The other day I had a dream that I got an offer from a top v10 law firm. I became so emotional that I actually woke up with tears of joy. To many of us, Big Law in New York is a dream…

likefunny
Posting as :
works at
You are currently posting as works at
Highlighted IconHIGHLIGHTED

Trust me, you are lucky you aren’t at an NYC V10. That will take years off of your life.

like

Just billed 30 hrs over the last three days. Going in-house. You can have my spot. 😈

likefunny

Ooph. My bad. That’s terrible. I have a 14 hour a day once a week, but anything over 70 billable hours a week is totally brutal.

like
Recent IconRecent

*54,302 disaffected NYC Biglaw associates have entered the chat*

likefunny

A dream that you never wake up from

likefunny

Then make it a reality. Market is crazy right now so those who may not have been able to access prior … well different story now. I have seen this type of scenario throughout my career. Depending on what u do, a specialty will be overwhelmed with need and all of a sudden C students are in. The difference today is I have never seen a need so great across so many disciplines. The opportunity is there. What u do with it is up to u. Stop dreaming.

like

I’ve been hearing this, yet still don’t gain traction :/

What type of firm are you at now and what is it about a V10 that you are looking for?

likesmart

Yea, please let us know, OP. Plenty here are happy to help! And you might even be helping them, referral bonuses being what they are now.

like

OP, I hear ya. I know you won’t listen to me, but hear me out. I had a job making 35k right out of undergrad. I did it for three years. I decided to go to law school and dreamed of making $160k as a starting salary (which is now $205k). My 1L grades were middle of the pack at a T25 and I completely struck out at OCI. I worked for a mediocre firm in a mediocre town my 2L summer. I crushed it 2L and 3L and was able to get a job as a staff attorney at an AmLaw100 firm. Got promoted to Associate after a year and a half and lateraled to a V10 in NY after four years. Been here for almost a year and I’m absolutely miserable. The money means nothing to me because I have no time or energy to have fun with it. Knowing what I know now, there’s no amount of money that would make me do it all over again if I had a choice.

like

Senior counsel. They do what they’re good at, are paid well, can usually push down work to associates, and don’t have to deal with client development or admin work. Of course, they could be pushed out if things take a turn, but I haven’t seen that happen unless the senior counsel is not very good or not hitting their hours.

Why is it a dream? It’s a nightmare I would say

like

Luckily, science teaches us that nightmares are simply a type of dream!

likefunny

Honestly, if all hiring decisions were up to me, I’d hire someone who dreamed to work in biglaw over someone who was more qualified to work in biglaw. I was in a similar boat — much less qualified than most candidates they talked to and hired but I really really wanted it and now I’ve been here 4 years and am one of the few left from my starting class. So much of this job is dependent on work ethic and drive rather than intelligence (though not saying you can be dumb as a rock obviously), but the ones that truly feel lucky to have the job and they want to take advantage of an opportunity they’ve been given to learn as much as they can, are the ones who I think succeed in the long term and don’t burnout along the way.

like

Working with an entitled rich kid now and I already want to fire him. 😭

like

LOL this made me laugh for the first time today on my 14th hr mark.

likefunny

Better to see it as a reminder that your worst day is somebody else’s moonshot. It’s actually pretty humbling.

likeuplifting

There’ll be tears all right..

likefunny

I went to big law for the money, hoping I will last 3-5y. Over 5y later still here. I’m talking about leaving since y2. It’s a trap in a way, golden cage. Big majority of big law lawyers I speak to aren’t happy and have big plans to leave. But it’s really hard to actually do it and leave. Our livestyle makes no sense to non-lawyers looking in. We pride ourselves with huge billables, saying that 10h/day is standard. We are trully a pathetic bunch. We have no hobbies and don’t even know who we are outside of work.

like

In my case, I love both the money and my practice. I’m angling for a counsel position so I don’t have to bear the scarlet letter of being a 12th year associate. 😛

like

Have at it. Seriously. If you are into that, go get it.

like

Aw, OP, I hope you achieve your dream!

like

Awww OP. I hope you find something better than the hell that is NY big law!

like

Nightmares are also dreams.

like

Lol.

like

OP aka Partner - your trick won’t work, we know it is you 😑

like

I’m with you OP. I went to a regional school and somehow managed to land a gig at a fed agency in DC. I dream of the day the I finally land that V10 gig.

like

I’m trying hard to go in house. You can only do this job so long

like

Related Posts

What’s the likelihood of a 1st year commercial litigation associate transferring to corporate, hopefully tech transactions and privacy?

like

Are any top consulting firms hiring for experienced analysts currently? I know ACN and some others are cyclical for resources 2-3 years out of college, but I’m looking to make a move sooner than fall

like

I am over five weeks into pregnancy and have no pregnancy symptoms. Should I start getting worried and plan to take more pregnancy tests?

like

Hi all, does anyone have insight into the compensation packages and structure for account executives?

like

Openings for below profiles at EY:
-Manual and automated testing. (Angular, java)
-IT PM.

