Choosing Big Law

Keeping on the #biglaw adjacent topics this week:

People often go into big law without any sense of skepticism or having eyes wide open.

Because it was pushed on them for doing well or because of the prestige.

That leads to misery. It would in any job.

I didn’t get one OCI in law school because they found a blog post where I said I was skeptical of big law.

My response? Then I don’t want to work there because you should be skeptical.

The pay is great. But, with that comes high expectations and the #billablehour. And having many, sometimes wildly different bosses.

For me, clerking gave me more time to think about it and talk to people and decide I really wanted to give it a try.

Now? It’s all I’ve ever known and only one year (of 7) has been rough—a pretty good average I’d say.

If you’re thinking about it, take advantage of summer programs if you can and learn as much as you can during it—especially the culture, peoples’ lifestyles, the type of work, the written and unwritten expectations.

If a summer program isn’t in the path, ask as many people you can who are practicing in big law.

I’m always happy to be one of them.

#lawyerwellbeing #work #people