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I’m down bad
Bowl Leader
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Subject Expert
I need a fat Diet Coke and a Xanax stat
What class years do you consider midlevel? 3-4?
Mentor
Mentor
I’m down bad
Bowl Leader
Subject Expert
I need a fat Diet Coke and a Xanax stat
What class years do you consider midlevel? 3-4?
Mentor
Mentor
Subject Expert
We definitely complain more than most 😂
Thinking back to my jobs before law school, I probably only did 3-5 hours of “billable” work a day, at most. There’s also no way to compare the stress of being on call 24/7.
Community Builder
This is a weird take, but I think yes and no. Yes in the sense that we are never "closed" and we juggle numerous clients simultaneously. So closing one deal/case usually doesn't mean anything if another one blows up right after. No in the sense that many of us may have periods of down time where we are essentially working 1/3 or 1/2 days. Which could of course be followed up with an 80 hour week. For me, it's the never being able to turn off email/reachability that did me in :/
Mentor
My brother is in IT. He spent a “working week” at my house earlier this month. He is fully remote—logs on at 830am and is off by 4:30 pm. He has no work email on his phone & there is no expectation for him to work (ever) beyond 4:30pm. I would say he did about 2 hours a day of actual work. It was mind blowing…
Total stress free job. The backside is that his earning potential caps out at like $150k for the job he is in now. So, as with everything in life, there are trade offs.
Work 10-30 hours a week and get $150k? If he is in a dual-income household, sounds like an amazing life. Still awesome if not in a HCOL city.
Based on most of the posts here and elsewhere I assume big law associates work more than other professions even at a high level. I mean people post here constantly about working into the middle of the night or logging back on at 10pm. Like holy crap.
It’s honestly the thing that makes me wonder if the money is worth it for y’all. Some of the posts here plainly suggest that some big law associates are essentially on call 24/7 which is insane.
Yes, I think we assume most people work 9-5 and they poop rainbows and ride unicorns to work.
Reality is that any high-level career requires a lot. I’ve got close friends in IB, consulting and medicine. My IB friends work more than me and seem more stressed and are treated poorly, my consulting friends work probably less overall hours, but they spend a lot of time traveling and leave their families for the week to stay in a hotel in Toledo. My doctor friends make our debt look like a rounding error and they are in their thirties before they start making money.
From looking at what those folks deal with, one of the most underrated parts of biglaw is the autonomy. I don’t have to show up if I’m not busy. I can work from home or from Hawaii if I want to. If my son wants to go to the museum, I can take the afternoon off and work in the evening and night (barring a signing or closing).
The two things though that are rough about biglaw are billing time and the right exit options can be hard to find. My IB and consulting friends do have some pretty cool exit options.
I think it varies. My software engineering friends (at FAANG) tell me they do actual work for maybe 25 hours a week. Their compensation (5-6 years out of college) is 400k+ when you count stock options and bonus. My IB friends work 70-80 hours, with a lot of these being late night calls and compensation comparable/slightly above biglaw.
Enthusiast
Probably. https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/area/department/cdo/document/billable_hour.pdf
Subject Expert
LMAO working only 47 weeks.
Subject Expert
We don’t work more (and probably work less) than other jobs with similar maximum earning potential.
Subject Expert
That’s why I said at the same earning potential. No one is making millions (or even 500k) in any field working 9-5. And I’ll take my hours all day every day over what I’ve seen in IB, many medical specialties, etc.
Most jobs with high earning potential take their time toll and can be similar to big law (if you’re a at a firm with reasonable demands). One of my best friends is an engineer and regularly works nights and weekends. People I know who are accountants and consultants, same deal. Pharmacists, even! Personally, I’m at a firm that I feel is supportive of me and even though I log on on weekends sometimes I don’t think it’s out of the norm in my friend group.