I’m a stub year associate that has gotten very very slow (~1-4 billable hours a day). I’ve been doing some pro bono here and there. I’m staffed on a couple deals looking to sign in January but nothing with year-end/Christmas deadlines. Stay quiet or reach out for work? Would prefer not to have my holiday blown up, but also don’t want to give off the impression that I’m actively dodging work.

What’s your current billable rate and salary?

I’m in a little of a pickle but a good one. Offer A. Established “start up” doing well financially and projected to hit profitability. 130k base. Stocks offered, unlimited PTO, and 70% Medical covered. Offer B. Is at a business much larger…90k salary with 10% bonus and generous stock offering. Titles are different which is why the pay is much different. I know some may think it is a no brainer but offer A allows me to grow the department ground up whereas offer B id be apart of to just different

Hey Boschlers,
Is tomorrow holiday??

When and how do you push back on people senior to you? Fifth year dealing with supersenior associate (11th year) who completely lacks good judgment & common sense. One of those super smart but impractical types. As just one example, he recently called me to tell me to call someone who’s on vacation and ask them to send a calendar invite. I offered to send myself but apparently that wouldn’t work (presumably because it would be efficient & make sense.) At what point (and how) do I Just Say No?

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

Can you share first year salary for midsize firms? I'm in NJ, but curious to hear other markets. Also billable targets? Thanks!

2 weeks unassigned in may. Can I use PTO for those 2 weeks even if I haven’t accrued it yet? 1st year, and what are the cons of two weeks off? Like utilization. Etc

Here's a question I wish I never had to ask. Is it better to use the code for bereavement leave or just burn pto I'm going to lose anyway? Does it make a difference from a utilization standpoint?

What companies offer the best vacation policy and sabbatical packages?

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

A parent of one of my students told admin she thinks it's irresponsible that I won't be grading over Christmas break. I let the students know to get any work they need graded in before the break and I'll get it to it during our workdays in January. Apparently that's not fast enough for her 🙄. Is it wrong that I'm sort of pissed off by this? Should I say something?

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?!

How many PTO/Vacation days do you usually take off a year if your employer offers unlimited PTO/Vacation days?

I just started a new job and this is the first time I’ve ran into this. It sounds nice but at the same time I hate the lack of direction. Help!

I’ve been a freelance print production designer for many years, and usually on-site in the before times. Now I work remote, and am finding it uneasy dealing with billing. Before I always billed hourly, which made sense, but it’s becoming an issue now. Some companies don’t have a full days’ work, so it seems wrong to bill full days, and it allows me to juggle projects for different companies, but my billable hours are down. I know I should bill a daily rate, but not sure that will fly. Thoughts?

I have a hand full of k-5 students who have gone the first half of the school year without music because of remote learning. Our district is moving to 100% traditional teaching after the MLK holiday. Any suggestions for reintroducing concepts to the group of students that’ll be joining us f2f for music the first time this school year?

There’s a practice group that I’ve been trying to find work in but whenever I volunteer to help, I always get roped in to do non billable work. In the beginning it was fine but now I’m feeling it’s never going to amount to actual work. Any tips to get more involved without all the non billables and how to approach this gently?

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

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?

Whats the salary range for a senior analyst for a new joiner in nyc region?

Looking for a CD level copywriter to potentially work with me. Title isn’t as big of importance as the quality of work in your portfolio. Must (eventually) want to work in LA. Please DM me your books.

Hi,
If joining date is in July in SAP LABS when can we get onboarding mails.
Thanks.

Difference between Vodafone India services and Vodafone Intelligent Solutions? Are these two different companies?

Hi folks,
I am working as a Business Analyst with 3.5 YOE and in total 4.9 YOE. I am getting 6.7CTC which felt totally low. If I switch then how much I can expect as a market standard currently. Thanks

What are resources to become a better strategist?

I would be recently joining as a credit analyst in a global bank.

What are the exit opportunities for this profile?

Can someone switch to FP&A or IB from here?

Any firms have a Cybersecurity PMO practice/competency/group? Very interested in moving over to more Project Management work in Cyber Security.

