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Rising Star
I’d go in house for 120k in a higher COL city and 80k in a low COL. I literally just want to not think about billable hours, leave at 5, and actually be able to take 3 weeks vacation. So long as I have enough money to live comfortably, the time and lack of anxiety is priceless. I do L & E and health law. Recruiters DM me if you have a match, lol.
Those are some low salary figures. Less than a first year made in 2000
Damn y’all’s floors are higher than my salary
NYC area. Left big law and took 100k cut. So worth it.
I think my floor would be 200k. Bay Area IP practice. Currently making 255k not including a bonus.
It really depends, what’s your cost of living, how much debt do you have, how much are you able to save monthly with your current earnings, what type of lifestyle do you live, and how much you’re currently earning. If you’re making $130,000, a $30,000 pay cut will make a much bigger impact on your budget than if you’re earning $250,000.
I’m a 3rd year at Cravath scale and no debt. I’m aiming for $150k in FL, which is harder to come by. It’ll be a big pay drop and FL cost of living isn’t as cheap as people generally think, but worth it IMO to not have to jump when an overconfident senior associate says to jump.
Good for you.
180k is my floor base salary wise. I currently make 220k at my firm.
Not in-house, but left cravath scale as a third year to a boutique making $160k. 1,500 billable hours. Very much so worth the pay cut
Honestly, how do you find these boutiques? I can’t have so many friends at midsize firms with “no hour requirements” but in reality it’s as bad as biglaw.
It depends on the work life balance. For a genuine 5-day/40 hour week with take-able vacation and job security, I’d probably do half my current base, maybe a little less with stellar benefits. Figure my hours over 40 right now are worth time and a half and just work backward from there.
I talked with Amazon attorneys and was told to stay in big law if WLB is okay.
Yeah I don’t think Amazon is a great place to work from what I have heard
My floor is probably around $250k. Currently, 8th year making Cravath scale (V20), so it’s a substantial pay cut.
At this point, my floor would be like $500k, so I’m likely not going anywhere. 🤣
C1 and AA6, they’re out there for sure, but much more competitive than more junior positions, which is why I say it’s unlikely.
You’d have to pay me more not less, to go in house
You need to evaluate what your financial needs are so that you can pay your bills and have some cushion. Then you need to decide how much more than that you need against the non-cash benefits an in-house position may provide. Better benefits that cost you less? Better work/life balance? Access to equity or carry-forward interests? More interesting practice? These will not show up in your paycheck but they have value.
300k
$220k base was my floor (in SF)
I’m in a secondary market biglaw making $150k. I’d leave for 110k.