I’m feeling very frustrated with the legal industry. I’m at my second small firm as an attorney, and both have been hostile environments with unreasonable expectations, micromanaging, little direction but harsh criticism if something isn’t perfect. My 3L internship was the same way. Are small firms generally like this? Are all firms? How do others handle this dynamic?

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Small firms generally push the, “we’re like family” dynamic which opens the door to constant micromanagement. Larger firms not so much, you might still find yourself with a micromanaging partner, but it’s more partner specific.

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logical fallacy - over generalizing from a limited sample set of your limited experience as a junior attorney. you worked primarily at small firms which are notorious for bad culture. the billing culture is bad for firms overall, come work in house

likesmart

specialize in commerical contracts, privacy, ai, IP etc

There is an inherent problem with small firms, fewer people mean less diversity of thought. If one partner is a major asset, they will have an excessive amount of influence over firm culture. Larger firms have more even distribution. When/if you change jobs, ask for a private meeting with another first or second year. They can tell you the real scope.

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I had this issue with several of my internships during law school and my first job as an attorney. I can say not all firms are like that. And I would leave any job that is like that.

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No, not all firms are like this. My experience at small firms was similar to yours. Not quite hostile, but unreasonable expectations and a lot of micromanagement. I lateraled to a bigger firm, and it’s been wildly different.

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Agree - way more support and direction. Just make sure the group you lateral to is big and busy (you don’t want to end up at a big firm but in basically a small group with one or two partners who make it into a mini firm within the big firm).

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I felt the same when I was working for small firms. I worked at 4 small firms before finally got into a mid sized firm (current firm). The experience is sooooooo much better at my current firm.

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I spent 13 years working at small firms before I moved to a large firm 7 years ago and I don’t think I could ever go back to working for a small firm.

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I had the same experience working for a small firm with only 2-3 attorneys. I also was feeling frustrated about the legal industry and thought all firms were the same. Leaving the small firm was the best decision i ever made. I now work at a larger firm with 60-70 attorneys and it’s night and day. No micromanaging, kind and supportive colleagues, and respect for a work life balance. I would encourage others to do the same!

likeuplifting

My experience has been the opposite. Small firms are much better. Big firms dont care about tou one way or another. They will use and abuse you and treat you horribly. Now I check employee reviews for each firm before accepting after my experience at my last big firm.

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Smaller firms are not great in my observation. One had turnover that was unbelievable. Promotions that were given revolved around favoritism and not merit or skillset.

The other was basically too small so no room to grow and of course the favoritism and worse "micromanagement" and alit of bad behavior with no HR dept.

The smallest firm I worked for was 45 attorneys (a boutique) but I know many small firms are dysfunctional and have toxic cultures. Definitely find a bigger firm (realistically a larger midsized or regional firm if coming from small law), and take the time to vet your options to avoid a firm with poor culture.

2 years where you are is plenty of time to be ready to make the next move.

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Same

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I'm confident we'll find somewhere good to be

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Hello guys, I'm a law graduate from Nigeria, is it possible to find a remote job in line with law?

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I've only worked for large firms and this hasn't been my experience. Keep trying!

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the bigger they are, the harder they fall. jk larger orgs, firms or companies have more mature processes and offer a better learning environment than smaller

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Agree. In-house is similar. Small companies offer less learning opportunities and micromanaging is daily. One person is performing multiple functions. CLEs cost is hard to get covered. Would go after med to large companies.

helpful

What year are you?

5 years into practice, but I've been at this firm a little over 2 years. My first couple of yrs of practice were in government, so that was entirely different

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