I’m a junior and I’m miserable in Big Law. I’m trying to stick it out but I wake up depressed every day and I’m regretting my decision to come to a firm. What are the best in-house exit options for a 2nd year at a V15?

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DM me. Same boat and have some experience with this.

likesmart

^ that, plus “big law but less awful” is always a huge lie

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I feel you, but conventional wisdom is you may need to stick it out one more year. If it helps, they won’t actually fire you.

Exit options can vary significantly by practice group.

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What practice area?

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I lateraled every 2-3 years for better opportunities. Kept getting recruited to better firms offering more money, more interesting cases, and a shorter commute. It’s easy to explain in interviews and cover letters and nobody ever held it against me.

I can’t imagine my life or career if I had just “stuck it out” instead of lateraling. Moving firms enabled me to learn more from more people in a shorter period of time, and greatly expand my network. It set me up perfectly for my current role, and I graduated from a barely ranked law school <10 years ago.

Think about what’s right for you. Being miserable in your current position probably isn’t it. If you do make moves, just be sure you are gracious on your way out. Always keep the doors open. You never know what will come through in the future.

likesmart

Different scenarios. There is no better firm offering more money, and OP wants to go in house asap.

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Not all big law is created equally. If you’re a litigator and want to discuss let me know.

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Been there. It sucks. Practice area matters a lot. M&A by its nature is very very adversarial and especially in public company world all needs to be done as a fire drill. Private company is a little better because a leak to the market won’t cause stock price swings. Capital markets is a little better because it’s just raising capital but market conditions could change so everyone is in a rush too. It’s even worse for juniors because mid levels and seniors will set calls and time frames based on their individual schedules and those more junior just need to get on board. I jumped around from v30 to v10 and amlaw 200, and I personally found being a senior associate/counsel was a way better job than a junior. In other words, it gets better!

likeuplifting

Private equity clients are the absolute worst. I switched firms/groups after a nightmarish PE deal. Zero boundaries. Weekend fire drills, getting talked down to constantly, etc.

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I went in house in my second year and know a lot of juniors who did the same. Just apply and see where it takes you. Everyone has been much happier. DM if you’d like to talk!

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I mean, as someone who is still in BigLaw but has moved around a couple firms over the years, I can positively tell you it's possible it's just the firm / group that you're in.

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Becoming an associate corporate counsel at Amazon

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Biz school.

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I think you can expect $110-150k or so.

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OP don’t forget that change in tax brackets makes up some of that difference. Plus company perks you won’t get at a firm.

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DM

There are more in house opportunities out there than you might think, so take a look around. A bunch are posted on linked in. I just landed one and I have a few years of clerking experience and less than a year at an unknown firm in a small town.

Amazon hires young, so that's a good start. I interviewed there with 2YOE and TC was upwards of $250K.

If you're interested in commercial work, a lot of mid- to large-sized tech companies hire entry level to 3YOE as "associate" commercial counsel, since those groups are relatively built out in terms of team size and handle a high volume of contracts.

You can go do Amazon if you’re okay working hard still. Unless you are independently wealthy / own your home already i would stick it out in biglaw until you can buy a place. Biglaw does not need to be that miserable. What you should do is figure out what kind of in house job you want then lateral to a firm that you like and has the right group/industry connections

Feel free to pm me. I left big law after 8 months for an in house position.

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