Working in Biglaw has a lot of perks. As this website has discussed at length, Biglaw associates make insane sums of money, and this usually empowers attorneys at Biglaw firms to pay off their student loans in a relatively brief amount of time. In addition, associates in Biglaw can usually use their experiences at a top shop to obtain all kinds of employment once they decide to stop working at a top firm.
However, in some instances, working in Biglaw can be a liability when searching for certain types of jobs. Sure, if you want to secure a top government position or land a job in-house, then working in Biglaw can be an important credential to possess. However, if you want to move into other parts of the legal profession, working in Biglaw can present a number of issues.
As mentioned in a few prior articles, I worked in Biglaw for a little over a year during my student debt repayment saga. I was a litigation associate at a top firm, but I definitely was not a litigator. During my year or so in Biglaw, I hardly ever entered a courtroom. I never argued a motion, never did any type of trial work, and I never obtained hands-on experience litigating cases. In addition, I never took a deposition during my year or so in Biglaw, nor did I have any interactions with clients.
Rather, I spent most of my time in Biglaw conducting doc review and writing research memos. The most important brief I ever wholly wrote in Biglaw was for a pro hac vice motion! I usually just wrote smaller sections of briefs, and I never had any input on the arguments that were made. While conducting document review, I usually just had to decide if materials were privileged and whether documents were responsive to subpoenas. It was easy work to complete, but document review taught me little about what it’s like to be a litigator.
As a litigation associate in Biglaw, I worked on several multimillion-dollar and a few multibillion-dollar matters. If there was a motion to argue, even on the smallest issue, the top brass would go to court to argue it. Since the cases we worked on were so large, and opportunities to go to court were so rare, I never did any meaningful hands-on litigation tasks. There were times when I helped with pro bono matters, and I was able to go to court and interact with clients in these few instances. However, the pro bono issues I dealt with were unrelated to anything I worked on regularly as an associate in Biglaw.
After leaving Biglaw, I was determined that I would find a job that allowed me to actually litigate cases. I wanted a gig that would enable me to appear in court frequently and argue motions on a wide variety of issues. I also wanted a job that would allow me to take and defend depositions on at least a monthly basis so that I could practice this essential litigation skill. I did not care if I had to take a pay cut to work a job that would provide me with the chance to hone my litigation skills. Of course, I had a large amount of student debt when I left Biglaw, but I figured that I could work part-time jobs to supplement my income while I worked a gig that would allow me to develop litigation skills.
I had a very difficult time getting hired by a smaller firm that would allow me to actually litigate cases. Many firms did not like the fact that I never made court appearances or took depositions as an associate in Biglaw. Even though I made critical contributions to some important cases, many firms could not get past the fact that in Biglaw, I wrote memos instead of actually litigating matters. And I don’t blame these firms! Even though I worked at a top Biglaw shop, any smaller firm that hired me would have to train me on how to litigate cases, since I did not learn these skills at my Biglaw gig.
Another reason why many litigation firms did not want to hire me was because of how much money I made in Biglaw. Many smaller litigation shops only pay associates half or less the salary that associates in Biglaw earn. It is difficult to convince partners at many litigation shops that you would be satisfied earning less money than you did in Biglaw. There is typically much turnover at smaller shops, and the brass at smaller firms want to make sure that you won’t just gain experience at their firm for a year or so before looking for more lucrative work.
All told, I was much happier as a “street lawyer” actually litigating cases than I ever was at a Biglaw. At my first gig after leaving a Biglaw, I managed 44 cases, including class actions, commercial matters, and many other types of lawsuits. While employed at this smaller firm, I attended hundreds of court appearances, argued dozens of motions, and took numerous depositions. This gig taught me litigation skills I could never acquire in Biglaw, and I was happy that I convinced a firm to excuse my lack of litigation experience when deciding to hire me.
In the end, there are some areas of the legal profession that you may have difficulty entering if you worked in Biglaw. Indeed, if you want to litigate cases and work at a smaller firm, it might be difficult to demonstrate that you have the skills and drive necessary to succeed at a smaller litigation shop. However, if you are truthful about your desire to work at a smaller firm, and if you do everything you can to gain practical skills in Biglaw (usually by completing pro bono work), you will have the best shot at making a change in your career.
Jordan Rothman is the founder of Student Debt Diaries, a personal finance website discussing how he paid off all $197,890.20 of his college and law school student loans over 46 months of his late 20s. You can reach him at Jordan@studentdebtdiaries.com.
Working In Biglaw Can Hurt Your Future Job Prospects curated from Above the Law
No comments:
Post a Comment