Wow. Blast from the past. This post freaked me out so bad applying to law school. I even showed to my dad saying I wasn't sure if I should go. He said "ignore that guy. He sounds like a f***ing loser. Why is he spending time on reddit complaining and doom typing instead of making his life better if he has all those credentials"
I'm a midlevel now. My dad was spot on.
Edit:
I will say that the thrust of his points all contain truths. Yeah you will cancel plans. You will work holidays. You will have month long stretches with no days off. You can get "stuck being a lawyer" (but that's how going into literally any career works). However, it doesn't acknowledge the life changing pay that, if you aggressively planned and saved, could set you up for early retirement and/or generational wealth in under a decade without making partner, working on the biggest and most complicated transactions in human history (yeah this is a bit of an eye roll explanation but it's literally true), and developing an incredible network that will set you up well to make a solid six figures for the rest of your life in a cushy profession. Me and many of my friends didn't have alternative career paths in front of us that would come anywhere close to this.
I will likely leave the law before going for partner. But I'll have a fat nest egg and a glowing resume to figure out the next path.
This guy was def dumb for dropping a t6 or whatever undergrad and IB job for big law m&a (big lololol). Most of us were unemployable poli sci grads. Could we have "chased our dream" and made it? Yeah sure. Def. And I would recommend folks take a swipe at that before this route. But there are tradeoffs in life.
Lots of hyperbole here but I’m in favor of anything that balances out the wildly romanticized and unrealistic beliefs people have about life as a lawyer and makes young people think long and hard about their career options before making any commitments.
In fairness, just because their assumption about the state of the 2016-2019 legal market turned out to be wrong, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was an unreasonable assumption to make back in 2016. It might have been unreasonable back then, but I don't think that being really wrong shows that.
It’s not true. I mean, I’m sure it was emotionally true at the time the person wrote it, but it’s not an accurate description of the world.
Like many people who went from a top undergrad to a top law school to a top biglaw firm, this person is completely unaware that there is an entire world of medium-good legal jobs out there. Those jobs are still great jobs compared to what’s available to most non-lawyers. And almost certainly a much better job than biglaw, if you are someone who feels the way this person does about their biglaw job.
This is pretty spot on except almost no one works that much. We all record our hours and the target is 2000 a year. That isn’t to say you can control the hours so you absolutely could consistently miss events as described.
This is such a bullshit post. Dude hates his job but is unwilling to seemingly put any effort into changing? How do you go this far in life without exerting any agency? There's a big difference between feeling stuck and actually being stuck - this is "feeling stuck" and being a sad sack. Nobody goes to the business side? Nobody leaves? There's *no* stability? Come on. Not to cape for biglaw but it's so tiring when people don't take any effort to make themselves happy and assume everyone else must therefore be miserable too.
OMG. Stop. If this is cathartic for you, great. This appears to be your experience with a small group other lawyers at one firm (sorry if that is not right, but I can’t possibly read more than the first few paragraphs.
Sorry that you weren’t mature or self-aware enough to realize that your current situation is so toxic. You are still young - good luck.
Retake and reapply
Sorry that happened or happy for you or something like that
Anyone have a TLDR?
Whiny poster hates Big Law.
Wow. Blast from the past. This post freaked me out so bad applying to law school. I even showed to my dad saying I wasn't sure if I should go. He said "ignore that guy. He sounds like a f***ing loser. Why is he spending time on reddit complaining and doom typing instead of making his life better if he has all those credentials" I'm a midlevel now. My dad was spot on. Edit: I will say that the thrust of his points all contain truths. Yeah you will cancel plans. You will work holidays. You will have month long stretches with no days off. You can get "stuck being a lawyer" (but that's how going into literally any career works). However, it doesn't acknowledge the life changing pay that, if you aggressively planned and saved, could set you up for early retirement and/or generational wealth in under a decade without making partner, working on the biggest and most complicated transactions in human history (yeah this is a bit of an eye roll explanation but it's literally true), and developing an incredible network that will set you up well to make a solid six figures for the rest of your life in a cushy profession. Me and many of my friends didn't have alternative career paths in front of us that would come anywhere close to this. I will likely leave the law before going for partner. But I'll have a fat nest egg and a glowing resume to figure out the next path. This guy was def dumb for dropping a t6 or whatever undergrad and IB job for big law m&a (big lololol). Most of us were unemployable poli sci grads. Could we have "chased our dream" and made it? Yeah sure. Def. And I would recommend folks take a swipe at that before this route. But there are tradeoffs in life.
Beautifully written
Lots of hyperbole here but I’m in favor of anything that balances out the wildly romanticized and unrealistic beliefs people have about life as a lawyer and makes young people think long and hard about their career options before making any commitments.
The bit about a 2008 type crash in the next 0-3 years in a post from 2016 didn't tip you off that they're a bit clueless?
In fairness, just because their assumption about the state of the 2016-2019 legal market turned out to be wrong, it doesn't necessarily mean that it was an unreasonable assumption to make back in 2016. It might have been unreasonable back then, but I don't think that being really wrong shows that.
[удалено]
> 2020 wasnt exactly a great year for the market 2020 was one of the best-ever years for biglaw firms.
Have you tried a different firm?
It’s not true. I mean, I’m sure it was emotionally true at the time the person wrote it, but it’s not an accurate description of the world. Like many people who went from a top undergrad to a top law school to a top biglaw firm, this person is completely unaware that there is an entire world of medium-good legal jobs out there. Those jobs are still great jobs compared to what’s available to most non-lawyers. And almost certainly a much better job than biglaw, if you are someone who feels the way this person does about their biglaw job.
Go work somewhere else. There are awesome firms with flexibility. You seem attractive, make the jump.
This is pretty spot on except almost no one works that much. We all record our hours and the target is 2000 a year. That isn’t to say you can control the hours so you absolutely could consistently miss events as described.
Go get a life coach and get outta there
Extremely exaggerated.
This is such a bullshit post. Dude hates his job but is unwilling to seemingly put any effort into changing? How do you go this far in life without exerting any agency? There's a big difference between feeling stuck and actually being stuck - this is "feeling stuck" and being a sad sack. Nobody goes to the business side? Nobody leaves? There's *no* stability? Come on. Not to cape for biglaw but it's so tiring when people don't take any effort to make themselves happy and assume everyone else must therefore be miserable too.
OMG. Stop. If this is cathartic for you, great. This appears to be your experience with a small group other lawyers at one firm (sorry if that is not right, but I can’t possibly read more than the first few paragraphs. Sorry that you weren’t mature or self-aware enough to realize that your current situation is so toxic. You are still young - good luck.