How long do you have to be in biglaw before you know whether it’s right for you? First year in a V10 and I can’t tell if it’s normal for me to be this discouraged. (cont)

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A1 is exactly right. Being a first year is hard everywhere. Among other things you’re learning that in exchange for three years of tuition that resulted in a huge student loan debt, your law school taught you virtually nothing that applies to law practice. You’re learning how to navigate an unusual political landscape. You’re learning to deal with clients who have very high, and often unreasonable, expectations for the lawyers they pay the outsized fees charged by big law firms. You are relearning to write. You are relearning to reason. You are learning to take different kinds of feedback than you have ever received in your life. And you are doing all of that while you are tired, overworked, and worried about getting fired for some mistake that you might make without knowing you were making a mistake. What’s not to love?

The good news is that virtually anybody who started law practice in the last 50 years or more has endured the same experience, more or less. It gets better. You will learn to do all of the things listed above. You will gain political allies and learn how to avoid pitfalls. You will start to become comfortable with your own legal skills. You will learn how to work faster and, ultimately, to delegate. And you will learn how to deal with client demands.

The firm you selected may not ultimately be for you. But I agree with A1 that you should stick it out for a bit longer to get comfortable with law practice generally before deciding whether your firm is or is not the right place for you. How long that takes is different for every individual. But you will know when the light bulb goes on. At that point, you will be in a far better position to judge your current firm, and if you decide to leave, you will be much more informed about what you need in a firm and what you do and don’t like doing.

For now try to exercise, sleep, eat decently, and avoid letting the fear of failure consume you. We honestly don’t expect you to know much, do things quickly, or avoid all of the errors that we made ourselves back in the day. What we expect is that you try hard to do a good job, absorb what we’re trying to teach you, avoid making the same mistakes twice, and be a decent colleague. If you’ve gotten this far in life you can do those things.

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That’s helpful, thanks.

I’m at pace and sometimes get interesting work to do, but the people here seem obsessed with striving and one upping/politics, and the late nights and weekends wear on me somewhat (and I’m not even that busy). Feel trapped here because of my student loans and just wondering how long I should stick it out. FWIW I did not go straight through. Had a previous career that was more 9-5/mindless desk job. This doesn’t seem much more intellectually fulfilling so far. Any insight / experience appreciated.

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Biglaw is Biglaw, but what you have described sounds more like a “fit” problem. Plenty of my classmates only lasted a year at their first firm, before lateraling to another firm (where they have been for 3+ years). I would not give up on biglaw without having explored elsewhere (not now, but you will have a better sense after your first year) . Culture matters.

Also, being a first year is generally terrible, so things will get better and more intellectually fulfilling.

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I agree that first year is very tough. It gets easier as you gain skills and as you become a “member of the team”. The latter part may take more than a year to happen.

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I disagree that biglaw is biglaw. I graduated from HYS and didn’t apply to V10 or NYC because I didn’t want to be in exactly the environment you’re in. If you’re at closer to V50, you generally don’t have the same pressure and politics, but have the same pay.

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Interesting. I’m not in NYC but am in a major market. Wonder if it’s worth lateraling to a V50 after a year or two.

Maybe lateral to one not as big? I’m at an Am 40 and it’s really not too bad. Partner seems attainable as well (but I guess we will see haha).

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