r/biglaw

I’m a first year in a V10 biglaw corporate practice. We have a centralized staffing system and no billable hours requirement. I didn’t get much work earlier this year until April and May. I was supposed to have three closings in May, which would probably give me 200-300 hours. But I had an accident earlier this month and had to take a one-month medical leave/short term disability leave. I saw layoff posts in biglaw on reddit and I feel worried. I’m scared that my medical leave would cause low hours. Is it possible that a first year gets fired due to low hours? 

That's probably the last step before they take over.

I submitted a questionnaire to my firm (I am incoming 1st year) where I selected the one of three available start dates. I selected the September option rather than August or October.

I have now had some things pop up including health concerns I need to address and family issues that I would like to have fully resolved before starting work. My concern is that the nature of the issues may require I take time off almost right away if I start in September (due to appointment scheduling and expected event timelines). Is it acceptable to reach out to request I push my date to the October one?

I do not want to be problematic or give off a bad impression before even arriving. If asking to push the date would be a bad look or a big no-no, I would 100% opt to start when I told them and just figure out everything else afterwards.

But on the other hand, I think the October date will provide a significantly better likelihood of everything else having been dealt with so that I can avoid starting only to then need to go OOO right out of the gate.

I am just not sure which option would be worse and I do not want to start off on a bad note (whether that be by asking to start later or by starting and then needing time off).

How busy are yall??

hearing horror stories abt how competitive clerkships are.

does shooting for a bankruptcy/tax judge make it any easier to get the clerkship? im assuming id have to apply only to those practice areas afterwards but thats fine.

what i know now is that certain districts are more desirable than others for big-law related practice (nyc, Delaware, texas). is there any disadvantage/things to think abt before/during a non-article III clerkship? is being in a more consumer based district a waste and wont help me land a big law job? any thoughts appreciated.

Lateralled about 2 months ago and my former Head of Practice has just messaged asking if I’d like to catch up. We weren’t particularly close and didn’t socialise outside of work, so I’m not sure what to make of it. Has anyone else had this happen? Did you go, and was it worth it? Not sure whether to read into it or just take it at face value.

I’m a second-year associate based in NYC. I was let go completely out of nowhere. No PIP. No warning. No bad reviews. No “we need to talk about your performance.” Nothing.

My billables were low, but that is what’s difficult to comprehend. There was not enough work from the VERY first month I started. I was constantly asking partners for more work, almost obsessively. I kept checking in, asking to be staffed, asking what else I could do, and I was repeatedly reassured that my billables would not be an issue.

Then, I scheduled a meeting to talk about how to ramp up my hours going into my second year. That was the purpose of the meeting, again, that I set up and scheduled. I thought we were going to talk through staffing, workflow, maybe how to be more proactive. Instead, I walked in and got handed a termination letter.

I am trying to figure out if this is happening to other juniors. On top of this, the lateral market has been brutal. Most postings want someone more senior. I’ve been denied from over 30 firms. I’m not entry-level anymore, but I’m also not the 3rd/4th year firms seem to want. So I’m stuck trying to explain a gap caused by low workflow at a firm that told me not to worry about my hours until the day they fired me.

Has anyone else dealt with this recently? Especially corporate/transactional juniors in BigLaw.

Just started as a SA. Everyone seems genuinely nice.

But I keep hearing that biglaw is cutthroat and people will stab you in the back.

What does the ruthlessness actually look like in biglaw between colleagues? What are the stories?

I am counsel at a top 15 law firm in the US. I have been at the firm for over 12 years (promoted to counsel, but not partner). Can I still make partner?

it can be so awkward getting to a fancy place that has nothing but bread that I can eat. it’s great if someone asks about dietary stuff ahead of time but they often don’t and they reserve French and/or steak places that are very butter forward.

my tactic is to scope the menu ahead of time and if there appears to be no options (more common at these high end places than normal restaurants sometimes…), I send a discreet email to the restaurant to see if they can accommodate. if i sit there with no food and a glass of wine, I’m fine honestly but other people dont love it :)

anyone else have suggestions ? i dont want to put attention on myself for a BD event but it can be hard to do this subtly

Welp. Title says it all. I was away from work for a while, did some contract work that's coming to an end, and the hunt for the next legal role is going nowhere - feeling pretty washed up and a far cry from my previous biglaw roles. Wonder if anyone here has ever been in this position or saw others in this position - could use either a dose of hope or a reality check.

Had a call with section leader yesterday about having low hours (which I do have). I told them I’ll work on getting more hours, but left the call on a positive note overall. Is this a PIP? I can’t tell.

I get so many emails from recruiters that say something along the lines of, “I’m a recruiter at X recruiting firm and I work with national firms. Would you be interested in exploring other opportunities?”

That gives me absolutely nothing to distinguish you from the other five-to-ten identical messages I receive on a weekly basis. I will never respond to that kind of message, and I doubt many others would either.

If you want a response, you either need to list specific job openings you’re trying to fill, explain why your specific experience lines up with my profile (Are you an alum of my firm or have you placed alums elsewhere? Do you primarily work with former judicial clerks?), or something else that makes working with you make any more sense than picking a name out of a hat.

What’s the general consensus on lawyers that have lateraled back to their old firms? Is it seen as a negative thing?

For context, I am a 3rd year capital markets associate who lateraled 9 months ago. I want to lateral back to my old firm, given that my old group offered better deal exposure and learning opportunities. Ideally, I’d like to go in-house one day, but I feel like I need a few more years of law firm experience before making that transition. I left on good terms with my old group, and I was told that I am welcome back. However, I am also worried that I may be shooting myself in the foot if I lateral back. I don’t want to look like a flight risk when it comes to pursuing opportunities in the future.

The discussion in the Fish in Office : r/biglaw thread started me thinking of potential large firm mergers just for the name:

White & Brown

Pillsbury Baker

Bass Berry + Fish Richardson = Bass Fish
Alston & Bird + Fish Richardson = Bird & Fish. ( great name in the South)

Jones Day + Holland & Knight = Day & Knight

King & Spalding + Hunton Andrews Kurth = King Andrews

There ought to be a gutsy law firm with the initials DE&I!

For those you with long memories:
Snow & Hale could have formed decades ago from Gaston Snow and Hale & Dorr, and then combined with Ice Miller.
Fox & Wolfe

With work product, sometimes I cook and other times I get cooked. Feel really bad for mid-levels that have to answer my questions and review my work, especially draft motions, research qs, and other stuff.

Any ideas on how to get more consistent w/o making folks frustrated?

im an incoming summer associate at a v10 and unless things go horribly wrong will probably work at that firm after graduating from law school.

i genuinely have no hard skills - i didn’t study anything relevant during college and i haven’t worked a job where i learned anything transferable. when people are working long hours, are people like actively problem solving or something the whole day?

maybe im psyching myself out but im worried i dont have the requisite knowledge or an ability to learn new things. thoughts?