If you do billable work on a given PTO/vacation day, do you still count that day as vacation? Or do you get that vacation day "back"? Or do you only get the part that you billed "back"? (Or some other option.)

I have been working in SEA region last 4 years. I feel burned out. I have 10yoe, I have try to move to other country but I pretty much suck in LeetCode. I want to take some time off to unwind, finish some personal business, and really prepare for interviews. I would like to hear from you. Should I quit to my current manager(5th so far) or wait after mid year performance review, when a new boss will take over my team? I'm thinking on giving them 2 months notice period. By contract is 1.

Thanks

My firm’s IT (especially system saving and file locating function) is so bad 😐😞 and they keep doing updates no one asked them for just to mess with the stuff we already got a hang of without doing anything about the issues we actually need fixed. Anyone else in a similar boat? Do you bill the client for the time it takes to fix the IT issue (or IT inefficiency generally, like time taken to find a file in a convoluted system)? Or is that supposed to be our non-billable time?

What is the official vacation announcement for EY during 4th July weekend?

Have an interesting scenario. Holiday party season is approaching. At one of our parties (during working hours) there is an optional “talent show.” Employees can win door prizes. We have an entry that is a religious song - like one you would sing in church. I assume we need to let this employee perform this - or we are setting ourselves up for trouble. Likewise, if we permit this song, I assume we cannot compel attendance to the talent show. The talent show is part of a lunch thing.

Anyone else here have terrible utilization because their deals die and a code never opens? /can’t find another code to book hours? I’m sitting on over 200 billable hours at this point

If you are a first year in a stub year, and significantly under billable hours requirement, do firms typically still give pro rated bonus? Do first year stub associates really ever hit their pro rated hours in those 2-3 months?

If you asked to be considered for early promotion and didn’t get it (despite being highly rated, exceeding billable goal, etc) would you look elsewhere? Is it right to be angry about it? I don’t want to spin myself up unnecessarily if it’s unjustified

Required 50% use of PTO by a certain date. Signs of imminent layoffs?

The firm I work for is not closing for the hurricane. Staff were told to work from home or take PTO if they could not come in to the office (and the building is now closed until Friday). Is this normal?!

I'm a long time prosecutor getting into the ID game and billable hours. Are there any resources out there that can help me get more effective/efficient without spending months/years learning the hard way? Some days I'm at the office 10 hours, took virtually no breaks and yet only bill 7. 🤬

How many billable hours do people in prosecution tend to average each month? I’ve gone through waves of feeling like my billable hours requirement is reasonable to feeling like I’m drowning and can’t possibly do it for that long.

Went from a big firm to work for a smaller firm. The people in the smaller firm are protective of their work and are good by their work too. I no longer feel chaos or stress. I am treated with respect and my schedule is more normal. I am even working more billable hours than before, but it feels like a seamless experience. I don’t work then past 5pm or anything out of the ordinary for this time of the year. I am so grateful!

Looking to leave a govt job for a junior attorney role in a small workers comp defense firm. I have no experience in workers comp. How easy is it to learn the work and make 1850 billable hours? What future opportunities does this experience give?

What length of vacation do you usually take? I’m a big fan of taking many 4 day weekends (instead of 1 or 2 longer vacays) but apparently those aren’t encouraged in the Big Law world?

Thoughts on a manager texting you to ask why you aren’t online Easter weekend when all of your work is completed and another senior who can’t handle their own work decided to randomly send you their returns to review?

Does anyone run a business in addition to their firm? I’m a solo and I’m doing pretty well with about 60-70 billable hours a month. Though that leaves a lot of downtime. Curious if anyone has any second businesses that require about 20 hours a week. Not looking for passive income or franchise ideas though.

How supportive are your companies when it comes to taking PTO for mental health days?

How much stock do you put on benefits? I have two offers with stark differences in benefits. Job 1: role I want, but benefit sucks (2 weeks paternity leave, 20% coinsurance). Job 2: role is okay but higher level and great benefits (16 weeks paternity, 0% coinsurance, 5 more days of vacation). Total comp is the same though. I wonder if I should just focus on role but Job 2 is a large company, so I can move around after 2-3 years I’d expect. Thoughts?

🎄How do you plan to recharge over the holiday break?

Drop your plans or ideas below! 👇

Hi All, I am having 2.6+ experience in DevOps production support project. Can anyone please refer me.
Currently I am looking for change and having Notice Period : 90 Days

Hi guys,
I have cleared all the rounds for LTI post which I received autogenerated mail and then later HR asked to upload documents. In how many days can I expect offer letter?

Hi Guys,
I may have a better offer which could be shared only next week as approvals are in process , which offers me wfh option and a little better package and my joining in the next company LTI is on 8th Nov, I am unable to push the joining date to buy some time as HR denied on the same , please suggest me how should I tackle this situation as I’m more interested to join the one giving WFH ? Need inputs asap as I have to take a call today.

Hi Fishes,
What are general responsibilities of BA4 designated employee in Barclays as Salesforce developer?

Does EY gift goodies on joining /on birthdays?

Why’s it so hard for agencies to be transparent with their own employees?

Things to do in town for Christmas? I'll start in the comments!

How do you manage your money?

I only bring in a little over $2,600 a month. After paying all my expenses, I get to put away $500 a month in savings but don’t have much wiggle room for anything else, including going out money.

I’m very privileged to have a significant inheritance and zero debt of any kind. I really wonder how my peers who have student loans, car payments, and even children manage to pay their bills and live so comfortably. Please share if this is you!

