Any thoughts/experiences on Big4 vs law firms? I started at Big4 straight out of law school. Not sure how easy or worth while it would be to transition to a law firm, at some point.

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I started and work for a big4 doing SALT. I have a friend that went to the same university and did the same joint program for JD/Mtax and he went to a law firm and works doing SALT on the law side. He still has to do some compliance work for clients, I just had a full busy season of fall compliance. We discuss our work, I definitely see more issues, with more clients, and some more complicated fact patterns. His work is more isolated to OH (were we are licensed to practice law). However, he does have more control on clients he works on and more involved in the pursuit of clients. He also gets paid 30% more to start out. Outside busy season, I have less billing expected than he does. Definitely give and take on this.

What level are you? At some point, law firms won't want to take you on straight from Big4. If you get to that level, usually the way into a law firm would be taking an interim step in-house and then hopping over to a law firm. You could also go work for the government if you're willing to take that pay cut with no guarantee of a higher salary on the other end.

I also agree with PWC1 that in Big4 (generally) you get to see a lot more issues and are exposed to a lot more things with companies in a lot more industries. Of course, you could end up on a loan staff and do one type of work for one company for 6 months, so the generalization doesn't always hold.

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