Both upto 4 years experience. Dm for direct referral.

like

Hello

What is an approximate salary for a Salesforce Developer with 3 years of experience?

I need to vent.

We've had a bunch of customer reports of some text having the same color as the background on some products when the user is configured in X mode. They were totally right. I created a task to change the background color to something more appropriate. I thought it would be trivial, so I assigned it to a junior.

It's taken them 2 weeks to complete. We're still getting customer complaints about it. No one can explain why it took 2 weeks to complete.

Ugh.

likehelpful

Are there companies that would pay for a masters degree for a current employee?

like

Is it possible to get a remote job in the US but be based in Canada? Not sure of the legalities but the salaries here are much lower than those in the US...

like

Any .Net developer is there in FIS Global ?
Please DM ,need to know some details .

FIS Global vs IBM
Which one to choose as .NET DEVELOPER ?

TODAY IS LWD

like

Hello everyone,
Please help me with 11 likes, so that I can communicate for refferal.

Thanks!

likesmart

Has anybody given Dunzo SDET-ll Interview recently?

like

Dm for referral in Nagarro. There are currently many open positions related to Java, .Net fullstack roles and filling in faster. Have a look at the Java openings:

Post Photo
like

Are you a business strategist? Excellent track record helping startups determine biz strategy, market position, channel, etc? And independent contractor, or know where to find such people? Message me.

like

Is you firm hiring for strategy/CDD roles??

like

MBA admit here and have to put down a deposit soon, having serious cold feet right now due to the covid situation and potentially having to start virtually. Would love any perspective on how it's been particularly socially and what your schools' outlook on the fall is

like

How to deal with post-breakup guilt? A few months ago I broke up with my college boyfriend of 2.5 years. We had plans to move to a new city together and get married. But as reality set in, I realized I didn’t want to spend my life with him. TLDR; He really let himself go, had no interest in things I found fun, was uncompromising, had a terrible work ethic, delusions of grandeur, unrealistic goals that he put zero effort towards, etc. At the time of the break up his inability to get a job (cont.)

like

Any tips for first time young lions competition entrants?

like

Any one from john deere pune?

like

Additional Posts in Big Law

Did anyone else get their confidence absolutely rocked by TLS when considering law school?

likefunny

Who here wakes up and is excited to go back to work? Not me… Sometimes I wonder if it’s burnout or if I’m just lazy.

like

What's your biggest struggle as a junior lawyer?

like

Does anyone have any insight into billable hours and associate salaries at Ballard Spahr in Minneapolis?

like

Are there any midlaw firms/lower AM laws where average billable requirement is generally lower? And associates are actually working those hours and not an absurd amount more? Corporate m/a practice.

like

Me: Once I hit a slow period, I’m gonna get caught up on my backlog of substantive and admin tasks so that I’m not so overwhelmed and disorganized once the pace picks back up.

Also me: Wow, my work finally slowed down! … hey, where did all my motivation to get caught up go?…

Also also me: I’ve had three slow days and haven’t used that time wisely, so maybe I should ask for more work!

likefunny

At what year do associates get windowed single person offices at your firm? What city?

like

Thoughts on lateraling to Quinn Emanuel as a 3rd year?

like

Anyone else just feeling impatient and frustrated? I am having a particularly challenging week and find myself indiscriminately having a short fuse lately - mostly with partners that are making my life miserable.

How do you all cope with exhaustion induced anger?

like

Highly Important Question: Puppies. I’ve been working at a smaller firm for the past 2 years and will be starting at a bigger firm (about 400 attorneys) in about a month or so. New firm is about 10 mins. from my house and has a billable requirement of at least 1,650. I’ve got an older pup and have been considering getting a younger pup to be his little brother for a while. Any experiences with having a puppy in mid-size law? Shouldn’t be as bad as “big law” but just wanted to hear thoughts.

like

What are things you wish you would have known in law school or as a baby atty or lessons you learned the hard way in biglaw?

like

How many emails in one day do you consider a lot? I am getting wiped out just from email management and not even getting to the actual work (drafting docs, etc)

like

What’s your firm’s policy on being able to expense meals (e.g., after a certain time of day or after a certain number of billable hours)?

like

I have “unlimited vacation” at my firm. How much vacation/PTO is given at big law firms that don’t have unlimited?

like

Any insight into compensation / quality of life at Headspace?

like

Anybody here know starting salary for a second year attorney at Ogletree Deakins and/or Fisher Phillips in their LA or SF offices?

like

Mid level in M&A. On track for 1500. I have good reviews but really worried no one is staffing me. Start looking or wait to get fired/severance and then start looking?

like

Best recruiter for restructuring?

Another day, another "you suck" rejection email 🙄

likehelpful

What do I say on the state bar website when they ask me to confirm IOLTA information? I was never given any details regarding this.

like

New to Fishbowl?

Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
That was just a preview…
Sign Up to see all discussions
  • Discover what it’s like to work at companies from real professionals
  • Get candid advice from people in your field in a safe space
  • Chat and network with other professionals in your field