Does anyone have recommendations for thought leaders/influencers in the M&A space? Looking for blogs, books, YouTube videos? Not currently in the space, trying to learn more as I’m thinking about a pivot after a few years in consulting/startups

If your manager gives a false commitment of onsite then what can be done against the manager ?

I live in NY and make $40k a year as a Copywriter, I have 2.6 years of experience. Pls rip on me and tell me I’m being underpaid, thx fam

Please give some reactions to this post to help me enable my DM.

Hello Everyone, Can anyone please give any referral for RPA Developer (Power Automate/ Automation Anywhere) YOE - 2.4 Years Thanks....

Does PHR certification help in India, as this is globally recognised how much valuable is this currently in indian job market.

Do we got some good offers or its another certificate just to add to CV after so much of investment & time I don't want to get this wasted !!

Need suggestions ??

My Week in Emoji: ⏰☎️🧹🚽☕️📥🧾💤 Hbu?

L on the Carmines.
L on the Griffeys.
Finally gave in and paid $50 over retail for the Neon Air Max 95s

I hate it here.

It’s hard not to take work home with us but we can’t, not even papers to grade. Give yourself a rest at home!

How many of you biglaw associates are on your grind trying to recruit people to earn a big referral bonus? I’m treating it like a side gig. Ironic that my firm does not give associates any kind of origination credit. If they took the same philosophy with business development, I would direct my efforts there too.!

Are all you associates getting crushed right now? I haven’t had a breather in months. No amount of bonus seems worth it right now

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve purchased in an overworked late night haze?

Are tech trans hours better/more predictable than M&A?

Anyone else at a firm with a fiscal year starting November 1 in limbo with hours? I've hit my bonus hours but there's no way to hit the next bonus level in just a month so I'm just gonna give the firm like 180 free hours...

Hi All - I’m at a firm that has some infrequent in-house training but not enough to help me develop skills to eventually become a trial lawyer. I know cases rarely make it to trial anymore, but I’d like to develop my skills as much as possible to position myself well when they do. Does anyone have any mock trial programs they’ve participated in outside of their firms that they would recommend?

Maybe I’m just realizing I’m lazy… but do y’all ever get assigned an actual, hard research or drafting project and realize you don’t like the effort? Like plz let me go back to doc review.

Ah, Fridays. The day partners decide they don't want to work all weekend and dump everything on you.

Senior attorneys at v100, how common is it for attorneys who start at small firms to lateral to biglaw? Have you worked with any? Conventional wisdom is always that if you don’t start there it’s hard to “trade up”. My coworker and I just did it to two different great v30 firms, and I’m wondering if it’s really that uncommon? Just out of curiosity. We’re not special counsel with special niche skills or anything, just associates. Pitfalls to beware? Positives?

How are these 100% remote positions working? Is anyone living in one state and working in another? I’m wondering about tax consequences and bar admission in particular. Appreciate any insights!

There’s a practice group that I’ve been trying to find work in but whenever I volunteer to help, I always get roped in to do non billable work. In the beginning it was fine but now I’m feeling it’s never going to amount to actual work. Any tips to get more involved without all the non billables and how to approach this gently?

Do we need a union to stop partners from emailing us after 7:30 pm?

Anyone at Davis Wright Tremaine and know if they hire remote paralegals on a full time basis or iy through the 6 month contract?

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 do you guys think of Magic Circle firms? Should I join them instead of another top 30 AmLaw firm?

A partner I work for keeps asking for ETA's on assignments I have already submitted to the senior associate on the deal for review. Does it sound like I'm throwing the senior associate under the bus if I say I have already submitted to senior associate and am waiting for feedback? I feel like the partner will get upset at me even more if my answer sounds like I haven't submitted the assignment to the senior associate yet.

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.

For those that have no desire to ever go in-house, what are the reasons other than the pay cut? Or is that the only reason?

First year: how long without a full ramp up before I should worry? I’m sub-250 hours since I started (3.5 months) and the firm/group are both busy. Other first years in my group are mixed. Worried I’m missing the reps that first years are getting at other firms. Enjoying the freedom while I have it, but I’m still thinking this is odd. Any advice, action steps, anecdotes, etc. appreciated.

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