I was just told to limit my time against pitching and planning a job to 3-hrs. Which is bonkers. They want timing, budgets and watch outs. Has anyone else experienced this and have advice on how to approach with the account lead?

If you loved your small independent broker dealer but they had just been acquired by a much larger corporation which does have benefits in terms, mostly, in technology, but you lose your “family” in the home office, what would you do and who would you look at if you were considering a change of your own?

Agency Producer Day Rate?

Los Angeles (Hollywood), I have 15 years experience on high-end/budget narrative feature and documentaries. Have only about 2 years agency exp...

What are some tips or recommendations on where to start to become a product manager? Much appreciated

Hi all

My joining will be on 19th Dec for Bangalore location Prestige Trade Tower. I'm looking for guys who need room partner. I'm ready to spend 10-15k for sharing in a rented apartment/house.

Please let me as soon as possible. Thanks

I can still opt for Pune location if somebody living in Pune.

Favorite group fitness in philly?

Any opening for a Business Analyst with 5 YOE?

To the lender counsel that forgot to mention they needed original signature pages for a deal that closed early this year and decided to chase and harass me a day before thanksgiving and a day after thanksgiving multiple times. F*ck you. I don’t know what is driving your lack of courtesy but I have represented the same bank before and know their usual original signature requirement.

Why do recruiters never tell you which agency they want to talk to you about until they get you on the phone? I don’t want to waste anyone’s time and it would be helpful to know this info from the initial outreach. My experience with this only applies to healthcare, but would imagine it’s the same in consumer as well. Anyone?

When you meet with a partner for a new assignment. Do you bill for that time? I’m a new associate, so I don’t know. On the one side it seems that meeting and conferring for an assignment requested by the the client would be billable since it’s using firm time and resources. On the other side, we are just talking about how to tackle the assignment and not tackling the assignment itself.

I keep making stupid minor mistakes at work lately presumely cause I’ve been so burnt out, and my senior is constantly mad at me, which made me want to avoid the dirty work even more… I really should care but is it bad that I don’t really care anymore

Random partner asked a litigation-related question to a partner I frequently work with (i’m a transactional associate). My partner cc’d me and said for me to briefly look. Asked the library. They got me a great case. Sent it back. Now the random partner is asking for more cases in another circuit.

I haven’t done caselaw research since 1L and this isn’t even my practice… wtf do I do (I am fully utilized in my normal work and have a few deals closing soon…)

Career alternatives for funds attorneys? Sixth year V10 here and exhausted. Disenchanted with being a lawyer altogether. Would love to know what others have done after fund formation work.

Working on some law firm applications tonight and it sucks that I know that I am so capable and have a strong work ethic but firms can’t see beyond grades or the fact that I didn’t go to a t14 law school or prestigious undergrad. I’ve worked twice as hard and feel like I’ve barely even gotten half as much. It’s discouraging sometimes especially because I worked so hard with pretty much no guidance (first gen, poc, low-income) to get into college and do well and then get into a t30 law school

How long does it usually take to clear conflicts? Mid level. Around 50 client matters.

Partners - what was the most stressful year of your career? The year before you made partner? Your first year of partnership? The year(s) you or your partner gave birth?

Anyone have any insights into Big Law firms opening in Salt Lake City (Kirkland & Ellis, Wilson Sonsini, Greenberg Traurig, Foley, etc.)? I was approached by a recruiter because of a past connection to the state, and I’m trying to determine whether it would be a good fit.

Are there any books or other resources that mid levels/seniors/counsel/partners on here have found helpful for the project management / managing junior attorney aspects of your job?

I am not finding a lot of stuff written for lawyers specifically , but there is a lot directed at “managers” in business generally that I imagine could be applicable.

Doing a federal clerkship and thinking of my options after. Anyone in NJ/NY/PA biglaw lit group with collegial and pleasant work environment? I do not care about billable requirements/workload, just salary and don’t want to be treated like shit.

Is it worth leaving big law for a FAANG job? Probably a $50k pay cut plus lose the partner track option for future. I'm probably 3 years away from making partner. Have a friend there already. Heard work life balance is better but comp not as good and lower ceiling. Thoughts?

Leaving after one year to another biglaw firm?

Any Atomic Habit readers here? I’m brainstorming identity-based habits for two things I want to change:

-I want to bill more hours, so my goal is to become the type of person who bills at least 8 a day
-I want to drink less alcohol, so my goal is to become the type of person who drinks occasionally

Neither of these feel that helpful. Any one have suggestions for other identity-based goals that get at these changes I want to make?

Can anyone please advise on Sullivan & Worcester? Is it comparable to Big Law in terms of salary/quality of work and quality of life?

Now that you got your bonus and are ready to leave for a better work-life balance HMU for a referral to a top tech practice, v30, either coast or remote. Willing to part with some of the referral fee ;)

I’m a true night-owl that begins thinking clearly about 5 PM. I often send projects out after midnight. Early morning emails and calls are an adventure. Has anyone else had to work through this issue? Fight it or embrace it?

I'm up for election next year. Kind of feel like I'm in Squid Game right now.

I've signed on to this, I'm really close to the end, but at a certain point I feel like I just want to check out of the game (and go in-house or something).

I am a junior associate actively looking to lateral. I feel bad knowing I’m going to completely blindside my Partners and practice group with the two week notice whenever I get an offer. Should I tell the group that I’m looking/interested in exploring other opportunities? The firm has been great, but I’m moving to another market in which they don’t have an office.

Hi! Would anyone be willing to refer to for a role at baker botts?