Anyone go from big law to small/mid and then back to big and regret the move back to big law? Maybe I’m forgetting how bad it is in big law. Someone remind me and tell me to stay put — FWIW, 5th year making $215k, 1850 hour requirement. Yes, I took a MASSIVE pay cut.

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That sounds ideal to me… unless it’s like big law where you’re actually billing 2200

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Go back to biglaw. You're going to be billing 2000 hours so you might as well get paid for it. Small law lures people in with promises of lifestyle, but their partners are focused on the bottom line just like biglaw partners.

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Yeah I screwed up bad by leaving thinking life would be better lol joke is definitely on me. Looking to go back ASAP

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Would love to hear what you’re actually billing or if it really is close to 1850. That makes a difference.

While I haven’t done a stint in big law, I was formerly in small-mid law and was billing 2000 hours for far less pay. Obviously not big law stresses/demands/expectations. But 2000 hours is 2000 hours and I’d rather do it for more money.

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It doesn’t seem like a drastic lifestyle change hours wise then if the reality is you may be billing 2k soon. I wish I could offer the big law perspective, but as someone who left billing 2k for an about equally demanding job but with a pay increase, the pay increase goes a long way towards justifying the hours.

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Any opinions on how much worse the same 2000 hours are in big law vs non BL?

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This is something I’ve wondered too. My first year in big law I didn’t even bill 2000 hours, but I still ended up working plenty of nights and weekends because the downtime came on weekdays from like 1-6pm where everything would go quiet and then turn into a mad rush. And it’s not like you can go out and do stuff because you don’t know you’re going to have a slow day until it’s almost over since anything can pop up.

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Honestly people need to stop hating on BigLaw. It’s a great job all things considered!

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As a 5th year making even less than that in a mid sized firm and billing over 2100 hours… I would consider it. But also think about if you like where you are, the people, the work, the flexibility level etc… those are the things that affect you every day. I definitely get more client contact than most associates my year…

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