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It seems like you already know what you’d like to do. Nothing wrong with being happy, comfortable, and making good money. That’s what most people spend their whole career trying to do.
I left a very similar firm less than a year ago to go to a boutique firm. Just my opinion - but “upper mid-law” firms tend to be pretty bad value props. The pay bump from a smaller firm tends not to match the workload increase, and the paycut from big law tends to be significantly more than the hours difference.
If you’re comfortable you’re comfortable - but generally midlaw is not going to be an optimal outcome
Thanks, P1! I like the advice and encouragement
I strongly disagree with the "stay" folks. Ive worked in big law and midlaw and big law is significantly better. Work is more interesting, better exit opportunities, and way better pay. I work more in big law but not significantly more.
Thanks, A2. This is where my mind is at as well but I am looking for the “stay” perspective
If you are ready to work harder than you currently are, then accept the job offer. Keep in mind that this will bring new challenges, "good ones and uggly ones". I personally would not trade my happiness and comfort for more money, is not worth it at all, but follow your dreams!
Thanks for weighing in. The money is significant. Life changing in ways…
Midlaw is tough because the value proposition for clients and attorneys is questionable. As an attorney, unless you need the footprint of that particular firm, a boutique firm probably has lower overhead, less conflicts, less bureaucracy and can easily serve most clients that end up at midlaw. If you need a large platform and have clients that will pay biglaw rates, then it makes sense to step up to biglaw. Assuming you have your own book of business, I would make the decision to move based on my client base. If you have no book of business, biglaw is unlikely to help you build one. You, like the vast majority of attorneys, may wash out of biglaw in a few years with no foundation on which to build other than a name on the resume. If you were straight out of law school, I would recommend biglaw. If you are years out, I wouldn't recommend it. This is from someone who did biglaw, largish midlaw or smallish biglaw, and has now been at a boutique firm for a long time.
Agree with this. You need to look carefully at the big law firm and see what happens to super seniors with no books (or prospects of books). Do they hang around forever in of counsel positions? Do they get pushed out? Do they become service partners? If of counsel or service partners, how are they treated? I don’t think having three years of big law and no book makes you a more attractive partner lateral, especially if there’s a chance of building a book/taking over clients at your current firm. A book is really the game now, not so much the name on the letterhead, so if you have a shot at building a book where you are, that might be the better long-term play, even if you do eventually leave.
Being happy and comfortable is luxury in legal career!
Stay unless you are really craving change & challenge
Stay stay STAYYYYYY
AA, just poke around other threads in the Big Law fish bowl and you’ll see how unhappy people are. Many can agree that, at SOME point, the money is NOT worth it. I am one of those people. They will abuse you and WILL get away with it. The level of gaslighting, control, manipulation, and power they can have over you is insane. Not ALL teams are this way, but most are. And you won’t know until you do it. Assuming you’re one of the unlucky ones, you’d likely be asking for your old job back with 6 months
Make the jump, but do it on the best terms possible and keep the door open so that in a year or two, you could return to your happy place.
If you have student loans to pay off, make the jump. I did last year and have already paid off more than half of my loans. Love the people i work with now more than at the mid-size firm. Way more complex litigation that challenges me.
Stay - the future means more hours, more hours means more time away from whatever makes you happy. More money is not worth it. Also, regardless of the minimum number of billable hours - you need to ask what the average number of billable hours people billed.