u/Exact-Departure-1100

Hi All,

I recognize that the r/biglaw thread has become a pretty rough place for you to pose your questions now. in light of that, i'd be happy to share any and all insights that I could provide about trying to get a biglaw job from a target, or even non-target school.

Context: i am a junior associate at a v5 that graduated from a regional T130 last May. To the extent that i can answer anything that you would be hesitant to post, please feel free to PM me.

I'm (KJD 26M) about to hit my second year of practice and after a very confusing, difficult, rewarding(?), and eye-opening introduction to having a career, living far from home, and starting to pave a way for myself, I would like to hear some advice from those with more experience (life, work, emotional, etc.) than me.

I have had a really weird experience thus far and through all the ups and downs of acclimating to having a job, I'm not sure if I'm having a quarter-life crisis, if I'm just being introspective, or if this is just a weird Sunday.

I'm grateful to work in a sought-after, mentally stimulating, and secure profession that will provide me (and hopefully a family one day) with all the resources I need to do anything I want in life, but I'm sort of struggling to acclimate to working life and accepting that this model is my new normal for a while. I'm not saying I want to run away and start homesteading but I am trying to figure out how to navigate this path that I've committed to. I'm very invested in developing my career at this point of my life but I am also really starting to think about starting a family/how to even go about that, both of which are things I have never even attempted before, and I feel really confused about the decisions i'm making right now.

• What are some things you wish you could have told yourself when you were a rising second year or just at a similar point in life in general?
• What are some realizations you've had as you've developed through this profession? (about your plans, your life, your world-view, your job, etc.)
• What are some of the unexpected ways that life has made you change your perspective since this job? Do you resent/appreciate any of these changes?
• Do you have any particular observations about yourself that you wish you could have addressed / shared with a younger version of yourself?

Thank you in advance.