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Hello, what is working in retail banking like at JPMorgan Chase ? Specially the branch manager role. I’m looking in the Columbus area. How is pay, culture, benefits, sales environment, meetings, etc. How easy is it to transition from retail banking to corporate. I hear the Polaris campus has great opportunities, I was thinking about getting my foot in the door through retail then transferring to corporate ?
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I went from a tiny law firm (2 attorneys and I was the only associate) to biglaw (900 attorneys) to slightly smaller biglaw (650 attorneys). It’s busy but the money and resources are worth it, in my opinion.
Thank you!
Fwiw, I didn’t go to an amazing law school or have an amazing GPA. I networked a ton. Happy to discuss further so feel free to DM me if you’d like.
Started big, went to a regional firm, that firm merged with a big firm, and then I lateraled to an even bigger firm up higher on the AmLaw list.
Usually smaller firms are a lot "flatter" when it comes to hierarchy. Hierarchy is more pronounced here, which is kinda annoying. W/L balance expectations are definitely skewed more in the direction of work.
At my last firm, asking people to do weekend work came with a bit of warning and "hey, sorry I gotta do this to ya." Here, like at my first firm, it's taken as a given you should be available to at least receive work for the weekend (or even over the weekend).
Pay is definitely better, but the bureaucracy is worse. I was a Partner at my last firm and even then I had a clear reporting structure (OMP, Practice head, MP). Here I'm a counsel and have no clue who I report to (no one? Every Partner? My OMP says it's def not him). My collections and originations are in good shape though, so I've been told that's not a big deal.
All in all, you trade comp for comfort. I like my big firm, and get paid a lot, but I'm def less comfortable on a daily basis than I was at my smaller shop. It's worth it though rn, to me.
@Counsel1 - this was a great response. I am not the OP, but I learned a lot!
Went from 50 atty shop to 2000. Nit far into it, but worth it so far. Yes it’s more work, but I knew that, and it’s not that much more compared to increase in pay and future prospects.
this is a common move in the boom times, but it also depends on your practice area. For litigation, extremely hard. Easiest in real estate (unless you're doing residential) and finance, less easy but definitely possible in a good market are all the other corporate practices.
Thanks for this. I appreciate the insight into the hiring piece.
What practice area? And what city? And what year?
I'm not asking about my hiring prospects or the specifics of making the move.
I'm asking about people's experience once they've done so.
Did you go to a t14? Which metro is it? Lastly, what’s your practice group? Those are all relevant presuming a lower gpa from law school.
I appreciate that you're trying to be helpful but I have a thing about people answering questions I haven't asked instead of those I have. I have considered the how hard it will be to make the move and I'm satisfied, which is why I haven't asked.
My prospects are limited. It will be a steep climb up a narrow path. Activity in my practice area has slowed significantly and market-wide. Recruiting has followed suit. I do not expect meaningful movements toward recovery until next year at the earliest. It is a bad time to try to make this move.
I did the opposite and I love it. Went from 80+ to 5 attorney firm. Reverse of what you’re asking but the differences I noticed are:
- lack of support staff at the smaller firm so everyone is much more self sufficient at the small firm. Larger firm had paralegals already overstretched between 3 or 4 attorneys and now there’s one assistant for the entire 5 person office. I’ve had to learn how to file my own stuff.
- much broader individual practice area at the smaller firm. I was doing almost solely patent prosecution at the large firm and now I do patent and general business work. I think you’re more likely to be specializing in the larger firms, but that could be due to my prior firm being a strictly IP firm.
- pay is definitely better at the larger firm, but (at least for me) that came with antidepressants and poor quality of life. I was working 70 hr weeks and in the office from 8am-9pm I now keep my weekends mostly free and actually make more per hour at the smaller firm. I am genuinely much happier at the smaller firm.
- partners at the larger firm were laser focused and caught the smallest errors in any document. Perfection was required for certain partners and I got yelled at several times for small typos I didn’t catch when proofing documents. While that’s not necessarily the worst thing, it just adds to the stress that you’re not good enough and don’t belong there unless you can pump out perfect work.
I’d advise you to try it, but don’t burn any bridges on your way out. Be open with your current job about why you’re leaving. That way, if you hate it, you can always see about coming back.
Thank you, the contrast is very useful.
I'm at a similar-sized firm to your current firm and it sounds like we're having some of the same experiences wrt breadth of work and a need for more self-sufficiency.
Glad your move has been good for you. Thanks again!
To be clear:
I'm not asking about my hiring prospects or the specifics of making the move.
I'm asking about people's experience once they've done so.