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Fears of a recession are reasonably causing people to take a second look at their job security. Seeing as many lawyers are working in specialty tax within PA how many of you are worried about a potential slowdown/layoffs within specialty tax? If not why do you feel you won’t be as affected? Deloitte EY PwC KPMG BDO Grant Thornton RSM Baker Tilly Crowe Andersen CliftonLarsonAllen
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I graduated from law school almost 25 years ago so take this with that perspective. I started my career in Big4 because I couldn’t get into Big Law. I was really bitter about it for a long time because my friends from law school were earning nearly twice what I was. My WLB was better but wasn’t great.
If I could start out in Big Law and do it even for 2-3 years, I still would. The money at that point in your life is a game-changer. I could have paid off my student loans so much faster which would have given me financial freedom earlier in life. Also, having the Big Law experience on your resume will always open doors and strengthen your resume. You have practiced law! With Big4/PA, you cannot say that you have practiced law in a law firm. It matters.
I am not unhappy with my life or where I ended up, but if someone has the choice coming out of law school, I would always recommend practicing law first.
They wanted my specialized background in international tax.
It can take a little longer to find the best fit and you will need to stick with bigger companies, but exit opportunities for the specialities are absolutely out there. They pay better too.
If you want to be head of tax or VP of Tax, you will need to have a more well-rounded experience and can do that from a speciality background as a lawyer but you have to be willing to work on provisions and compliance along the way.
From another perspective, I got my JD from a top law school, great grades, etc. I didn’t even bother applying to Big Law because of my friends already in and the toll it had taken on them. I applied straight to public accounting and am very happy in international tax group. Could I be making double or triple had I gone into Big Law? Sure. But in my opinion, the hours are not worth the cost of the time I am able to spend with my friends and family. To boot, I highly value the ability to wfh and flexibility in PA that Big Law would never be able to provide me.
I went to a top law school and summered at a top large international law firm after 2L (considered moving to london) and worked for some years prior to law school, so was ready to start a family right after graduation. I worked crazy hours before law school and didn’t want to put in more of the grind after. I’ve had amazing work life balance in big 4 and my salary has been more than enough. I make about $225k now after 8 years but hardly ever work more than 40 hours a week. I know I could have made a lot more in big law but I didn’t want to sacrifice my personal life and time with my kids. Some people have very different experiences in big 4 though, so YMMV.
I am in a HCOL city. I see lots of people who are making almost $200k in international tax in similar (not nyc) cities after 4 years so I am feeling underpaid. JD/LLMs are starting at $105-125k now.
Yes I’m currently interning in PA but not for the big 4 whom I would eventually like to work for. I would like to work in international or M&A and the money seems good enough to be able to pay my loans and bills and still enjoy life. The pressure just seems very immense to go into big law and that if you aren’t able to do that you did something wrong but I’ve spent some time planning with my girlfriend and a career in PA is more than sufficient to allow me to achieve the things I want to achieve without sacrificing my time in the way big law requires.
I started in B4 but considered big law for the salary alone. Ultimately I wasn’t willing to work 80 hours a week for a few years, even for that additional pay because I didn’t have debt. Based on my personal experience, lawyers are a lot more successful in B4 if they are also CPAs. I had several lawyers reporting to me on projects that just didn’t get simple accounting concepts. I left B4 over a year ago for industry and couldn’t be happier with my work and personal life. All that said, if I had loans to pay off, I would have been pursuing a job at big law.
The truth be told if you go to law school don’t go to PA after. I work in SALT. My CPA co-workers are younger than me while in the same position and making just a little less. Last year it was 10K difference and this year it is a 5K difference. The pay scale equals out over time. It took me 5 years in PA to get a salary over 100K. It took my CPA co worker 6 years.
Agreed, it often feels like a waste. I sort of regret it. A JD used to be a real advantage to get into some groups, like M&A, pre-COVID but now it seems like anyone willing is welcome.
Well it’s pretty true. Most big 4 attorneys will tell you that if you have a choice go to big law, you can always go to big 4 later in life for less salary and less hours and that’s when it makes sense, not early in your career. Big four for an attorney doesn’t hold any weight, while big law on your resume does. In addition whatever you do, if you can’t get into big law, do not go to a compliance heavy group like partnership tax at big four, you will be working more than big law hours.