Happy Friday. May the Almighty Billable be beneficent to you and yours.

What do people think of the British Royal Family? For those of us who grew up without ridiculous monarchies why do have to keep hearing about them in the news?

What types of questions do you like to ask candidates during your first initial conversation with them?

Those currently hiring - Has the job market become inundated with applicants again or are you still finding qualified applicants to be scarce?

Anyone have experience with Keeps? Does it work? (M 30’s here)

Wavering between tired and happy. Finally getting my stamina back post covid. I've walked 10 miles in the past week. Pre covid I was walking between 2 and 4 miles a day. But I can tell I'm still not 100 percent. I'm so tired in the evenings. Hopefully that will fade the next couple of weeks.

What's your favorite "healthy" meal you make at home that is also delicious and cheap? Mine is Thai papaya salad

Experience sharing on calories deficit -
I have a normal body build but want to lose a few pounds(especially around my belly). I am making visible progress now by eating less(work gets busy and I use that to forget about hunger), a lot of walking, have casein protein to feel less hungry. Diet is really what do the trick.
But there are drawbacks too - my energy level(especially around night time) drop significantly that the level of exercise I used to do feels hard (light/mid intensity)

Relocating to SF and office will be in downtown. Does Foster City sound like a good option to live? Maybe need to commute only a day or two to office. Thanks!

Holys*it, the seller accepted my offer, i’ll be owning a condo. Surreal! Did i make the right decision in this environment??? 😱

Hey folks,
I am planning on interviewing with Volkswagen IT Services for Java Devops role. What should I focus on preparing. Most of the job profiles were for cloud. This is the first one with Java Devops

PwC Pricing and Profitability practice. Senior associate offer at $123k plus 15k sign on. Offering another 7.5k if I agree in 24 hrs. Any advice where I should land?

Recently i given a interview in hdfc bank for sales manager Auto loan - but i had intermediate - distance mode ( single sitting ).. they said ur not eligible has per company policy - So did i did some thing wrong in my studies... Is it my mistake.....which is i done 1 yr intermediate. Plz suggest what should I do..... Really I need

Feeling better about myself after reading a 20 year old correction deed to insert "grants to" that had been left out of a quitclaim deed. And I thought *I* was moving too fast and missing stuff 😂

My company covers in depth results each week, including meetings set/attended, wins, revenue, retention etc. I feel as if evaluating in such depth is detrimental to the psyche, as you never get to “ride the high.” In addition, some weeks are simply slower than others, and it’s not always representative of what the results at the end of the period or quarter will be. Is this not a big deal, and I’m I placing too much importance on it? Or is it beneficial to review results less frequently?

Hi all, I am new to cognizant with 3 yoe. Got selected in Verizon account. If anyone knows about this account can u pls comment how the work life balance will be? and the pressure in the project and working Timings

Yar ek lob mein kitne log kaam karte h? Mere dushman bhi same lob mein h, mere ko us ka samna nahi karna h. Kya karon ?

Have a call on Friday with the CEO of an environmental entrepreneurship non-profit. It could lead to a professional opportunity and maybe even billable work I can refer to my firm down the line. I’m going in with an open mind but little concrete information on his entity and goals and ways I could get involved. What questions would you ask such a person?

Is 150 billable hours per month little/average/a lot?

Probably a foolish question: are bonuses based off of raw billable hours or billable hours modified by the partners?

Transactional junior associate in biglaw. Working for a dedicated practice group rather than in an associate pool. For the past few months, I’ve been loaned to another practice group for a good chunk of time. While the people are decent and the hours aren’t terrible, I detest the work and don’t see a future in this new practice. My main partner says it should end in the next month, but I don’t expect that to happen. Is it a terrible idea to ask to be taken off?

Does anyone else work as in-house for government? Local? Provincial/State? Federal?

How long is acceptable to ask to decide on an offer, especially when another place you really want to work at is moving a bit slower? I know this question has been asked before but I feel like 2022 has been its own beast in the legal market and would appreciate any advice. Thank you!

We are starting to prep a big case for a 3 week federal trial. I’ve been an attorney for a year now and my firm has had this case for a while. What are some tips you have for prepping and also that will make my boss choose to take me to the trial? I have been the main associate on the file but other attorneys have done stuff here and there.

Parental leave: do you have to be at a company or firm for a year before being eligible to take parental leave? Are there any companies/firms that don't have this requirement?

I joined fishbowl a month ago and while I’ve seen a couple contentious debates but I must say I’m pleasantly surprised at how respectfully ppl comment on this app even when disagreeing. Usually anonymity on the internet brings out the absolute worst in ppl; they type things anonymously that they would NEVER say in person smh. But I really haven’t seen horrible comments here. I wonder what makes this app diff frm others?

Firm announced flexible come and go as you see fit approach to coming back to office. Partner I work for said I need to be in office 4-5 days a week anyway. Thoughts?

Just had a hearing on my motion to compel where OC told the judge we hadn’t conferred before filing the motion. Not only did I attempt to confer on 3 separate dates, I attached the emails and his response that he refused to confer to my motion. Judge didn’t care, as soon as she heard him say we hadn’t conferred she denied the motion. Not asking a question, just needed to vent.

Any hospital in-house attorneys willing to share their title, location and compensation?

Hardest part of navigating maternity leave and WLB as a junior partner?

Big Law Dads: How much time do you usually take off when your wife has a baby? And do you actually get to take off, or do you just end up working from home half the time? My wife is due Mid-December, and I’m staffed on 4 M&A deals trying to close by year end, so it’s not looking promising.

Last associates committee meeting is coming up. Partners have asked each associate to come up with... not one... but FIVE marketing ideas. Other than reeling out “we offer competitive pay” in job postings, what are some good ones your firm does?

I’m struggling a bit. If I knew how to market well, I certainly wouldn’t be in this position.

Any insight on working as a staff attorney at Sidley as far as pay, growth, hours, etc.? I had someone reach out to me about a staff attorney role there and just want to hear opinions.

Second year associate here who recently switched from litigation to corporate law. I am absolutely swamped while simultaneously having no idea what I’m doing ever and I’m feeling so burnt out. The partners are pretty great and feedback is constructive which I’m grateful for, but I’m so desperate for a compliment I’ve been saving any scrap of positivity in a folder 😭 it’s December 22 and I haven’t done my Christmas shopping because I don’t feel capable of thinking about it. I need a hug.

I don’t want to make partner, and I want to stay in big law for 2-3 years, do you suggest I just do the bare minimum for hours or should I still be doing as much work as possible?

Any insight on Gordon Rees pay for 2-3 year associate in a non-major market? I know they don’t pay market, but there are no BigLaw firms in my city

Can you share first year salary for midsize firms? I'm in NJ, but curious to hear other markets. Also billable targets? Thanks!