different way! However, I can come home and participate in the evening dinner/activities/homework crunch without having to log back on at 8 pm or spend my weekends working. I can make doctor/dentist appointments and plans with friends and family and expect to keep them. I still haven’t managed to fit in regular exercise…I think the answer must be getting up super early and that remains aspirational for me!
I do think you should pay attention to what folks are saying about the tradeoffs though. Although the hours are mellow, I am not sure if the smaller firm offers the growth I’m looking for in the longer term. Maybe it’s a case of the grass is always greener.
I have a friend who just switched from a big ATL based insurance defense firm to a small plaintiffs personal injury firm and went from making $135k to $60k and she said she would take the pay cut all day every day for the work life balance she has now lol
I moved from biglaw to a midlaw “lifestyle” firm and regretted it. Moved back to my firm in six months. When I went back, they agreed to reduced FTE to help with the balance I was seeking and it really has helped. I’m at 80% and still making more than the midlaw with a lower hours requirement that the firm is incentivized to keep because we have an end of year true up where they pay me more if I work over my hours. Anyway, the move to a smaller firm sucked for me and I wouldn’t do it again. If I leave my firm again it’ll be to go in house or state government.
Rising Star
Unfortunately, this completely depends on the specific job you’re leaving and the specific job you’re taking. I’ve seen in-house and lifestyle gigs that are materially worse than BL. It’s just tough to tell.
40 percent pay cut doesn’t seem worth it since you will probably only work 10-20 percent fewer hours …
Rising Star
Agree, though that 10-20% is probably mostly nights and weekends, and scrapping that can represent a huge change in quality of life.
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