So You're Going to be a Lawyer...
I didn't want to detract from the 0L thread, but it seems to have settled down somewhat (my 2 cents for 1Ls-to-be: don't worry about it).
Well, I finished my first week at a law firm. I did something else last summer, so it's all pretty new to me. I should preface this by saying that I'm a person who went to law school by process of elimination. Honestly, I never really wanted to be a lawyer, by which I mean I never REALLY WANTED it, but I did eventually decide it might be okay. What I didn't decide would be okay was a career as an S.F. or S.V. lawyer working 80-hour weeks. I'm just not that ambitious. So I took a job in a mellower market this summer, and I've got to say....this place is pretty sweet.
Is my firm special? I don't really know. It seems like everyone everywhere thinks their firm is special, especially in the wining and dining days of summer. But these lawyers either love their jobs and really like one another or they're doing an excellent job of fooling me about it. The best part is that they all leave around 5pm. In their BMWs. It's still work, of course, and as I try to outlast most of the lawyers, the workdays can get a little long for my taste. But I've never had a workday go by faster than the ones this past week.
I'm not trying to brag about how great my summer is going to be. That would be obnoxious, and thus utterly unlike me. I'm just trying to process how I'm feeling: that I might actually be comfortable doing this for the long term. It's a surprising result, given the fact that I decided to do firm work this summer with the mind-set of ruling it out. Maybe I'm just finally starting to grow up.
Well, I finished my first week at a law firm. I did something else last summer, so it's all pretty new to me. I should preface this by saying that I'm a person who went to law school by process of elimination. Honestly, I never really wanted to be a lawyer, by which I mean I never REALLY WANTED it, but I did eventually decide it might be okay. What I didn't decide would be okay was a career as an S.F. or S.V. lawyer working 80-hour weeks. I'm just not that ambitious. So I took a job in a mellower market this summer, and I've got to say....this place is pretty sweet.
Is my firm special? I don't really know. It seems like everyone everywhere thinks their firm is special, especially in the wining and dining days of summer. But these lawyers either love their jobs and really like one another or they're doing an excellent job of fooling me about it. The best part is that they all leave around 5pm. In their BMWs. It's still work, of course, and as I try to outlast most of the lawyers, the workdays can get a little long for my taste. But I've never had a workday go by faster than the ones this past week.
I'm not trying to brag about how great my summer is going to be. That would be obnoxious, and thus utterly unlike me. I'm just trying to process how I'm feeling: that I might actually be comfortable doing this for the long term. It's a surprising result, given the fact that I decided to do firm work this summer with the mind-set of ruling it out. Maybe I'm just finally starting to grow up.
Labels: OCIP/Employment
posted by Mad.J.D. at 11:26 AM
8 Comments:
I have a really great deal on a bridge. It looks like you might be interested...
Do they own those BMWs or does the finance company own them?
What firm is this???? At least describe size, type of legal work, city...
They may leave at 5 pm but what you really want to know is whether they take work with them home.
Is Mad JD shorthand for Mitch McDeere? Is the firm called Bendini, Lambert and Locke? Is Gene Hackman your supervising partner?
"junior corporate associate" is legalese for over-glorified copy editor. at least it pays well. i can't think of many other jobs where you get 10% pay raises annually.
I don't know if they own the BMWs, but the pay is pretty good. Not quite S.F. good, but still a ridiculous amount for some dumb kid like me. I don't want to post the name of the firm, but it has 26 partners and 19 associates between two cities outside of CA, two-thirds of which are in the office I'm at (in a small western city). The rest are in an office in another city of about 1 million people.
From what I hear, there's not a lot of people taking work home, and the litigators really do leave at 5. I'm sure it's a different story during trials. The transactional attorneys stay longer, usually leaving between 6 and 7, but they're the ones who seem to enjoy their jobs the most.
As for the work itself, probably two-thirds is general civil lit (which I have no interest in) and the rest is real estate transactions, estate planning, general business law, and the like.
The downside is that they by no means make automatic offers to summer associates, so I'm doing my best to impress. Wish me luck-- Maybe I'll buy that bridge yet.
And I did not have a one-night-stand in the Bahamas.
Are you at Anonymous Law Firm LLP?
http://www.anonymouslawfirm.com/
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